Plans unveiled for Cloverleaf
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Most of the buildings at Cloverleaf Mall will be torn down to make room for Chippenham Place, a new mixed use development, which could include a new county library, grocery store, office space and a combination of multifamily and single-family housing.

Cloverleaf Mall will soon come tumbling down to be replaced by Chippenham Place, a mixed use town center of retail, office and residential. To meet its defined timetable, developer Crosland has to file its rezoning by Nov. 15.

All of the buildings on the 83-acre Cloverleaf Mall site will be torn down except for the Bank of America branch and the Firestone store close to Midlothian Turnpike.

The rezoning is needed to determine "setbacks and sidewalks," said the county's Director of Revitalization Tom Jacobson, and not necessarily land uses.

Developer Crosland is tentatively proposing 195,000 square feet of retail with 975 parking spaces, 120,000 square feet of office space with 480 parking spaces, and 200 multifamily units, 52 attached multifamily and 130 single-family homes. The multifamily could be rental or for purchase, but the attached multifamily, which share a common wall between units, would most likely be for purchase. Jacobson expects the single-family lots to be on "the small side."

The county purchased the property for $9.2 million in the fall of 2004, because it wanted to redevelop the site as a significant gateway to the county. A Richmond church had a pending contract to buy the struggling mall, but the county had bigger plans and paid more.

Though the county had touted its earlier agreement to redevelop the site using Philadelphia Management and Companies, that arrangement ended a year ago without local officials being specific about the differences between the two parties.

Above is a possible layout for Chippenham Place. The mixed use development will replace most of the buildings at Cloverleaf Mall.

Chesterfield then began its search anew. Crosland was one of 22 development firms the county considered.

Jacobson was guarded in his responses regarding Chippenham Place, continually stressing that the initial plan "is just one idea while the developer ties down the anchors. That will determine the layout, and more drawings will be created as the project goes forward."

A grocery store and theatre/office building are expected to anchor the development. One source identified an 80,000-square-foot Kroger as a potential tenant, but Jacobson declined to confirm or deny that. "The grocery store will have a big footprint," Jacobson acknowledged.

To enhance the community aspect, the county has committed to building a new library, most likely across from sizeable green space, in the center of the development. The closest library is in Bon Air.

Like Cloverleaf Mall, there would be three accesses from Midlothian Turnpike and one from Clover Leaf Drive that leads to Turner Road. The existing internal roads are expected to change.

County Administrator Lane Ramsey was pleased, saying Crosland "had determined that a first-rate, mixed use development on the site was feasible."

"It needs to be a community, so I'm glad there's not too many apartments," added Matoaca Supervisor Renny Humphrey. "The [county] board will be watching the amount of retail that is proposed."

Jacobson praised Crosland. The Charlotte, N.C.-based diversified real estate company traces its roots back to the 1930s and now has a market value exceeding $1.5 billion. Its portfolio includes building and managing apartment communities, shopping centers, office and industrial space.

Jacobson said Crosland's Birkdale Village (www.birkdalevillage.net) project in Huntersville, N.C. is "the best mixed use town center on the east coast." The project's retail center with 64 tenants is anchored by a 16-screen theatre, Barnes & Noble and Dick's Sporting Goods. It has 285,000 square feet of leasable space (including 55,000 square feet of office) on 52 acres with 372 luxury apartments.