Magnolia Green announces Rt. 360 development plans
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

The centerpiece of Magnolia Green will be an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus championship golf course. The course is expected to open in fall 2009.

Magnolia Green Development LLC (MGD) is rolling out plans for its huge 1,990 acre planned community, located on Route 360 five miles west of Route 288. The centerpiece of the community will be an 18-hole championship golf course winding through the eventual community of 3,550 homes. Build-out will take 15-20 years.

MGD also plans 200-plus acres of retail fronting on Hull Street Road and three 20,000 square-foot retail centers inside the community.

The northern half of Magnolia Green is owned by Leesburg developer Sal Cangiano and is zoned for about 1,300 additional homes and considerable retail and office space.

Amenities

The Nicklaus Design golf course and accompanying country club is being built in association with Tom Clark, and will be the first Jack Nicklaus course in metro Richmond. Construction will begin this summer with a tentative opening date in fall 2009. Nicklaus Design has been involved with over 312 courses in 29 countries and 38 states.

"The site is beautiful, and with Nicklaus Design's reputation for tying in the existing, surrounding natural environment, the course will be unlike any in the Richmond market," said MGD's President Ray Zimmerman. The Nicklaus Design team will be led by Mark Meijer.

MGD is also touting Magnolia Green's resort lifestyle with amenities that will include a community center, competition-size and resort style pools, tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds, walking trails and parks.

Housing

The developer plans on 2,370 single-family homes priced from the low $300s to $1 million. Around 1,180 multifamily homes will start at the mid $250s.

A Who's Who of Richmond-area builders including Boone Homes, Eagle Construction, HHHunt Homes, Lifestyle Homes, Main Street Homes, Lynnhaven Homes, Orleans Homebuilders, Platinum Homes and R.S. Hulbert have signed on.

Magnolia Green's information center will open late this summer. The development's Web site is www.magnolia-green.com.

As reported first by the Chesterfield Observer, MGD submitted phase one of its plans last December, which includes 686 singlefamily homes on 315 acres. Initially, phase one will be accessed from Woolridge Road, which will be extended into the development at its intersection with Otterdale Road. An entrance off Route 360 is planned for later this year.

MGD has extended water and sewer about a mile along Woolridge Road and 1.5 miles along Route 360 to Magnolia Green as required by zoning.

Powhite extension

Last month, Chesterfield County delivered a surprise to MGD by proposing the county's first transportation district that could eventually raise $43.7 million to help extend the Powhite Parkway to Route 360 near Grange Hall Elementary School. The transportation district would require Magnolia Green homeowners to pay a property tax rate 25 cents higher per $100 of assessed value than other county residents.

But County Administrator Lane Ramsey is proposing that a public hearing scheduled for Mar. 14 be deferred for 60 days. "We're having productive discussions about road improvements [with the Magnolia Green representatives] that go beyond those required in the zoning case," he said. Ramsey described the discussions as "negotiations."

Last month, Deputy County Administrator Jay Stegmaier said the goal of the transportation district is to generate $8,942 per home in tax revenues, which would equal the road proffer that is currently paid by developers.

The 1991 rezoning of Magnolia Green only required MGD to pay $2,800 in proffers per home. Currently, developers pay up to $15,600 per home. MGD also set aside land for the Powhite extension, schools, a fire station and other public facilities.

County officials believe extending the Powhite Parkway as a toll road is necessary to relieve congestion on Route 360 between Woodlake and Route 288. But, the county planning department admits it will probably hasten development along the extension.

County officials have reportedly pitched the idea of extending the Powhite to road builders. Asked last month about it, the county's Transportation Director John McCracken replied, "No comment."

The county could ask publicly for bids, but that action is unlikely until after this fall's election. The extension is estimated to cost about $300 million.