Out with the old
Cloverleaf Mall's days are numbered
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Page Dowdy/Chesterfield Observer Cloverleaf Mall will be razed early next year to make room for a new mixed-use development, but the demolition will be complicated by the presence of asbestos.

The demolition of Cloverleaf Mall is expected to happen early next year, but the presence of asbestos will complicate the razing. Environmental issues will cost developer Crosland an estimated $250,000.

The old mall has asbestos in its walls, which is not unusual for a building built in 1973, but the full extent of the problem isn't yet known. Following a level two environmental assessment, borings by Crosland revealed "low level pollutants…probably from leaking hydraulic equipment in the Sears Automotive Store," according to Tom Jacobson, the county's revitalization director. The Firestone store also has contaminated soils, likely from "leaking gas tanks."

County officials and the developer recently updated citizens on the progress of the project at a May 14 community meeting held at the mall. The mall will be torn down to make way for a new 83-acre mixeduse development of residential, retail and office space called Chippenham Place. The rezoning is scheduled to go to the planning commission this August. The current timetable has the county board approving the sale of the mall to Crosland later this year.

Citizens asked numerous questions, trying to gauge more precisely what kind of neighbor the development will become. But Crosland Vice President James Downs frequently responded that Chippenham Place will be "market driven."

Phase one will likely be retail with a 115,000-square-foot Kroger as the anchor, but Downs indicated retail will total at least 200,000 square feet as Crosland "leverages its relationships with national retailers." The Kroger store will be the company's largest in the Mid Atlantic region. Chesterfield wants even more retail and office and has built inducements into the agreement, allowing Crosland to earn 11 percent profit for mixed uses and only eight percent for residential.

The company is planning 350 multifamily units, 100-150 condos and townhouses and 50-60 single-family homes behind the commercial property. Asked if multifamily means apartments, Downs said, "Likely."

Citizens had different views on the residential component. Some want upscale homes while others seem concerned that rising property values will hike their property taxes.

With its next door neighbor, Chippenham Square, largely vacant and now for sale, Crosland has an opportunity to expand into the 185,000-square-foot struggling center. Downs acknowledged talking to the property owners, saying a future purchase of the shopping center was "possible."

The county has completed a land use transportation plan that calls for the entrance to the Boulders office complex to cross Midlothian Turnpike "into the center and open up the land behind it and Chippenham Place," said Jacobson. That would provide access to an additional 200 acres that's now undeveloped.

Chippenham Place "will bring back house appreciation," predicted Jay Lafler, president of the Gateway Association, a group of businesses and residents who are trying to aid in the area's revitalization. He hopes the project will bring a library, parks and a school to the area over the next 3-5 years. A library has been penciled in for Chippenham Place, but a school site is not now in the county's plan. Many residents believe the county has focused too much attention and resources on new growth areas and forgotten about older neighborhoods like those surrounding Cloverleaf Mall.

Jacobson defended the county's $9.2 million purchase of the Cloverleaf Mall site two and a half years ago, outbidding a Richmond church which planned to use the former JCPenney store as a sanctuary and have small retail and housing units throughout the rest of the mall.

Chippenham Place will be "more walkable," pledged county officials, including sidewalks and landscaping along Midlothian Turnpike. The 18 tenants now in the mall will be given 30-60 days notice before the wrecking ball appears.