Cloverleaf's Newest 'Place'
N.C. developer announces major mixed-use plans for Cloverleaf Mall property
courtesy of Crosland LLC
Crosland's mixed-use development plans for the Cloverleaf Mall site involve 200,000 square feet of commercial space and at least 500 residential units.
Kent Jennings Brockwell
Richmond.com
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Over the past year, there have been a lot of plans for the now decrepit Cloverleaf Mall in Chesterfield County. It was rumored to be the new home of the Richmond Braves. Then there was the local pastor who announced plans to turn the aging and rapidly emptying shopping center into a super-sized sanctuary. Those plans were also shot down. Yesterday, however, Chesterfield County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a Charlotte-based developer’s purchase of the property and initial plans to stage a major redevelopment for the area. Crosland LLC was approved to purchase the 83-acre property for $9.2 million and intends to raze the current structure to make room for a major mixed-use development. “We have been working diligently with the county staff as well as the [Chesterfield] Economic Development Authority in an effort to structure a partnership to reposition the 83-acre Cloverleaf Mall property and we have enjoyed a very good relationship with the county,” said James Downs, vice president for Crosland’s retail division. The new multi-use development at the Cloverleaf site will be called Chippenham Place and is set to include approximately 200,000 square feet of commercial space and at least 500 residential units. It was also announced that Kroger will open a new supermarket as an anchor for the retail side of the project. Kroger president Pete Williams, who attended the board meeting, said the Chippenham Place store will be one of the grocery chain’s largest stores in the mid-Atlantic region. For the residential side of the project, Downs said the 500 units will consist of apartments, town homes and single-family detached residences with “an emphasis placed on pedestrian connectivity as well as preserving green space.” Upon final build-out of Chippenham Place, which could take up to four years depending on what the market will bare, Downs said he expects Crosland’s investment to exceed $100 million. Though every member of the board had something pleasant to say about the redevelopment project, Dickie King Jr., who represents Chesterfield’s Bermuda district, made a point to extract a promise from Downs and Crosland before the board made their vote. “All along I have been in support of this project though in the earlier stages I had been on record as being a cynic on behalf of the taxpayers,” King said. “The only thing that I want to make sure of as I embrace this new urbanization concept, I want you to tell me that you are going to be committed to seeing that businesses will be an integral part of this project and that it won’t be reduced and that it will be there. “I just want to hear you say that you are committed and being true that the 200,000 square feet [of commercial space] will not be reduced and that we will not end up with a lot of apartments and no business.” Downs, on behalf of the company, quickly obliged King’s request. “I stand before you today as vice president of the retail division…and retail is what piqued our interest in this development and we will be working diligently to grow the retail component and office component if the market will support that and I thank you for your concern,” Downs said. Though Crosland has only just been approved to purchase the property and there are dozens of zoning issues and deadlines to be met, Downs said Crosland is very eager to begin construction. “It’s not unrealistic for a project of this size to be absorbed over a period of four years perhaps even until build out,” he said. “The commercial component, however, we see moving forward immediately.”
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