Midlothian Depot would be anchored by an unspecified grocery store tenant. It would also feature 350 apartments and 30,000 square feet of commercial space. (Images courtesy of Chesterfield County)
Chesterfield planning commissioners are expected to consider a proposal next week that would bring a new grocery store to the Midlothian area along with new restaurants and hundreds of apartments.
Atlanta-based developer SJC Ventures is pitching a $175 million project anchored by a yet-to-be-revealed grocery store of 43,000 square feet at the corner of Midlothian Turnpike and Alverser Drive.
There would also be 30,000 square feet of retail space and 350 apartments built as part of the project, which is called Midlothian Depot.
The development would rise on an assemblage of 13 acres at 11800 Midlothian Turnpike, 11706 Midlothian Turnpike, 951 Alverser Drive and 11621 Old Buckingham Road, according to a county staff report.
The commercial element of Midlothian Depot would be concentrated on the land closest to the Midlothian Turnpike and Alverser Drive intersection. The apartments would be built farther back and would include a rooftop terrace, pool and structured parking.
If approved, SJC Ventures plans to break ground early next year. Atlanta-based Dynamik Design is the project’s architect. A general contractor hadn’t been selected as of this week.
SJC Ventures Principal Jeff Garrison declined to comment on the identity of the development’s planned grocery store in an interview this week. The grocery store box is dubbed in the county staff report as “Major Tenant X.”
The company’s work frequently features grocery store anchors. Of the 19 completed grocery-store-anchored projects listed on its website, 16 of them are listed as anchored by Whole Foods Market.
Atlanta-based SJC Ventures wants to build its proposed $175 million Midlothian Depot development at the corner of Midlothian Turnpike and Alverser Drive.
Whole Foods didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Thursday about whether it will anchor the new development.
Garrison said the company is already in talks with additional tenants to help fill out Midlothian Depot.
“We’re trying to create a really great curated mix of tenants. We’re working with one well-known sit-down restaurant (and) one well-known fast casual restaurant,” he said.
Garrison said the development’s site is under contract pending the zoning approval. He declined to comment on the amount of money expected to change hands but said the development’s $175 million price tag includes the land.
The project site is mostly undeveloped but does include several buildings that front Midlothian Turnpike. The properties are collectively valued at $3.5 million, according to online property records.
The planning commission is expected to vote on whether to recommend approval of the SJC Ventures rezoning and conditional-use request Thursday. Staff recommends approval of the project. Final approval of the request will be rendered by the Board of Supervisors at a future meeting.
Midlothian Depot, which Garrison said has been about a year in the making, would be the second SJC Ventures project in the Richmond region. It built Short Pump Station in 2008, when the firm was known as S. J. Collins Enterprises. The company sold the center in 2010.
SJC Ventures’s other credits in the Old Dominion include Whole Foods-anchored The Marketplace At Tech Center in Newport News and Fresh Market-anchored Lakeside Crossing in Lynchburg, according to its website. The company also built Whole Foods stores in Virginia Beach and Charlottesville.
“We’ve got a lot of relationships in Virginia that we continue to leverage to make this the best concept,” Garrison said.
