A rendering of the planned development. (Courtesy Feldman Ruel)
Another proposed development site in the Westwood area of Henrico is back on the market.
Margaret Freund’s Fulton Hill Properties has listed for sale the 2.8-acre parcel at the corner of Thalbro and Westmoreland streets where it has been planning a seven-story mixed-use project.
The county-approved provisional-use permit is included in the listing, which has an asking price of $8.5 million.
Fulton Hill filed plans for a 268-unit mixed-use building on the site in 2022, and received PUP approval last September. In addition to the apartments, the development would also include a courtyard, pool, 317-space parking deck and 3,500 square feet of commercial space.
The listing for the unaddressed parcel went live earlier this spring. Christopher Chadwick, Josh Feldman and Ian Ruel of Feldman Ruel Urban Property Advisors have the listing.
Chadwick said Freund has not given up on potentially moving forward with the project, but is testing the market after a potential state funding source fell through.
“(Freund) had some inquiries as to whether or not she’d be willing to sell and I suggested to her, ‘Why not test the market?'” Chadwick said, adding that they’re hoping to receive final permit approval from Henrico in the coming months. “It’s a good project. She would certainly finish it if the market doesn’t come.”
The proposed development would also include 3,500 square feet of commercial space.
The land is currently a grassy area that was once part of the nearby UTurn sports complex. UTurn sold the land to Fulton Hill for $1.8 million in 2022.
The proposed development, designed by Poole & Poole Architecture, would reach seven stories, with two of those being a parking deck.
Fulton Hill’s is the second recent listing in the Westwood area that includes approved plans and entitlements. A 6-acre plot at 4400 W. Broad St. went back on the market in the winter after two different would-be developers punted on buying the lot and building a 340-unit complex on it.
Feldman Ruel is based in the D.C. area, and Chadwick said such listings are becoming increasingly common throughout the state and surrounding area as high interest rates have made it difficult for developers to finance new construction.
“We’re seeing it all throughout the (D.C.-Virginia-Maryland area). The reality is that developers are having to come to the closing table with a lot more cash than they originally anticipated because of the debt markets and where they are,” Chadwick said.
“Development deals don’t happen overnight so anticipating changes in the market is something that developers have to be able to do, but I don’t think anybody was prepared for some of the swings in rates that we’ve seen over the last couple of years.”
Other planned developments for the Westwood area that haven’t gotten underway yet include a mixed-use redevelopment of the Ukrop’s Homestyle Food complex and a 241-unit apartment building on Jacque Street near the Topgolf. Also nearby, the owner of Willow Lawn is pondering a transformation of the shopping center into a more urban setting.
It’s not all fits and starts, though, as some local developers are busy at work in the area. Spy Rock Real Estate Group is well underway on a five-story apartment building on Dabney Road, and Kinsale Capital Group and Marchetti Development are renovating a former Anthem office at 2015 Staples Mill Road as part of their sizable “Kinsale Center” development at the corner of Staples Mill and West Broad.
I hope this plan works out because it’s a good use of the lot that’s currently not well maintained. It would also force Henrico to deal with the poorly constructed Westmoreland and Thalboro intersection.
Any proposed development that involves the construction of a parking deck, especially one with multiple floors, is price sensitive these days. As Chadwick says, high interest rates are a tough component that have added to the high cost of land, materials and labor. Margaret can likely finance this deal at her land price of $1.8M but Chadwick has his hands full at $8.5M. Let’s see how he does. He has his work cut out for him. There’s a number in which it will sell.
Margaret Freund is a shrewd investor, but I doubt that she believes that someone would be willing to pay $8.5 million for land that she purchased for $1.8 million two years ago.
Land that she bought and then got entitled and architectural plans drawn up. It is a ready to go project and there is value in that.
What “state financing” was Fulton going to the use that fell through?? VHDA/VA Housing??? Interesting that was glossed over in the article.