Chesterfield County officials held a ceremony Tuesday morning to mark the start of demolition at Spring Rock Green shopping center in preparation for its redevelopment. (Jack Jacobs photo)
The redevelopment of an aging shopping center in Chesterfield has hit its first major milestone.
County officials held a ceremony today (Tuesday) to mark the start of demolition of the Spring Rock Green shopping center on Midlothian Turnpike. The site is being cleared to make way for Springline at District 60, which is the newly unveiled name for the massive mixed-use development planned to fill the property.
The District 60 brand, named for Route 60 (Midlothian Turnpike) which runs through the area, will include Springline, the Stonebridge development across the street and the nearby Boulders office park.
The creation of the District 60 brand is aimed at building a stronger sense of place and establish the area at the interchange of Chippenham Parkway and Midlothian Turnpike as a destination in its own right, said Chesterfield Economic Development Director Garrett Hart.
“We’re making it a place with a name, a place to go to and not to go through,” he said.
A rendering of the planned Springline at District 60 mixed-use development in Chesterfield County. The development is planned to take the place of Spring Rock Green shopping center. (Courtesy of Chesterfield County)
The first phase of Springline is planned to feature a six-story, mixed-use building; a 150,000-square-foot office building; a sports tournament and entertainment venue; and a “festival-like” common area, according to a county news release.
Connecticut-based Collins Enterprises has been tapped to develop the mixed-use building that’s part of phase one. The $85 million building is planned to include 300 apartments and structured parking along with 27,000 square feet of commercial space. Collins is expected to purchase its portion of the project site, though that deal had not yet been reflected in county records online as of Monday.
The class-A office building to be built in the first phase is anticipated to cost about $50 million. Hart declined to identify the developer of the office portion of the phase.
Construction on the mixed-use and office buildings is expected to start in May or June, Hart said.
Demolition started in earnest on Spring Rock Green shopping center Tuesday. The aging center’s site is slated for redevelopment into the mixed-use project Springline at District 60. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Demolition of the center’s main commercial strip started today with a hole punched into the facade of the old Best Products store on the east end of the center. Members of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors took turns at the controls of an excavator parked in front of the store and tore away at it this morning.
To symbolize the new era for the property, the faded Spring Rock Green banner that had been on the former Best Products store for years was torn down and a fresh, navy-blue Springline banner unfurled on the building.
Chesterfield Supervisor Jim Holland (on left) gets a lesson in how to operate an excavator before he helps chip away at the facade of the former Best Products store at Spring Rock Green shopping center on Tuesday. (Jack Jacobs photo)
In his remarks during the event, Chesterfield Board of Supervisors Chairman Kevin Carroll called the Springline project another step toward revitalization of the area which is also home to Stonebridge, itself a redevelopment project that replaced Cloverleaf Mall.
“Redevelopment is important not only in the Midlothian district but the entire county. We’re thrilled the county could step in and breathe new life into a space which was once a prominent retailer here in Chesterfield. It’s encouraging that the private sector has further interest in an overall area that serves as a prominent entrance to Chesterfield,” Carroll said.
Supervisor Mark Miller and County Administrator Joe Casey also shared remarks during the event.
Demolition work on the site’s parking lot was already underway as of mid-March. The center’s Midlothian Turnpike-fronting outparcels occupied by businesses like Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill aren’t part of the project and will remain intact.
Beyond the first phase, the overall vision for Springline includes more than 1,000 apartments and 100-plus townhomes, 300,000 square feet of office space and 125,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, as well as a police station. An extended-stay hotel with 100-120 rooms is also part of the plan.
The sports venue is planned to feature two NHL-sized ice rinks. That portion of the project would be developed by the Chesterfield EDA. Hart declined to name the planned operator, which would enter into a lease-to-own arrangement with Chesterfield for the facility.
Chesterfield currently expects to spend between $24 million and $44 million to build the sports venue, Hart said. A construction timeline hasn’t yet been determined.
The Springline project includes plans for a road connection between the mixed-use development and the Boulders office park.
The Chesterfield EDA bought the 42-acre project site for $16 million in 2021. The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors voted in April 2022 to rezone the Spring Rock Green property for the planned development.
A 2023 master plan of the Springline at District 60 mixed-use development in Chesterfield County. (Courtesy Chesterfield County)
The Springline name is a reference to the nearby Beaufont Springs, which served as a source of water and then as a recreational space in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In 1895, James Robertson bought the spring, and his Beaufont Lithia Springs Co. sold water extracted from the spring both locally as well as in D.C., New York and Philadelphia, according to a county-provided history of the site.
Robertson sold the property in 1916 to Frederick Sitterding, who used the spring’s water in carbonated beverages in addition to bottled water, and added a brewery to the site. Water-bottling operations came to an end in 1940 due to improvements in water treatment technology.
In the 1950s, the Sitterding family built a recreation and picnic area on the property. The historic spring house is still at the spring, which is next to the offices of the Boulders park.
Atlanta-based architecture firm Cooper Carry created the master plan for Springline and created the branding for the development and area.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with details and photos from Tuesday’s event.
Chesterfield County officials held a ceremony Tuesday morning to mark the start of demolition at Spring Rock Green shopping center in preparation for its redevelopment. (Jack Jacobs photo)
The redevelopment of an aging shopping center in Chesterfield has hit its first major milestone.
County officials held a ceremony today (Tuesday) to mark the start of demolition of the Spring Rock Green shopping center on Midlothian Turnpike. The site is being cleared to make way for Springline at District 60, which is the newly unveiled name for the massive mixed-use development planned to fill the property.
The District 60 brand, named for Route 60 (Midlothian Turnpike) which runs through the area, will include Springline, the Stonebridge development across the street and the nearby Boulders office park.
The creation of the District 60 brand is aimed at building a stronger sense of place and establish the area at the interchange of Chippenham Parkway and Midlothian Turnpike as a destination in its own right, said Chesterfield Economic Development Director Garrett Hart.
“We’re making it a place with a name, a place to go to and not to go through,” he said.
A rendering of the planned Springline at District 60 mixed-use development in Chesterfield County. The development is planned to take the place of Spring Rock Green shopping center. (Courtesy of Chesterfield County)
The first phase of Springline is planned to feature a six-story, mixed-use building; a 150,000-square-foot office building; a sports tournament and entertainment venue; and a “festival-like” common area, according to a county news release.
Connecticut-based Collins Enterprises has been tapped to develop the mixed-use building that’s part of phase one. The $85 million building is planned to include 300 apartments and structured parking along with 27,000 square feet of commercial space. Collins is expected to purchase its portion of the project site, though that deal had not yet been reflected in county records online as of Monday.
The class-A office building to be built in the first phase is anticipated to cost about $50 million. Hart declined to identify the developer of the office portion of the phase.
Construction on the mixed-use and office buildings is expected to start in May or June, Hart said.
Demolition started in earnest on Spring Rock Green shopping center Tuesday. The aging center’s site is slated for redevelopment into the mixed-use project Springline at District 60. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Demolition of the center’s main commercial strip started today with a hole punched into the facade of the old Best Products store on the east end of the center. Members of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors took turns at the controls of an excavator parked in front of the store and tore away at it this morning.
To symbolize the new era for the property, the faded Spring Rock Green banner that had been on the former Best Products store for years was torn down and a fresh, navy-blue Springline banner unfurled on the building.
Chesterfield Supervisor Jim Holland (on left) gets a lesson in how to operate an excavator before he helps chip away at the facade of the former Best Products store at Spring Rock Green shopping center on Tuesday. (Jack Jacobs photo)
In his remarks during the event, Chesterfield Board of Supervisors Chairman Kevin Carroll called the Springline project another step toward revitalization of the area which is also home to Stonebridge, itself a redevelopment project that replaced Cloverleaf Mall.
“Redevelopment is important not only in the Midlothian district but the entire county. We’re thrilled the county could step in and breathe new life into a space which was once a prominent retailer here in Chesterfield. It’s encouraging that the private sector has further interest in an overall area that serves as a prominent entrance to Chesterfield,” Carroll said.
Supervisor Mark Miller and County Administrator Joe Casey also shared remarks during the event.
Demolition work on the site’s parking lot was already underway as of mid-March. The center’s Midlothian Turnpike-fronting outparcels occupied by businesses like Panera Bread and Chipotle Mexican Grill aren’t part of the project and will remain intact.
Beyond the first phase, the overall vision for Springline includes more than 1,000 apartments and 100-plus townhomes, 300,000 square feet of office space and 125,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, as well as a police station. An extended-stay hotel with 100-120 rooms is also part of the plan.
The sports venue is planned to feature two NHL-sized ice rinks. That portion of the project would be developed by the Chesterfield EDA. Hart declined to name the planned operator, which would enter into a lease-to-own arrangement with Chesterfield for the facility.
Chesterfield currently expects to spend between $24 million and $44 million to build the sports venue, Hart said. A construction timeline hasn’t yet been determined.
The Springline project includes plans for a road connection between the mixed-use development and the Boulders office park.
The Chesterfield EDA bought the 42-acre project site for $16 million in 2021. The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors voted in April 2022 to rezone the Spring Rock Green property for the planned development.
A 2023 master plan of the Springline at District 60 mixed-use development in Chesterfield County. (Courtesy Chesterfield County)
The Springline name is a reference to the nearby Beaufont Springs, which served as a source of water and then as a recreational space in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In 1895, James Robertson bought the spring, and his Beaufont Lithia Springs Co. sold water extracted from the spring both locally as well as in D.C., New York and Philadelphia, according to a county-provided history of the site.
Robertson sold the property in 1916 to Frederick Sitterding, who used the spring’s water in carbonated beverages in addition to bottled water, and added a brewery to the site. Water-bottling operations came to an end in 1940 due to improvements in water treatment technology.
In the 1950s, the Sitterding family built a recreation and picnic area on the property. The historic spring house is still at the spring, which is next to the offices of the Boulders park.
Atlanta-based architecture firm Cooper Carry created the master plan for Springline and created the branding for the development and area.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with details and photos from Tuesday’s event.
I absolutely LOVE this! THIS is how developers should build. Revitalize older areas instead of suburban sprawl. They should build more homes instead of apartments to create more “buy-in” on the District 60 branding.
I heavily agree, we need to get back to the original American dream of people owning their homes.
That’s always been the dream, but is simply not reality that everyone would need or want to own their home.
Still the dream for me, I refuse to live in an HOA and have someone tell me what to do with my property.
Sure. But different strokes for different folks remains the broader reality — many people want to focus more on life outside the home — business, lifestyles — for many, a condo in the right location is the best option, and for the more transient, the only thing that makes sense is to rent. In this development, there are townhomes I see — that is a niche market, and from what I remember from when I lived in NOVA, it tends to be people who would LIKE to own a Single Family but cannot quite afford to — so they not… Read more »
Good – can’t wait to see some much needed change along that corridor. It’s been rough and ghetto for too long.
Still a long ways to go on the other side of Chippenham.
I would say more POOR and hustling than ghetto. When I go to that part of Chesterfield, I see a lot of people who don’t have much money, but are still upwardly mobile and expecting to steal or get a hand-out.
2 NHL-sized hockey rinks. Yes. I am really hoping to get my children into the sport and play in an adult league myself.
Unless there’s an anchor tenant for the Class A speculative office building, it’s quite a risk, in my opinion, particularly in light of the fact that there’s plenty of vacant office space on Midlothian Turnpike.
Bring some manufacturing jobs in. Good pay within walking distance.
Chesterfield would LOVE that — manufacturing is the most tax-lucrative development there is — jobs are a bonus.
They also like employment-lite things like datacenters and solar farms, Retail is meh. One of the big reasons single family homes don’t get built enough is that they are net negative tax wise for the counties UNLESS they are big and expensive SFHs — that is a big reason why there is this push for density esp in the Richmondly directions of Chesterfield — we see it South of Richmond too, not just west of it.
I wasn’t aware a brewery was built on that site. The Sitterdings of course were well known for Home Brewing Co. and the use of the water during Prohibition. But since Virginia went dry in 1916, it seems unusual. I’d be interested in any documentation of that.
Yeah, I’ve got a few of Home’s glass bottles…
It’s great that the county is redeveloping the area. Right across the highway, however, there’s a gambling parlor, a pawn shop, a used tire store, a U-Haul storage warehouse, etc. While these are all perfectly legitimate businesses, will high-end residents be willing to live so close?
I think so. Very close to Chipham. All has to do with the price point and what else is available.
You’re probably right. Nowadays you can just stack some cardboard boxes up and offer them as condominiums and people from Northern Virginia will buy them sight unseen.
Chipham? How about Chippenham?
This is awesome and it will go a long way toward not only solidifying this entrance to “urban Chesterfield” with the pleasant Mega Kroger x the street, it will also probably make redevelopment more imagined further west and — who knows? Maybe the prosperity will jump the highway eastward too…
Hopefully, the east side definitely needs it.
I really love how they are turning this sea of wasteful pavement into housing and offices. Chesterfield County needs to go big on sidewalks along Route 60.
This property and Stonebridge represent gateways into Chesterfield County. It’s been the goal of the County to redevelop the area since it bought the Cloverleaf Mall in 2007. Stonebridge is the replacement for the Cloverleaf Mall. Spring Rock Green can be looked at as phase 2 of the redevelopment of the area.
It has taken time, vision and multi millions of dollars to exercise the vision, but it’s happening, and Chesterfield County should be congratulated for its vision and follow-thru.