Renderings of similar facilities that Crescent Communities has developed through its Axial brand. (Images courtesy Crescent Communities)
As final plan reviews for the massive “Project Rocky” continue in Goochland, a smaller but potentially similar industrial project is in the works about a mile up the street.
Axial Industrial, a division of North Carolina-based Crescent Communities, is looking to develop a pair of industrial buildings totaling 350,000 square feet of space at 2212 Ashland Road, just east of the Rockville Commerce Industrial Park.
The two buildings, which would be built on spec, would fill 30 acres of the 44-acre parcel that’s opposite the industrial park from the Project Rocky site, where California-based Panattoni Development Co. is planning a massive e-commerce fulfillment or distribution center.
The Project Rocky facility, to be built off a 650,000-square-foot footprint, would be comparable to the 2.6-million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center near Richmond Raceway. The user for the Project Rocky facility has yet to be announced.
The Axial development would be the first of two industrial projects that Crescent Communities is pursuing in the region. The company also is under contract for a site in Chesterfield County for a planned 500,000-square-foot development, said Justin Long, Crescent’s development director. The address of that site was not provided.
Crescent also is developing, with Thalhimer Realty Partners, the Novel Scott’s Addition apartment building in Richmond that’s taking shape across Arthur Ashe Boulevard from The Diamond.
Long said the company was brought to the Richmond market and alerted to the Goochland site by Ben Bruni with Commonwealth Commercial. Crescent, based in Charlotte, was formerly a division of N.C. power company Duke Energy and is in its 60th year in business. The Axial brand was created three years ago, and Long said it has 2 million square feet of industrial space under construction across the country.
Justin Long
Long said the Ashland Road site’s location in what’s become a largely industrial corridor makes it ideal for the project. The stretch of road to the north of Interstate 64 is between the Martin Marietta and Luck Stone quarries in the county’s aptly-named Rockville area. He also noted the county’s Future Land Use Map calls for industrial or flex use across that area.
“A key factor in this site is the land use. The use within Goochland County’s land use map falls in line with our product type,” Long said in an interview, adding that the buildings would be either distribution centers or for light industrial use.
“Sites that are adequate and sizable to do this type of product are hard to come by these days, and having a willing seller has been a big challenge,” he said. “The Richmond market, in proximity to the port and moving inland, also becomes attractive for projects of this type.”
The property is currently owned by an LLC for the Nuckols family managed by Michael Montgomery with TCV Trust & Wealth Management. Goochland property records show it was previously owned by Lawrence and Anne Nuckols, who transferred ownership to the LLC in 2009.
The largely undeveloped parcel is assessed by the county at $1.83 million.
Crescent is seeking to rezone the property from agricultural to industrial use, having submitted a required pre-application with the county in late January. A community meeting on the project was held last week, and Long said Crescent has the property under contract to purchase, contingent on the rezoning’s approval.
Long put the total project cost at between $35 million and $40 million. He said the company is aiming to break ground in the next 12 months and expects construction to take another 12 months.
A conceptual site plan shows the buildings’ configuration in relation to Ashland Road.
The company is working on the project with Townes Site Engineering, which is handling civil engineering work. Kimley-Horn conducted a traffic impact analysis (TIA) that has been submitted to the county along with the rezoning pre-application.
Preston Lloyd, an attorney with Williams Mullen representing Crescent in the application process, said they heard concerns at the community meeting from residents of the nearby Parkside Village subdivision, an age-restricted community just up Ashland Road from the project site. He said concerns raised focused primarily on potential impacts on traffic and roads in the area.
Lloyd said they would work to address those concerns in accordance with the TIA, which recommends various road and intersection upgrades to accommodate the project.
“This use, and the users that Crescent has in mind for this property, strikes a nice balance with the economic development priorities that Goochland has prioritized” for the area, Lloyd said. “We believe it’s the right use in the right place.”
The TIA also notes plans to upgrade the I-64 interchange with a “diverging diamond” design, a $76 million project that also was noted in the county’s approval of Project Rocky.
The TIA notes that the county and the Virginia Department of Transportation plan to install the new interchange by 2030. The county has lined up nearly $34 million for the project and is requesting the remaining $42 million through VDOT’s next allotment of Smart Scale funding. Sara Worley, Goochland’s economic development director, said funding awards could be announced in May.
The TIA did not evaluate impacts from the new interchange because it’s not expected before Crescent’s development would be completed, though it states the interchange is expected to improve traffic flow on Ashland Road.
The TIA also states that Project Rocky is expected to be completed and opened prior to Crescent’s development. Worley said Project Rocky is in the development plan review process, which she said could wrap up by the end of this year.
Worley said the county is receptive to the project, citing a need for more speculative industrial space in the region.
“There is a need for this type of development both in Goochland and the Richmond area,” Worley said. “We are looking forward to working with the applicant through the rezoning process.”
Renderings of similar facilities that Crescent Communities has developed through its Axial brand. (Images courtesy Crescent Communities)
As final plan reviews for the massive “Project Rocky” continue in Goochland, a smaller but potentially similar industrial project is in the works about a mile up the street.
Axial Industrial, a division of North Carolina-based Crescent Communities, is looking to develop a pair of industrial buildings totaling 350,000 square feet of space at 2212 Ashland Road, just east of the Rockville Commerce Industrial Park.
The two buildings, which would be built on spec, would fill 30 acres of the 44-acre parcel that’s opposite the industrial park from the Project Rocky site, where California-based Panattoni Development Co. is planning a massive e-commerce fulfillment or distribution center.
The Project Rocky facility, to be built off a 650,000-square-foot footprint, would be comparable to the 2.6-million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center near Richmond Raceway. The user for the Project Rocky facility has yet to be announced.
The Axial development would be the first of two industrial projects that Crescent Communities is pursuing in the region. The company also is under contract for a site in Chesterfield County for a planned 500,000-square-foot development, said Justin Long, Crescent’s development director. The address of that site was not provided.
Crescent also is developing, with Thalhimer Realty Partners, the Novel Scott’s Addition apartment building in Richmond that’s taking shape across Arthur Ashe Boulevard from The Diamond.
Long said the company was brought to the Richmond market and alerted to the Goochland site by Ben Bruni with Commonwealth Commercial. Crescent, based in Charlotte, was formerly a division of N.C. power company Duke Energy and is in its 60th year in business. The Axial brand was created three years ago, and Long said it has 2 million square feet of industrial space under construction across the country.
Justin Long
Long said the Ashland Road site’s location in what’s become a largely industrial corridor makes it ideal for the project. The stretch of road to the north of Interstate 64 is between the Martin Marietta and Luck Stone quarries in the county’s aptly-named Rockville area. He also noted the county’s Future Land Use Map calls for industrial or flex use across that area.
“A key factor in this site is the land use. The use within Goochland County’s land use map falls in line with our product type,” Long said in an interview, adding that the buildings would be either distribution centers or for light industrial use.
“Sites that are adequate and sizable to do this type of product are hard to come by these days, and having a willing seller has been a big challenge,” he said. “The Richmond market, in proximity to the port and moving inland, also becomes attractive for projects of this type.”
The property is currently owned by an LLC for the Nuckols family managed by Michael Montgomery with TCV Trust & Wealth Management. Goochland property records show it was previously owned by Lawrence and Anne Nuckols, who transferred ownership to the LLC in 2009.
The largely undeveloped parcel is assessed by the county at $1.83 million.
Crescent is seeking to rezone the property from agricultural to industrial use, having submitted a required pre-application with the county in late January. A community meeting on the project was held last week, and Long said Crescent has the property under contract to purchase, contingent on the rezoning’s approval.
Long put the total project cost at between $35 million and $40 million. He said the company is aiming to break ground in the next 12 months and expects construction to take another 12 months.
A conceptual site plan shows the buildings’ configuration in relation to Ashland Road.
The company is working on the project with Townes Site Engineering, which is handling civil engineering work. Kimley-Horn conducted a traffic impact analysis (TIA) that has been submitted to the county along with the rezoning pre-application.
Preston Lloyd, an attorney with Williams Mullen representing Crescent in the application process, said they heard concerns at the community meeting from residents of the nearby Parkside Village subdivision, an age-restricted community just up Ashland Road from the project site. He said concerns raised focused primarily on potential impacts on traffic and roads in the area.
Lloyd said they would work to address those concerns in accordance with the TIA, which recommends various road and intersection upgrades to accommodate the project.
“This use, and the users that Crescent has in mind for this property, strikes a nice balance with the economic development priorities that Goochland has prioritized” for the area, Lloyd said. “We believe it’s the right use in the right place.”
The TIA also notes plans to upgrade the I-64 interchange with a “diverging diamond” design, a $76 million project that also was noted in the county’s approval of Project Rocky.
The TIA notes that the county and the Virginia Department of Transportation plan to install the new interchange by 2030. The county has lined up nearly $34 million for the project and is requesting the remaining $42 million through VDOT’s next allotment of Smart Scale funding. Sara Worley, Goochland’s economic development director, said funding awards could be announced in May.
The TIA did not evaluate impacts from the new interchange because it’s not expected before Crescent’s development would be completed, though it states the interchange is expected to improve traffic flow on Ashland Road.
The TIA also states that Project Rocky is expected to be completed and opened prior to Crescent’s development. Worley said Project Rocky is in the development plan review process, which she said could wrap up by the end of this year.
Worley said the county is receptive to the project, citing a need for more speculative industrial space in the region.
“There is a need for this type of development both in Goochland and the Richmond area,” Worley said. “We are looking forward to working with the applicant through the rezoning process.”
Looking at a map, and being cognizant of the population growth going on all around that area, this makes a lot of sense. There’s a LOT of emptiness btwn Chesterfield and the Blue ridge. Cumberland Co. not so long ago had a lot of big properties languishing on the market because they weren’t close to anything — Buckingham was even more shocking (and likely still is) — but people who want to get away from it all have been buying and fixing up/tearing down old houses in Cumberland and the amount of apparent from the architecture “not from here” people… Read more »
The conundrum for me has been where do I build an affordable residence and still get the amenities of the city (natural gas, sewer) without an HOA!?!? As you point out, I went to Dillwyn for a party recently and realized I could afford to live there, but do I want to????
Interesting that you mention Dillwyn and that there was a party there. I checked it out to scout a property that was for sale in Summer 2020 and, maybe it was the miserable heat, but everyone I saw looked miserable. It’s also not really close to anything. There was another intriguing property nearby (sorta) that was an acre or two that had an old brick house on it — and finding it was a bit a of a challenge in that it was BEHIND an old mini-trailer park (trailers were maybe 1940s vintiage) and the house was obscured by woods… Read more »
I was looking on Vdot and the Central Virginia Transportation Authority and their is a panic at Goochland that they need to get 20 million in extra to reduce a Diamond Interchange at the road this is on. They were even talking about pulling funding from the extra lane on 288 project.