Henrico County hosted a tour of its under-construction sports and events center at Virginia Center Commons on Tuesday. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
As the groundwork for the rest of Virginia Center Commons’ mixed-use transformation continues to be laid, the redevelopment’s initial anchor is nearing completion and booking more dates ahead of its opening this fall.
Henrico County announced Tuesday that its sports and events center has secured bookings with 31 sports and community organizations for more than 135 event dates from mid-October, when the facility is slated to open, through 2024.
The bookings add to the recent news that the $50 million facility finalized a two-year booking to host the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship in March 2024 and 2025, and the 2024 Adult and Junior Division Wheelchair Basketball National Tournaments, to be held over the first two weekends in April.
The 185,000-square-foot facility will feature 115,000 square feet of playable space.
Groups that have scheduled events at the facility include 804 Coaches for Change, Big Shots Basketball, FutsalRVA and Special Olympics of Virginia, which is moving its annual basketball competition to Henrico after 20 years at multiple locations in Stafford.
“Having everybody in one location instead of spread out among 10 or 12 locations makes it much easier for us to manage our volunteer experience, manage our athlete experience,” said Roy Zeidman, senior vice president for Special Olympics of Virginia, at a press conference and tour at the facility Tuesday.
“When this facility began construction, we started looking at ways that we could become more efficient, more effective, provide a better atmosphere for our athletes, and we think this facility is going to do that for us,” Zeidman said.
The center will have room for 12 basketball courts or 24 volleyball courts.
Designed to also host volleyball tournaments and concerts, the 185,000-square-foot facility will feature more than 115,000 square feet of adaptable event space with stadium seating, and room for 12 basketball courts or 24 volleyball courts.
A giant sound curtain creates an arena space that can seat more than 3,500 people, and a portable basketball court will be placed on top of the permanent courts for championship events that use the stadium seating.
Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of the newly formed Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority that manages the facility, said the portable court came from the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship regionals that were held in Louisville this year.
The event center also is to be used for school graduations and other gatherings. EDC is the general contractor.
The under-construction Henrico Sports & Event Center at Virginia Center Commons. (Henrico County photo)
The center is a joint effort by Henrico and local development firm Rebkee, which is leading the redevelopment of the suburban indoor mall into an urban-style mixed-use village.
Also planned are two hotels by Shamin Hotels that are each to include restaurants and total upwards of 100 rooms. In an update to the Henrico Board of Supervisors in May, Rebkee principal Rob Hargett said the hotels, which would rise beside the events center, are scheduled to start construction next spring and open in 2026.
The rest of the redevelopment will be filled out primarily with multifamily residential and mixed-use buildings, as well as park spaces and greenways, including a primary greenway that would form a type of pedestrian “main street” through the site.
An overview of the phased development that would replace the mall with residential and mixed-use buildings. The event center is shown at the top. (BizSense file)
Many of those homes will be built by Stanley Martin Homes, which last month completed its purchase of a 22-acre portion in the center of the site, where it’s approved to build 361 condominiums. The Reston-based builder paid $12.7 million for the site, which the county assessed at about $3.3 million. Hargett said the first 75 of the units would start construction next June.
Stanley Martin also is building 75 townhomes on a 5-acre site between the mall and Brook Road. Site work is underway for the three-story townhomes, which have been planned to be priced starting in the high $200,000s.
A rendering of the condos planned at VCC.
Work is also underway on two apartment buildings on the north side of the site. Hargett said work started in January on those buildings, which will total 275 units with some income-based apartments. The apartments are scheduled to come online in late 2024.
“I think we’re going to have the same kind of response we had at Regency, because nothing’s been built out here for 30 years,” Hargett told the board, referring to the other mall transformation Rebkee is guiding, that one with Thalhimer Realty Partners.
Of the Virginia Center apartments, Hargett added, “These are going to lease right up.”
Poole & Poole Architecture is designing the apartments. (Image courtesy Henrico County)
Hargett said there’s room for more apartments on the site but that work on those will be held off for three years, to maintain existing surface parking for the events center. Long-term plans could include an 800-space parking deck on a site that Rebkee is gifting to the county, he said.
Redevelopment at Virginia Center started in earnest in early 2021 with the razing of the former Macy’s store at the mall’s eastern end. Compared to the 10 years it’s taken for Regency’s transformation, Hargett said of Virginia Center, “This one is moving a little faster, but it’s also going to be a really quick transformation.”
Henrico County hosted a tour of its under-construction sports and events center at Virginia Center Commons on Tuesday. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
As the groundwork for the rest of Virginia Center Commons’ mixed-use transformation continues to be laid, the redevelopment’s initial anchor is nearing completion and booking more dates ahead of its opening this fall.
Henrico County announced Tuesday that its sports and events center has secured bookings with 31 sports and community organizations for more than 135 event dates from mid-October, when the facility is slated to open, through 2024.
The bookings add to the recent news that the $50 million facility finalized a two-year booking to host the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship in March 2024 and 2025, and the 2024 Adult and Junior Division Wheelchair Basketball National Tournaments, to be held over the first two weekends in April.
The 185,000-square-foot facility will feature 115,000 square feet of playable space.
Groups that have scheduled events at the facility include 804 Coaches for Change, Big Shots Basketball, FutsalRVA and Special Olympics of Virginia, which is moving its annual basketball competition to Henrico after 20 years at multiple locations in Stafford.
“Having everybody in one location instead of spread out among 10 or 12 locations makes it much easier for us to manage our volunteer experience, manage our athlete experience,” said Roy Zeidman, senior vice president for Special Olympics of Virginia, at a press conference and tour at the facility Tuesday.
“When this facility began construction, we started looking at ways that we could become more efficient, more effective, provide a better atmosphere for our athletes, and we think this facility is going to do that for us,” Zeidman said.
The center will have room for 12 basketball courts or 24 volleyball courts.
Designed to also host volleyball tournaments and concerts, the 185,000-square-foot facility will feature more than 115,000 square feet of adaptable event space with stadium seating, and room for 12 basketball courts or 24 volleyball courts.
A giant sound curtain creates an arena space that can seat more than 3,500 people, and a portable basketball court will be placed on top of the permanent courts for championship events that use the stadium seating.
Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of the newly formed Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority that manages the facility, said the portable court came from the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship regionals that were held in Louisville this year.
The event center also is to be used for school graduations and other gatherings. EDC is the general contractor.
The under-construction Henrico Sports & Event Center at Virginia Center Commons. (Henrico County photo)
The center is a joint effort by Henrico and local development firm Rebkee, which is leading the redevelopment of the suburban indoor mall into an urban-style mixed-use village.
Also planned are two hotels by Shamin Hotels that are each to include restaurants and total upwards of 100 rooms. In an update to the Henrico Board of Supervisors in May, Rebkee principal Rob Hargett said the hotels, which would rise beside the events center, are scheduled to start construction next spring and open in 2026.
The rest of the redevelopment will be filled out primarily with multifamily residential and mixed-use buildings, as well as park spaces and greenways, including a primary greenway that would form a type of pedestrian “main street” through the site.
An overview of the phased development that would replace the mall with residential and mixed-use buildings. The event center is shown at the top. (BizSense file)
Many of those homes will be built by Stanley Martin Homes, which last month completed its purchase of a 22-acre portion in the center of the site, where it’s approved to build 361 condominiums. The Reston-based builder paid $12.7 million for the site, which the county assessed at about $3.3 million. Hargett said the first 75 of the units would start construction next June.
Stanley Martin also is building 75 townhomes on a 5-acre site between the mall and Brook Road. Site work is underway for the three-story townhomes, which have been planned to be priced starting in the high $200,000s.
A rendering of the condos planned at VCC.
Work is also underway on two apartment buildings on the north side of the site. Hargett said work started in January on those buildings, which will total 275 units with some income-based apartments. The apartments are scheduled to come online in late 2024.
“I think we’re going to have the same kind of response we had at Regency, because nothing’s been built out here for 30 years,” Hargett told the board, referring to the other mall transformation Rebkee is guiding, that one with Thalhimer Realty Partners.
Of the Virginia Center apartments, Hargett added, “These are going to lease right up.”
Poole & Poole Architecture is designing the apartments. (Image courtesy Henrico County)
Hargett said there’s room for more apartments on the site but that work on those will be held off for three years, to maintain existing surface parking for the events center. Long-term plans could include an 800-space parking deck on a site that Rebkee is gifting to the county, he said.
Redevelopment at Virginia Center started in earnest in early 2021 with the razing of the former Macy’s store at the mall’s eastern end. Compared to the 10 years it’s taken for Regency’s transformation, Hargett said of Virginia Center, “This one is moving a little faster, but it’s also going to be a really quick transformation.”
Awesome! Yes! Another blighted location averted! I love the fact that 390 condominiums are being built plus the 3 story townhomes. Excellent! Affordable 1st time homebuying!
This is very exciting for the area, but I wonder how it will accomodate all the traffic in the area. What about the 295 exit? It will need to be widened for sure or another exit will need to be created.
I am not a fan of the idea for hotels/apartments. This is a waste of money!! I need to run for a political seat to block all these stupid plans.
A waste of whose money? If a private entity wishes to invest in the County why would you block them?