The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors recently approved an extension of a county program that provides performance-based grants to developers who build approved projects in the Route 1 corridor. (BizSense file)
Developers have more time to take advantage of an incentive program intended to encourage projects along Route 1 in Chesterfield.
The county Board of Supervisors voted last week to extend the expiration date of the Route 1 Revitalization Incentive Program, which provides performance-based grants for approved projects in the Route 1 corridor between the city limits and Old Bermuda Hundred Road.
To be eligible, projects have to align with the goals of the Northern Jefferson Davis Special Area Plan, a county plan that guides development and growth for the corridor, and represent a minimum investment of $10 million.
Development projects have to be located within the plan’s area, with projects situated at the crossings of Route 1 and Willis Road, Route 1 and Route 288 or Route 1 and Chippenham Parkway given priority consideration.
The supervisors’ vote Wednesday pushed the program’s expiration date to Dec. 31, 2025. There’s now also a new eligibility requirement. Applicants who want to take advantage of the program must file plans of development by June 30, 2024.
Approved projects receive 80 percent of the incremental real estate tax revenue they create with new development as a grant for the first seven years of a 10-year period. The percentage awarded to the project is decreased to 60 percent, 40 percent and then 20 percent per year for the last three years of the grant, according to a staff memo.
A map of the Northern Jefferson Davis Special Area Plan. (Courtesy Chesterfield County)
Since the incentive policy was first approved by the board in June 2019, no approved projects have been completed though several are in the works. Project completion is a requirement to reap the program’s benefits and county staff sought the board’s blessing for an extension to allow those projects to reach the finish line.
“Due to a variety of factors, including market conditions and the time necessary for project completion, there have been no completed projects eligible for this incentive,” according to a staff memo.
“It is important to note that for a developer to realize benefits under this incentive, a development project would need to be completed which significantly raises the assessed valuation. Therefore, the effectiveness and impact of this incentive can only be measured after project completion and reassessment.”
Approved projects in the area are Bellwood Apartments (which was awaiting site plan approval), Lambert Landing (under construction) and Liberty Gardens (which recently got its site plan approved), according to the staff memo.
The Bellwood Apartments project, a Thalhimer venture at 9201 Route 1, is a planned four-story 190-unit building and a three-story building with ground-floor retail and apartments on the upper levels. It’s part of the larger Bellwood Commons redevelopment on the site of the Bellwood Flea Market.
Lambert Landing is a 112-unit complex at 11430 Elokomin Ave. being developed by Ohio-based Woda Cooper Cos.
Liberty Gardens is a 90-unit apartment building planned by North Carolina-based South Creek Development at 8075 Route 1.
The Northern Jefferson Davis Special Area Plan covers about 13.5 square miles of the county, centered on a 8.5-mile stretch of Route 1. The land-use plan was adopted in April 2018 and was named for the former moniker of the roadway, Jefferson Davis Highway.
The objectives of the plan include but aren’t limited to: encouragement of mixed-use development, enhancement of gateway areas where people enter the county and promotion of bicycle and pedestrian improvements on Route 1. Projects must be in line with the stated goals of the plan to be considered for the grant program.
Residential, commercial and mixed-use projects are eligible for program consideration, Director of Community Enhancement Dan Cohen said in an interview.
The 4-year-old grant program has been renewed several times over the years, and was slated to end Dec. 31, 2023, until the board most recently extended it. The program originally required developments to be at least $5 million investments, but that requirement was later increased to the current $10 million threshold.
“We want to encourage a higher-dollar value of investment,” Cohen said.
The Board of Supervisors and Economic Development Authority provide the approval needed for projects to take advantage of the program.
The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors recently approved an extension of a county program that provides performance-based grants to developers who build approved projects in the Route 1 corridor. (BizSense file)
Developers have more time to take advantage of an incentive program intended to encourage projects along Route 1 in Chesterfield.
The county Board of Supervisors voted last week to extend the expiration date of the Route 1 Revitalization Incentive Program, which provides performance-based grants for approved projects in the Route 1 corridor between the city limits and Old Bermuda Hundred Road.
To be eligible, projects have to align with the goals of the Northern Jefferson Davis Special Area Plan, a county plan that guides development and growth for the corridor, and represent a minimum investment of $10 million.
Development projects have to be located within the plan’s area, with projects situated at the crossings of Route 1 and Willis Road, Route 1 and Route 288 or Route 1 and Chippenham Parkway given priority consideration.
The supervisors’ vote Wednesday pushed the program’s expiration date to Dec. 31, 2025. There’s now also a new eligibility requirement. Applicants who want to take advantage of the program must file plans of development by June 30, 2024.
Approved projects receive 80 percent of the incremental real estate tax revenue they create with new development as a grant for the first seven years of a 10-year period. The percentage awarded to the project is decreased to 60 percent, 40 percent and then 20 percent per year for the last three years of the grant, according to a staff memo.
A map of the Northern Jefferson Davis Special Area Plan. (Courtesy Chesterfield County)
Since the incentive policy was first approved by the board in June 2019, no approved projects have been completed though several are in the works. Project completion is a requirement to reap the program’s benefits and county staff sought the board’s blessing for an extension to allow those projects to reach the finish line.
“Due to a variety of factors, including market conditions and the time necessary for project completion, there have been no completed projects eligible for this incentive,” according to a staff memo.
“It is important to note that for a developer to realize benefits under this incentive, a development project would need to be completed which significantly raises the assessed valuation. Therefore, the effectiveness and impact of this incentive can only be measured after project completion and reassessment.”
Approved projects in the area are Bellwood Apartments (which was awaiting site plan approval), Lambert Landing (under construction) and Liberty Gardens (which recently got its site plan approved), according to the staff memo.
The Bellwood Apartments project, a Thalhimer venture at 9201 Route 1, is a planned four-story 190-unit building and a three-story building with ground-floor retail and apartments on the upper levels. It’s part of the larger Bellwood Commons redevelopment on the site of the Bellwood Flea Market.
Lambert Landing is a 112-unit complex at 11430 Elokomin Ave. being developed by Ohio-based Woda Cooper Cos.
Liberty Gardens is a 90-unit apartment building planned by North Carolina-based South Creek Development at 8075 Route 1.
The Northern Jefferson Davis Special Area Plan covers about 13.5 square miles of the county, centered on a 8.5-mile stretch of Route 1. The land-use plan was adopted in April 2018 and was named for the former moniker of the roadway, Jefferson Davis Highway.
The objectives of the plan include but aren’t limited to: encouragement of mixed-use development, enhancement of gateway areas where people enter the county and promotion of bicycle and pedestrian improvements on Route 1. Projects must be in line with the stated goals of the plan to be considered for the grant program.
Residential, commercial and mixed-use projects are eligible for program consideration, Director of Community Enhancement Dan Cohen said in an interview.
The 4-year-old grant program has been renewed several times over the years, and was slated to end Dec. 31, 2023, until the board most recently extended it. The program originally required developments to be at least $5 million investments, but that requirement was later increased to the current $10 million threshold.
“We want to encourage a higher-dollar value of investment,” Cohen said.
The Board of Supervisors and Economic Development Authority provide the approval needed for projects to take advantage of the program.
The entirety of the Route 1 corridor south to the county line should be eligible for such a program. Then again, the issue is getting rezoning and site plan approval in a timely manner in Chesterfield County. I suspect that it’s the slowest process among all local jurisdictions now. Incentives mean little to developers if the clock is ticking while plans languish in bureacracy.
Maybe some of the land near 95 and 288 could be used for a project simular to the Green City project in Henrico. This could be used to attact more youth sports events as well.