Code-named ‘Project Gale’ would add 2.4M-square-foot warehouse development near Chester

project gale westdulles site plan

Developer WestDulles Properties has filed plans to build two warehouses totaling 2.4 million square feet outside Chester. (Courtesy Chesterfield)

A Northern Virginia developer wants to build a pair of warehouses on a Chesterfield site once envisioned as part of a massive paper products manufacturing campus.

Reston-based WestDulles Properties is planning to build a 2.4-million-square-foot industrial project on 169 acres at 1400 Battery Brooke Parkway, according to a site plan recently filed with Chesterfield County.

The proposal is the developer’s latest pitch for a property it has owned for several years and was previously going to be part of a Shandong Tranlin Paper Co. production facility announced by the Terry McAuliffe administration a decade ago. That sprawling $2 billion project never materialized.

The WestDulles project is proposed for a three-parcel assemblage that also includes 9705 Coach Road and a portion of 1120 Battery Brooke Parkway. The site is just northeast of Chester in the James River Industrial Center.

The project has been dubbed “Project Gale,” and its proposed use is office and warehouse, according to the site plan. The undeveloped land is zoned heavy industrial (I-3).

One of the buildings would be 2 million square feet and feature 25,000 square feet of office space. The other building would be 421,000 square feet with 10,000 square feet devoted to office space, according to the plans. The property would feature 1,100 regular parking spaces, 480 spaces for tractor-trailers and nearly 300 loading-dock spaces.

Planning materials submitted to Chesterfield don’t identify a tenant or tenants for the development. The project’s anticipated construction timeline and cost were likewise unclear.

WestDulles Properties declined to comment on the project.

Timmons Group is the project’s engineering firm.

The project appears to be a new iteration of WestDulles Properties’ TradePort 95 project, which was, according to the company’s website, at one point envisioned as a development of 1.3 million square feet spread across three warehouse buildings on a smaller acreage than Project Gale.

The majority of the project area, 110 acres at 1400 Battery Brooke Parkway, is owned by an LLC tied to WestDulles Properties. The company acquired the land for $6.9 million in 2021, according to online county land records. The rest of the project area is owned by Reynolds Real Estate Ventures LLC, which was the seller in the 2021 deal.

The WestDulles industrial project site is next to a facility owned by Bissell, a Michigan-based maker of vacuum cleaners, whose property was also carved out of the assemblage once eyed by Shandong Tranlin.

WestDulles is also busy elsewhere in the Richmond region. It’s working on securing zoning approvals for Iron Horse Business Park, which is proposed to rise on an assemblage that straddles Ashland’s eastern boundary with Hanover County.

The company also owns the Ruffin Mill Center in Chesterfield as well as the Byrd Center in Henrico County. It acquired both industrial properties in 2018.

project gale westdulles site plan

Developer WestDulles Properties has filed plans to build two warehouses totaling 2.4 million square feet outside Chester. (Courtesy Chesterfield)

A Northern Virginia developer wants to build a pair of warehouses on a Chesterfield site once envisioned as part of a massive paper products manufacturing campus.

Reston-based WestDulles Properties is planning to build a 2.4-million-square-foot industrial project on 169 acres at 1400 Battery Brooke Parkway, according to a site plan recently filed with Chesterfield County.

The proposal is the developer’s latest pitch for a property it has owned for several years and was previously going to be part of a Shandong Tranlin Paper Co. production facility announced by the Terry McAuliffe administration a decade ago. That sprawling $2 billion project never materialized.

The WestDulles project is proposed for a three-parcel assemblage that also includes 9705 Coach Road and a portion of 1120 Battery Brooke Parkway. The site is just northeast of Chester in the James River Industrial Center.

The project has been dubbed “Project Gale,” and its proposed use is office and warehouse, according to the site plan. The undeveloped land is zoned heavy industrial (I-3).

One of the buildings would be 2 million square feet and feature 25,000 square feet of office space. The other building would be 421,000 square feet with 10,000 square feet devoted to office space, according to the plans. The property would feature 1,100 regular parking spaces, 480 spaces for tractor-trailers and nearly 300 loading-dock spaces.

Planning materials submitted to Chesterfield don’t identify a tenant or tenants for the development. The project’s anticipated construction timeline and cost were likewise unclear.

WestDulles Properties declined to comment on the project.

Timmons Group is the project’s engineering firm.

The project appears to be a new iteration of WestDulles Properties’ TradePort 95 project, which was, according to the company’s website, at one point envisioned as a development of 1.3 million square feet spread across three warehouse buildings on a smaller acreage than Project Gale.

The majority of the project area, 110 acres at 1400 Battery Brooke Parkway, is owned by an LLC tied to WestDulles Properties. The company acquired the land for $6.9 million in 2021, according to online county land records. The rest of the project area is owned by Reynolds Real Estate Ventures LLC, which was the seller in the 2021 deal.

The WestDulles industrial project site is next to a facility owned by Bissell, a Michigan-based maker of vacuum cleaners, whose property was also carved out of the assemblage once eyed by Shandong Tranlin.

WestDulles is also busy elsewhere in the Richmond region. It’s working on securing zoning approvals for Iron Horse Business Park, which is proposed to rise on an assemblage that straddles Ashland’s eastern boundary with Hanover County.

The company also owns the Ruffin Mill Center in Chesterfield as well as the Byrd Center in Henrico County. It acquired both industrial properties in 2018.

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Justin Ranson
Justin Ranson
10 months ago

Codenaming these giant warehouses is the stupidest development trend of the 21st century.

Last edited 10 months ago by Justin Ranson
David Humphrey
David Humphrey
10 months ago
Reply to  Justin Ranson

It’s the companies that make everyone sign an NDA.

David Adler
David Adler
10 months ago
Reply to  Justin Ranson

Ha ha! You read my mind!

Scott Brown
Scott Brown
10 months ago

Instead of all the wharehouses up and down 95 and Route 1, it would be nice if someone would build an indoor sports complex like the one in VA Beach.

David Humphrey
David Humphrey
10 months ago
Reply to  Scott Brown

You mean like the Henrico Sports and Events Center at Virginia Center? Not quite as big, but at 185k sq ft it is getting up there. I’m sure it can be expanded in the future if needed. https://henrico.us/projects/henrico-sports-and-event-center/

David Adler
David Adler
10 months ago
Reply to  David Humphrey

Ditto

Scott Brown
Scott Brown
10 months ago
Reply to  David Humphrey

Sorry, but the Henrico project is just a filler for the old VA Center area and a convention center without the expenses of downtown. location.
It is too small and doesn’t even have an indoor track or futsal courts. There will be more meetings there than sports.
It’s a good start but Henrico could have done better. Chesterfield could also do better.