Benton Woods, a proposed subdivision planned near the interchange of Chippenham Parkway and Iron Bridge Road. (Images courtesy Chesterfield)
A proposed residential development in Chesterfield would fill out a large piece of an area that county officials want to see revitalized.
Cross Creek Development Corp. is seeking zoning approval to build an 85-lot subdivision at 4911 Iron Bridge Road, near the Chippenham Parkway and Iron Bridge Road interchange.
Called Benton Woods, the project was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission last week and is headed to the Board of Supervisors for a final verdict.
The developer hopes to break ground in spring 2025 with construction to start that fall or in early 2026, according to Cross Creek President Don Balzer.
The 27-acre Benton Woods site is among the largest undeveloped parcels within the county’s Ridgedale Special Focus Area. The county land-use plan encourages new commercial, residential and recreational development for the 580-acre area at Chippenham and Iron Bridge just inside Chesterfield near the Richmond city limits.
The county’s Special Focus Area plans are used to provide guidance on how to handle development in specific areas considered ripe for transformation or deemed in the midst of change. Benton Woods had been in the works before the Ridgedale plan’s adoption in late 2023.
Planning Commissioner LeQuan Hylton, who represents the Dale District where the subdivision is proposed, was supportive of Benton Woods because he felt its future residents would help power current and anticipated commercial activity that the Ridgedale plan is designed to foster.
“We do need residential units on the ground in order to move through the Ridgedale plan we have outlined. We know that the number of residential roofs you have around commercial will help improve the success of commercial businesses that are in the area,” Hylton said.
The project area is owned by the estate of Elizabeth Benton and is under contract to be sold to Cross Creek pending zoning approval. The land was most recently assessed at about $547,000, according to online county land records.
A similarly sized parcel also within the Ridgedale plan area is owned by the Sikh Gurdwara of Richmond, and that property is largely undeveloped except for the house of worship there. Also in the Ridgedale zone is a portion of Mary B. Stratton Park.
HHHunt has been tapped to build the homes at Benton Woods. At this time, the homes in the development are expected to be listed in the low- to mid-$300,000s, Balzer said.
The project would feature three types of lot sizes, ranging from 3,500-square-foot lots with a minimum width of 35 feet, up to 12,000-square-foot lots with a minimum width of 65 feet, according to the staff report.
Conceptual renderings of homes that would be built at the proposed Benton Woods subdivision in Chesterfield County.
Exceptions are being sought for reductions to lot size, road frontage and setbacks. The development would have a density of 3.2 units per acre. The county’s comprehensive plan calls for single-family development with a density of 2 to 4 units per acre where the project site is located.
The project includes plans for open space and a walking trail. The staff report states that potential outdoor amenities could also include patio swings and pocket parks.
The development would have vehicular access to Iron Bridge from Burnt Oak Drive, as well as to Garland Heights, an adjacent subdivision, by way of Seagrave Avenue and Haymarket Lane.
Balzer is seeking to rezone the property to R-12 residential with conditional use planned development from the site’s current agricultural and R-7 residential zonings.
Benchmark Construction, where Balzer is a partner, is the project’s general contractor. Engineering firm Balzer and Associates, which Balzer was formerly president of before selling the company, is also involved in the project.
Elsewhere in Chesterfield, Balzer is working on a residential project that would develop 139 acres on Swift Creek Reservoir.
What is with this suburban design? HUGE garage with tiny house attached….
“What we’re thinking is to take out the wall between the kitchen and living room for a more OPEN CONCEPT” – Randy Marsh
I first started seeing this in the plains States. I call it “Garage Forward” and the initial designs were pretty ugly.
“Garage Forward” has improved I must say. I think the deal is that when the lot size is small there is not enough room for side or rear garages, and longer driveways are expensive as well as require more land.
It all makes sense, and what one might as well do is make the garage more attractive, which is easy unless you hate the automobile or something — people make them look barn-y or carriagehouse-y.
Yeah,open floor plan in your new barnamimium.
I really hope the developer talked with Vdot about what the final interchange will look like to avoid it having to devour these homes if they rebuild it 5 years from now.