Emerson tweaking 261-unit ‘workforce housing’ project near Meadowville tech park

A site plan of the proposed Enon Corner residential development in Chesterfield. (County documents)

The challenge of developing lower priced housing and keeping project costs low enough to do so is playing out with a so-called “workforce housing” proposal near Chesterfield’s Meadowville Technology Park.

Developer George Emerson is proposing a 261-unit development on 30 acres at Route 10 and North Enon Church Road, in the county’s Enon area. The location is just east of the Interstate 295 interchange and south of the tech park, where Danish companies Lego and Topsoe are moving in and Irish data center company Chirisa is expanding.

The 141 townhomes and 120 condominiums would be targeted to area workers and lower income homebuyers, with prices starting in the upper $290,000s, Emerson said.

Sample elevations of the planned townhomes.

“That’s crazy to say that’s going to be workforce housing, but it is,” Emerson said of the price point, which he’s trying to achieve by keeping development costs low.

Not included in his proposal are sidewalks that county planners say are needed along the two adjoining roads. And at 8.7 units per acre, the project’s density is higher than the 8 per acre recommended for the area in the county’s comprehensive plan.

For those reasons, county planners do not support the project as proposed, and recommended that the Planning Commission deny Emerson’s requests for rezoning and conditional-use approvals.

At its meeting this week, the commission instead deferred the requests to its next meeting, Oct. 15. Emerson said the time between will be spent discussing those issues with the county, starting with a meeting with planners next week.

George Emerson

“Today, there is no such thing as affordable housing in Chesterfield County, and when you look at all the items that you have to put in a development to get recommendations for approval, you can’t develop and provide any type of workforce housing,” Emerson said.

“We’re talking about what items we need to provide and what items we don’t need to provide in order to make this thing where the people that work there can live in the Enon corridor,” he said. “We’ve had very good conversations, Chesterfield’s been very good to work with, and we’re going to work through those items. That’s why we deferred it, to try to work through those items.”

No stranger to the area, Emerson’s developments include nearby Meadowville Landing as well as, with collaborator Phil Roper, The Jane at Moore’s Lake apartments and other residential developments along Route 1 north of Chester.

Called “Enon Corner,” the proposed development would fill the 30-acre site with a mix of two- or three-story townhomes and four-story condo buildings, according to sample elevations submitted to the county. The townhomes would be a minimum of 1,200 square feet, while the sizes of the condos are not specified.

The proposed condominium buildings could rise four stories.

Planned amenities include two pickleball courts, a pavilion area, a playground and a walking path around a stormwater basin.

The site consists of four parcels at 2020 Burgess Road, 1800 E. Hundred Road, and 13917 and 13921 N. Enon Church Road. Portions of the site have previously been zoned for a mix of development including up to 130 residential units.

In recommending denial, county planners said in a staff report that the higher density, lack of sidewalks and other modifications sought in Emerson’s conditional-use request “would provide development standards that are less beneficial to adjoining property owners and (would not) provide an integrated plan that remains consistent with existing commercial and residential development in the area.”

Hirschler attorney Jeff Geiger is representing Emerson in his requests. The project also involves Townes Site Engineering, which prepared the submitted conceptual plans.

Also deferred to Oct. 15 was a rezoning request from local builder Main Street Homes for a 34-home subdivision on 17 acres at 500 Old Otterdale Road, across Route 288 from Watkins Centre. Planning staff recommended approval of that project.