As it prepares to finish out its first batch of townhomes at Westchester Commons, StyleCraft Homes is setting the stage for dozens more units following a recent seven-figure land purchase.
The Lakeside-based builder purchased 4.5 acres within the filling-out shopping center at Route 288 and Midlothian Turnpike, adding to 6.5 acres it bought there three years ago for an initial wave of the 202 townhomes it’s building, called The Edge at Westchester Commons.
An entity tied to StyleCraft paid $2.4 million in this latest purchase, which closed Dec. 23. The 4.5 acres consist of three undeveloped parcels at the shopping center’s northernmost roundabout that connects Watkins Centre Parkway and WC Commons Drive.
StyleCraft is planning 94 more units on that land, adding to 108 it’s been building nearby beside the Panera Bread and Bank of America branch. Sixty-five of those initial homes have been built so far and 40 have been sold, with an average sale price of about $540,000.
The company plans to break ground on the remaining 43 homes in the first phase this spring, while the 94 homes that will finish out The Edge are planned for development in mid-2026, StyleCraft President Richard Kuhn said.
Of the homes built and sold so far, Kuhn said, “It’s really starting to look like a community now.”
“When you start building something that’s in the middle of a shopping center, at first you can’t paint that picture. But now we have 75 percent of phase one under construction,” he said. “Sales are going great and we’re excited about it.”
The rest of the homes will be similar to those built so far, with three- and four-story units ranging from 2,000 to 2,800 square feet in size and with two to four bedrooms and 2½ to 3½ bathrooms. Poole & Poole Architects designed the homes, which include an option for a rooftop terrace.
Prices for the homes will be comparable to the first phase, though likely higher due to increasing building costs, said Kathryn Catherwood, StyleCraft’s sales and marketing director.
StyleCraft paid $3.8 million for the initial 6.5 acres that it purchased in 2022. Assessment values for the properties were not available on Chesterfield County property records posted online.
The seller in both deals was Zaremba Metropolitan Midlothian LLC, an entity tied to Ohio-based Zaremba Group, which developed Westchester Commons. It was represented in both deals by Alex Wotring, Kevin South and David Crawford with Thalhimer.
The center is now owned by CalSTRS, short for California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which co-owned Westchester Commons with Zaremba until 2014, when it bought out Zaremba’s stake in the joint venture.
The townhomes add more residential density that started at the shopping center with The Vue at Westchester Commons apartments, which were developed by George Emerson and Phil Roper.
More residential density is on the way nearby, as work started last year on HHHunt Communities’ The Aire at Westchester, a mixed-use development with 2,200 homes that’s set to fill parts of a 334-acre tract directly west of Westchester Commons.
Correction: This latest purchase was for 4.5 acres. An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported a larger acreage.
As it prepares to finish out its first batch of townhomes at Westchester Commons, StyleCraft Homes is setting the stage for dozens more units following a recent seven-figure land purchase.
The Lakeside-based builder purchased 4.5 acres within the filling-out shopping center at Route 288 and Midlothian Turnpike, adding to 6.5 acres it bought there three years ago for an initial wave of the 202 townhomes it’s building, called The Edge at Westchester Commons.
An entity tied to StyleCraft paid $2.4 million in this latest purchase, which closed Dec. 23. The 4.5 acres consist of three undeveloped parcels at the shopping center’s northernmost roundabout that connects Watkins Centre Parkway and WC Commons Drive.
StyleCraft is planning 94 more units on that land, adding to 108 it’s been building nearby beside the Panera Bread and Bank of America branch. Sixty-five of those initial homes have been built so far and 40 have been sold, with an average sale price of about $540,000.
The company plans to break ground on the remaining 43 homes in the first phase this spring, while the 94 homes that will finish out The Edge are planned for development in mid-2026, StyleCraft President Richard Kuhn said.
Of the homes built and sold so far, Kuhn said, “It’s really starting to look like a community now.”
“When you start building something that’s in the middle of a shopping center, at first you can’t paint that picture. But now we have 75 percent of phase one under construction,” he said. “Sales are going great and we’re excited about it.”
The rest of the homes will be similar to those built so far, with three- and four-story units ranging from 2,000 to 2,800 square feet in size and with two to four bedrooms and 2½ to 3½ bathrooms. Poole & Poole Architects designed the homes, which include an option for a rooftop terrace.
Prices for the homes will be comparable to the first phase, though likely higher due to increasing building costs, said Kathryn Catherwood, StyleCraft’s sales and marketing director.
StyleCraft paid $3.8 million for the initial 6.5 acres that it purchased in 2022. Assessment values for the properties were not available on Chesterfield County property records posted online.
The seller in both deals was Zaremba Metropolitan Midlothian LLC, an entity tied to Ohio-based Zaremba Group, which developed Westchester Commons. It was represented in both deals by Alex Wotring, Kevin South and David Crawford with Thalhimer.
The center is now owned by CalSTRS, short for California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which co-owned Westchester Commons with Zaremba until 2014, when it bought out Zaremba’s stake in the joint venture.
The townhomes add more residential density that started at the shopping center with The Vue at Westchester Commons apartments, which were developed by George Emerson and Phil Roper.
More residential density is on the way nearby, as work started last year on HHHunt Communities’ The Aire at Westchester, a mixed-use development with 2,200 homes that’s set to fill parts of a 334-acre tract directly west of Westchester Commons.
Correction: This latest purchase was for 4.5 acres. An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported a larger acreage.
Now they need to build sidewalks and a proper crosswalk along Route 60.