Despite setbacks, Libbie Mill steadily progressing

When the development of Libbie Mill Midtown began in 2013, it was envisioned as the largest redevelopment project in Henrico County’s history and as a gateway project to the county. The mixed use development was planned to be the first thing visitors would see coming off I-64 at Staples Mill Road or leaving the City of Richmond along the West Broad Street or Staples Mill corridors.

Of course, few could have envisioned the coronavirus outbreak or the impact it would have on everything from real estate to construction, Libbie Mill Midtown included. Yet in spite of causing delays or stops to development across the country and even within Henrico, so far work on the next phase of Libbie Mill has continued with only small setbacks.

According to Shane Finnegan, vice president of Gumenick Properties, construction has continued on Libbie Mill Midtown’s two ongoing projects, largely without issue aside from some greater safety measures, and that the issues that have come up have largely been related to the supply chain.

“We have had to manage through several material delays, a lot of it mainly stuff coming from out of state,” Finnegan said. “We have been fortunate that there hasn’t been anything too widespread, and have been able to manage around those issues.”

Another thing that has helped is that much of the planning work on the two projects was completed before the outbreak began.

“We were at the beginning of the year just breaking ground on these two major projects, the Wellsmith Apartment buildings, and the Corner Shops. Both had been in planning for all of 2019,” Finnegan said. “We were fortunate in both cases that the plans were already in place, the process laid out, the contractors had been hired and work started before the first outbreaks, so the completion dates so far remain on track.”

The Corner Shops, a 12,700-square-feet strip mall built over a former Wells Fargo location, recently announced its first tenant, a Starbucks (with a planned drive-through) that will occupy 2,490 square feet at the corner. Gumenick also has begun preliminary discussions with other retailers regarding the five additional retail spaces in the strip, although there are no lease agreements in place currently. The building is on track to be completed by mid-August.

Construction also is underway on Wellsmith Apartments, which will bring another 349 apartment units to Libbie Mill in late 2021. There are plans in the works potentially to build a 142,000-square-feet office building in Libbie Mill, though no construction work has begun on that yet.

What has been impacted by the coronavirus are future plans for further development, which, like many plans for retail spaces, must now adapt to a post-pandemic world – and to how shoppers used to avoiding crowds and social distancing may choose to shop in the future.

“We are evaluating the landscape, because that has obviously changed because of COVID-19, and we will need to,” Finnegan said. “We are still selling homes and building, we are working through scenarios on what to do with the area north of the lake, and seeing what, if anything, may need to be taken into account in a post-outbreak landscape.”

An anchor project for the area
This isn’t the first time plans for the area have changed.

The site originally was home to apartments built after WWII; Gumenick Properties demolished them and had plans approved by Henrico County for what was then called the Staples Mill Centre in 2007 – plans that eventually were delayed and then tossed out entirely after the real estate market crashed.

Even Libbie Mill has seen some changes and setbacks; the closure of a Southern Seasons anchor store in 2016 was one, and a decrease in the number of planned townhomes in favor of more office space another.

Yet even with those setbacks, Libbie Mill has found its footing – the former Southern Seasons is now corporate headquarters to Lumber Liquidators, which relocated to Libbie Mill from Williamsburg last year.

Brookland District supervisor Dan Schmitt hailed progress made on Libbie Mill, not just during the past few months, but since the development’s conception.

“I go by every couple of days, and it’s impressive to watch it go up a little more each day – it’s coming along really well,” Schmitt said. “Lumber Liquidators just moved in, the Libbie Mill Library has been a gem since it opened, and along with Willow Lawn and Westwood, it’s been a real anchor project for the area.”

More than any apartments or strip malls though, the project that has earned Schmitt’s attention recently has been the redevelopment and expansion of Bethlehem Road to handle two lanes of traffic each way, as well as the addition of drainage and sidewalks on both sides – all currently on track to be completed by mid-August.

“I’ve been very happy to see how that has come along,” Schmitt said. “That part of Bethlehem Road has needed this for some time. It’s very important that we don’t add all this development to the area without making sure the infrastructure keeps up.”

A public meeting about future plans for the Libbie Mill area is scheduled for July 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the Libbie Mill Library, and public comments are welcome.

“Libbie Mill offers a good blueprint for the future of mixed use development, and it could turn into a hallmark for this part of Henrico County in time,” Schmitt said. “Just as important, though, is making sure it suits the needs of residents, now and moving forward.”

Whatever the future may bring to Libbie Mill Midtown, the plans for Henrico’s gateway project continue to unfold – something that even COVID-19 hasn’t stopped.

“A lot of the work goes in years before construction even begins,” Finnegan said. “Some of what we’re building today has been in the planning stages for years – it’s finally coming together.

“We’ve been planning this for a long time, it’s been under construction in one part or another for seven years now, so we’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished so far, and greater things are still in the pipeline.”