About 25 feet under the land where Midlothian Depot's apartments were supposed to go, there's a stormwater pipe 80 inches across. Nobody shopping at the Depot will ever see it. That pipe is why the apartments never got built, and the revised plan that replaced them is the one opening with a Whole Foods on Midlothian Turnpike on Thursday, Nov. 19.
Before construction, the land at Midlothian Turnpike and Alverser Drive, near Chesterfield Towne Center, was mostly woods, with three buildings along the Turnpike. The plan Chesterfield first approved in 2022 put a grocery store, 30,000 square feet of other retail and 350 apartments on it. That's very different from what opens on Nov. 19.
The pipe shrank the housing, and the new plan moved the grocery store
In spring 2024, the developer, Atlanta-based SJC Ventures, went back to the county with a revised plan. Richmond BizSense reported that the change started when crews found the large stormwater pipe beneath the planned apartment site. SJC principal Jeff Garrison told the outlet that moving the pipe would cost too much. Building anything heavy on top of it was also a bad idea, because a repair could mean tearing down whatever sat above it.
"Basically an 80-inch pipe that runs through the property made it impossible to develop the apartments as designed," Garrison told Richmond BizSense in April 2024. "We wanted the energy of mixed-use and we think that's what the community wants as well."
The revised plan dropped all 350 apartments and the parking garage meant for their residents. In their place it added townhomes that could be built around the pipe. The same revision moved the grocery store up to front Midlothian Turnpike and added more retail than the 2022 plan had. Chesterfield supervisors approved the new zoning in July 2024. It called for about 36,000 square feet of grocery space, 52,000 square feet of other commercial space and 60 townhomes.
Housing went from 350 units to 60. Retail outside the grocery went from 30,000 square feet to roughly 52,000. In total, the shopping buildings now come to 87,500 square feet. The project started out with a lot of housing next to a grocery store. It opens as a shopping center with a smaller group of homes at the back.
What opens on Nov. 19
The anchor is Chesterfield's first Whole Foods, at 1051 Steam Ave. It opens at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, one week before Thanksgiving, and after that it's open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. Whole Foods' Oct. 21 announcement lists the store at 37,636 square feet. India Lawal is the store team leader.
Until now, the closest Whole Foods stores were in Short Pump and at the Sauer Center in Richmond, so this becomes the region's third. It's also the chain's 17th store in Virginia. Because the 2024 plan put it on the Turnpike frontage, it's the first building you see from Route 60.
Here's what the company has announced for opening morning:
- Samples: coffee from Blanchard's Coffee Roasting Co., treats from Whisked by Jenna and cold-pressed juice from Urban Remedy.
- First 300 in line: a limited-edition Midlothian tote bag and a Secret Saver coupon worth up to $100 off.
- Giving: food and money donations to Community Access & Supportive Services, a nonprofit that already picks up surplus food from area Whole Foods stores.
The store carries more than 390 products from Virginia and nearby states. Among them are Don Sebastián salsas, Blue Ridge Bucha kombucha, beer from Hardywood and The Virginia Beer Co., and cider from Potter's Craft Cider. Genji makes sushi in the store every day. The bakery's seasonal lineup includes a Brown Sugar Apple Pie and a Holiday Cookie Box, and the timing works out for anyone shopping for Thanksgiving the following week. The company says the building uses locally sourced wood, stone and brick, with a design that draws on Virginia's Colonial architecture.
The 52,000 square feet around it
The rest of the Depot comes from that bigger retail share in the 2024 plan. When Garrison pitched the revised project, he told Richmond BizSense the tenants he was courting included "sit-down restaurants, quick-serve restaurants, breakfast restaurants, furniture and salons and fitness." The leasing lineup has stayed close to that list. In late October, he told Richmond BizSense that the center was largely leased and should be fully spoken for within weeks. "The interest has been amazing. It's a great corridor, it's only getting better," he said.
| Tenant | What it is | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Cheba Hut | Toasted sub shop, the chain's first in Virginia | Open since Sept. 25 at 1124 Steam Ave. |
| AT&T | Wireless store | Open |
| Whole Foods | Grocery anchor | Opens Nov. 19, 8 a.m. |
| Dave's Hot Chicken, Turning Point, Pure Green | Restaurants | Developer expects them before year-end |
| J.Crew, Warby Parker, Lovesac | Clothing, eyewear, furniture | Developer expects them before year-end |
| Petfolk | Veterinary clinic | Developer expects it before year-end |
| Paris Baguette, Blue Fish Grill, Bibibop, Wonder | Bakery, restaurants, delivery kitchen | In the works |
| Woof Gang, VIO, Inspire | Pet store and groomer, med spa, nail salon | In the works |
Cheba Hut has been open the longest. It's open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday, which makes it the late-night option on Steam Avenue for now. Most of the other tenants are quick meals, health appointments and personal services, the kinds of places that bring people back during the week. A row of quick-service restaurants, a vet, a groomer, a nail salon and an eyewear shop next to a grocery store adds up to an errand stop.
The townhomes in back
The housing that's left is a group of 60 for-sale townhomes by Eastwood Homes. The 2024 plan described them as two-over-two units. As of late October, seven were finished, including the model. They're three to four stories tall, run 1,900 to 2,300 square feet and start in the high $500,000s. They sit on three parcels totaling 3.6 acres. That's a small footprint next to the 350 apartments once planned here, and it's what was left after the pipe ruled out the apartment building.
The project's zoning limits it to two entrances on Route 60 and one on Alverser Drive. Shoppers and townhome owners will share those three driveways, and the grocery's opening day will be their first real test.
The rest of the season around the Depot
The Whole Foods opens at the start of a busy holiday stretch nearby, and Chesterfield's calendar has a few dates within a short drive:
- Tuesday, Nov. 24, 6 to 7 p.m.: the Clover Hill Holiday Tree Lighting at The Park at River City Sportsplex, 13030 Genito Road.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1, 6 to 7 p.m.: the Midlothian Holiday Tree Lighting at Mid-Lothian Mines Park, 13301 N. Woolridge Road.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: the CarMax Tacky Light Run at Mid-Lothian Mines Park, with the kids' mile at 3:45 p.m., the main run at 6 p.m. and a 6K route through Walton Park.
By the Tacky Light Run, the Depot should be close to the lineup in the table above. The Whole Foods will be three weeks old, and the developer expects a run of restaurants and shops to open before the end of the year.
If you live near the Turnpike and wonder how a new grocery-anchored center down the road figures into what your home is worth, Simpson Realty Group can pull the recent sales near you and walk you through them. Request your free home valuation and we'll go over your numbers together.
