A map shows the site of the planned Wegmans distribution facility in Hanover County. (BizSense file images)
Following a string of permit approvals and court decisions in its favor, Wegmans Food Markets has moved ahead with purchasing the site of a planned distribution facility and regional headquarters in Hanover County.
But at least one legal challenge to the project remains in play.
The supermarket chain closed July 20 on the nearly 220-acre site where it’s approved to build the 1.1 million-square-foot, $175 million facility. Commonwealth Commercial Partners, which brokered the deal, reported the purchase price at $4 million.
The closing came five days after a Hanover Circuit Court judge issued an opinion letter calling for the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged the county’s approval of the project last year. The suit, which had been amended after an initial opinion last fall, this time was dismissed in its entirety and with prejudice, meaning the group of homeowners behind it cannot bring the case again.
A draft order to that effect was filed with the court July 29. An official order from Judge J. Overton Harris had yet to be entered as of Monday.
The purchase signals a major step forward for the project, which was announced in late 2019 and has faced opposition from the group and the Hanover County NAACP, who argue that its location would adversely impact neighboring communities that are largely African-American.
An aerial view of the Wegmans distribution facility site.
The site is between Hanover County Municipal Airport and the intersection of Ashcake and Sliding Hill roads. The wooded property was zoned for manufacturing use in the mid-1990s.
The seller was Air Park Associates LP, which purchased the property for $202,000 in 1986. The county most recently assessed the property at $4.7 million.
A Wegmans spokesperson on Monday confirmed the closing and said that work on the site “will begin soon.”
The purchase follows several steps that have needed to be taken for Wegmans to be able to move forward with the project.
In March, the State Water Control Board awarded a water protection permit needed for the project, and in June, a wetlands disturbance permit was awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The 220-acre site east of the Hanover County airport planned for a Wegmans distribution facility and regional headquarters. (Courtesy of Hanover County)
The water protection permit is being challenged in Richmond Circuit Court by the homeowners group, called Protect Hanover, the Hanover NAACP and other plaintiffs. Their attorney, Brian Buniva, said they’re weighing a potential challenge of the wetlands disturbance permit in federal court, as well as an appeal of the Hanover lawsuit’s dismissal to the Virginia Supreme Court.
Buniva said he was surprised that Wegmans went forward with the land purchase in light of the legal challenges that remain outstanding. The case against the Water Control Board’s decision, which Buniva filed in April, remains active but hasn’t progressed since May, as Buniva said an administrative record of the board’s decision that’s needed for the case to proceed has yet to be filed.
Buniva said he was planning to inquire with the attorney general’s office about the filing and would ask the court to order the filing if it isn’t done soon.
As for the project, Buniva said, “If they start construction, we certainly would seek an injunction to stop it, so that irreparable harm isn’t committed while the lawsuits are pending.”
A timeframe for the project has not been released. The company spokesperson did not indicate a schedule for development.
A site plan for the project, prepared by Richmond-based Timmons Group, was approved by the county planning department last month.
Commonwealth Commercial’s Bill Barnett, who represented Air Park Associates in the deal along with colleagues Joe Buhrman and Chris Jenkins, said the timing of the purchase was reflective of the recent developments surrounding the project.
An image of an existing Wegmans distribution facility.
“I think Wegmans satisfied themselves that if they closed on the property, they’d be able to go forward with the project,” Barnett said.
The facility is planned to deliver products to Wegmans’ southernmost stores and support further growth for the company. It is expected to create 700 full-time jobs, 140 or so of which would be executive-level positions.
The company is set to receive $2.35 million in state incentives that Gov. Ralph Northam approved through a Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund grant, which Hanover matched. The county also is allocating $1.5 million for infrastructure improvements to accommodate the project, including utilities and transportation upgrades.
Meanwhile, another distribution facility for a major retailer appears to be moving forward in another part of the county. A two-month land disturbance permit involving a stream diversion plan was issued by the county this spring for the 1.1 million-square-foot distribution center for Lowe’s Home Improvement planned at Hickory Hill Road and Interstate 95.
The post Wegmans pays $4M for 220-acre site of contested Hanover County facility appeared first on Richmond BizSense.