Development is progressing for Woolridge Landing, a 120-acre project taking shape near Swift Creek Reservoir. (Photos courtesy StyleCraft Homes)
Five years after it was first proposed, a scaled-down version of a senior-centric development near Woodlake in Chesterfield is beginning to take shape.
Construction is underway on what’s ultimately planned to total 165 age-restricted homes from local builder StyleCraft Homes at Woolridge Landing, a 120-acre development along the west side of Woolridge Road at its intersection with Timber Bluff Parkway.
The development by Woolridge Investment Co., a group of investors led by developer Don Balzer Jr., already includes the recently opened Watercrest Richmond, a 98-unit assisted living and memory care facility from Florida-based Watercrest Senior Living Group.
Also planned are 10 single-family homes by Powhatan-based Clay Street Builders, in addition to StyleCraft’s single-level homes for residents aged 55 and up.
A revised site plan for the project, which was reduced in density since it was first proposed. (County documents)
Originally proposed in 2018 for as many as 215 homes, including townhomes and a medical office building that have been removed, Woolridge Landing was scaled down in terms of density and uses in response to concerns from neighboring property owners about traffic and environmental impacts.
Richard Kuhn
StyleCraft President Richard Kuhn, whose company has worked with Balzer before on the nearby Cambria Cove subdivision, credited the namesake of longtime engineering firm Balzer and Associates with responding to those concerns and getting the project across the finish line.
“It was just a very intense zoning process,” Kuhn said. “There was a lot of opposition, but I think that Don did an excellent job working with the surrounding neighbors and the county to meet in the middle and ultimately produce a really viable project for the area.”
Balzer, who retired from his namesake firm in 2005 and is now a developer and partner with Powhatan-based Benchmark Construction, could not be reached last week.
Filling a wooded tract around Spring Creek Baptist Church across Swift Creek Reservoir from Genito Road, Woolridge Landing kicked off with Watercrest Richmond, which opened in April. The roughly 8-acre Watercrest site was sold to the development group for $1.4 million in early 2021. The property is now assessed by the county at nearly $21 million, including the improvements.
A southward view of the site.
The 10 single-family lots for Clay Street Builders are located closer to the reservoir.
StyleCraft opened a model home and completed four spec homes onsite earlier this year while starting development on two more sections.
One of the 55-and-up homes StyleCraft is building at Woolridge Landing.
The Lakeside-based firm is building two versions of its patio-style homes. The 40- and 50-foot-wide homes start in the $490,000s with two or more bedrooms and bathrooms, two-car garages and 1,600 to 2,800 square feet of living space. The homes also include outdoor living spaces.
Community amenities will include a clubhouse with fitness center and pool, pickleball courts, walking trails and a dog park.
Kuhn said the homes would be a similar product to what StyleCraft has built in Greenwich Village at Foxcreek and at Ashford Hills, two other 55-plus communities in the area.
Pictured from left: Matt Ohlschlager, Don Balzer, Richard Kuhn and Tim Jones.
Balzer and Associates’ Andy Scherzer represented the development group in the rezoning, and Matt Ohlschlager and Tim Jones with C&F Bank handled the project’s financing. When the original plan was proposed in 2018, Balzer described it as a $14 million project.
Meanwhile, StyleCraft is adding to its workload on both sides of the river, with 420 townhomes and apartments in the works in Chesterfield’s Rockwood area, and 160 townhomes planned in Henrico off Chamberlayne Road near Azalea Avenue.
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