Henrico residents debate future of the Brook Road corridor

An arena? A park? A zoo? Henrico County and nearby residents have several ideas for the former site of Best Products’ headquarters, which sits just east of Brook Road.

At a March 23 planning workshop attended by more than 60 residents, Henrico Planning Director Joe Emerson said that the county’s goal is to build an arena on the site, but that decision is not yet set in stone. The county has already met with developers to discuss the potential of an arena, but even if the arena idea is rejected, there will be “an economic catalyst of some type” built on the site, Emerson said.

The site was to be the location of the planned $2-billion GreenCity development, until those plans fell apart when the developers failed to make necessary payments.

At Monday's meeting, Henrico planners also discussed the county’s vision for the Brook Road corridor, which stretches from Magellan Parkway to Hillard Road, as a walkable area with attractive businesses, public gathering spaces, and a unique community-centered character.

Many residents had similar desires for the area, which some neighbors see as a current “dead zone” with antiquated, “eye sore” businesses and a “sea of asphalt.” Resident Nicole Brook-Giles said she would like to see more pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, more green space, and a corridor with more family-centered, small shops and restaurants.

“When you walk in the older neighborhoods, there are no sidewalks and it’s not safe. If we’re redoing that whole area, make the existing neighborhoods newer, more modern, and safer,” she said. “I would want to make them more pedestrian-friendly and child-friendly, with sidewalks and biking trails.”

Some neighbors expressed concerns that developing the area further could bring in more residents and visitors that would flood existing neighborhoods with traffic. But in order to bring in more attractive businesses and more pedestrian-friendly areas, Brook Road will need to accommodate more people, said resident Julie Steele.

“All these things people are saying – they want bike lanes, they want public transit, they want walkability – you’ve got to have people there who are close enough to walk, which means higher density,” she said. “None of those things work without increasing the density of the area.”

Some residents also said they felt hesitant about building a 10,000 to 13,000-seat arena adjacent to their neighborhoods. Traffic controls such as speed limit reductions and natural noise barriers would be essential to preserve the quiet character of the residences, they said.

“I think an arena would be a terrible neighbor,” said Steele. “Nobody lives there, it’s just a big no man's land that is an empty parking lot most of the time.”

Neighbors had several other ideas for the former Best Products site, which spans 320 acres and sits southeast of the intersection between Interstate-95 and Interstate-295.

Some people proposed redesigning the site as a large park, preserving the wetlands and rural areas while creating walking paths that have signage detailing the area’s Civil War history. Others proposed a zoo, a library, or other establishments that would bring the community together rather than be a “passing through” spot for visitors. (The North Park Library, which opened in 2001, already sits nearly across Parham Road from the site.)

Henrico aims to redevelop areas adjacent to Brook Road stretching from the Virginia Center Commons all the way down to the Henrico-Richmond boundary line, said Emerson. Along with the Brook Road/Best Products sites, the county also has held a charrette for the nearby Lakeside Avenue corridor.

“Brook Road has been a focus of ours for a long time,” Emerson said. “The market is maturing and development is swinging in this eastward direction now. The residential density is getting here and the county is filling up.”

Henrico’s Planning Department will continue to discuss the Brook Road corridor in studio sessions held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 25 and 26 at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. Redesigns of both the corridor and the Lakeside Avenue area will be presented to the public over the summer along with other components of the county’s proposed comprehensive plan, Emerson said.

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.