By ops@our-hometown.com | on August 31, 2022

Plans for the 105-acre site at the Genito Road and Route 288 include a 6-acre surf park, an amphitheater, two hotels, more than 700 residential units as well as office space, retail and entertainment venues. RENDERING COURTESEY OF FLATWATER VENTURES

The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 last week to approve a performance grant agreement with Lake Adventures LLC for a surf park project in the River City “entertainment district.”

“The Lake” is a 105-acre mixed-use project planned at the intersection of Genito Road and Route 288 featuring a 6-acre surf park, amphitheater, two hotels, more than 700 residential units, 100,000 square-feet of office space and 150,000 square-feet of retail and entertainment adjacent to the county’s Genito/288 Special Focus Area plan. According to the county, the project represents an estimated $323 million capital investment.

Richmond-based developer Brett Burkhart of Flatwater Ventures met with supervisors in the two weeks preceding the August meeting, and after the better part of seven years of preliminary zoning and site plan details, the project recently broke ground in July.

“The anchor for this project is entertainment,” Burkhart said. “We’d like to say that, and out of everybody that comes, one in 10 will get wet – so the other nine people that come are coming to participate in these events that will host throughout the year.”

Clover Hill’s supervisor and board Chair Chris Winslow, Dale District representative Jim Holland and Midlothian Supervisor Tara Carroll voted in favor; Matoaca’s Kevin Carroll and Bermuda’s Jim Ingle voted against the agreement, although both stipulated during discussion that they favored the project, but were not fully on board with the terms of the agreement, as written.

The performance grant provides a partial rebate of the incremental increase in local taxes collected from the project’s mixed-use elements over two decades. For the first decade, the developer will receive an annual grant from the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority equal to 80% of the increase in real estate, sales and occupancy taxes paid on the commercial and entertainment portions of its property; the tax rebate threshold falls to 60% for years 11 through 20.

Over the full life of the agreement, the rebate is 40% for two 300-unit mixed-use buildings that will have commercial space on the ground floor and multifamily housing on the floors above; there is no rebate of taxes assessed to residential-only buildings.

According to the county, the grant is intended to offset additional expenses from building parking decks opposed to installing surface lots.

The undeveloped parcels that are zoned for The Lake currently generate about $400,000 per year in local tax revenue. Even after the rebates, that’s expected to increase to $1.6 million annually over the duration of the 20-year grant period.

The undeveloped property is currently assessed around $4.7 million, but Deputy County Administrator for Finance and Administration Matt Harris emphasized its potential for much greater future returns due to its proximity to the River City Sportsplex; Burkhart, too, called it a “junior anchor” in relation to the sportsplex in speaking with supervisors.

This point was part of the reason Matoaca’s Carroll said he could not vote in favor of the agreement, however, due to the lack of a cap on the longevity of the agreement as written.

“I would be more comfortable with something that had a cap on it,” Carroll said. “The reason I say that is because the property value is going to increase as it’s developed over time, and that performance agreement can actually be worth more than today’s dollars are, based on tomorrow’s.”

Supervisor Ingle, who voted with Carroll in opposition, also noted he is not against the project itself, but the structure of the agreement.

During the supervisors’ work session last month, Harris said the cost estimate for the incentive packages is in the $27 to $28 million range, and revenue is projected at $25 to $26 million. That roughly 50-50 split is very similar to other deals – such as the deal to bring the LEGO Group’s seventh production plant to the county (see a related story on page 5). Last week, he reemphasized how sparingly the county uses such agreements: In fiscal year 2021, “we had paid out about $10,000,” and after just closing the books on fiscal year 2022, “we had zero performance grant payments,” Harris said. “This is a practice that we use very, very sparingly.”

The sticking point, in this case, he said, is the potential to bolster Chesterfield’s budding sports tourism stake.

“We’ve talked about sort of the ‘leakage factor’ that occurs,” Harris told supervisors. “We bring all of these guests and visitors in Chesterfield County, we don’t really have a way to capture their attention [after] the event and we believe this, plus some of the other potential things with the [Genito 288] special area plan that was discussed this afternoon, will certainly give us that that opportunity – so those are really the unique factors.”

Supervisors Holland and Winslow voted in favor of the grant agreement in that vein, noting the project’s potential to bolster what the county already considers a main asset.

“This area I think, Mr. Holland nails it – is complimentary to the uses at River City sportsplex because it offers people places to put heads in beds,” Winslow said, referring to hotel night stays in the area. “It offers places for people to have dinner, lunch and breakfast. And then things to do in the area that keep people here so they have that second or third night that they otherwise may not have had, so to me, this is a difference-maker for the area.”

Capturing those audiences is central to the business plan Burkhart outlined, too, telling supervisors that he anticipated quite a large impact and “even up to possibly 50% increase in sports tourism spending that’s already in Chesterfield County,” as a result of the mixed-use development wherein The Lake is the focal point.

The surrounding vertical mixed-use buildings are defined by retail on the first floor, with residential space stacked above that, and office and hotel space separately.

“What I’m most excited for is you can’t just pull your car up to … a restaurant, you actually have to get out and walk around and visit the different retailers, restaurants, breweries, wineries, ice cream shops and things of that nature,” Burkhart said. “So I think this is something that’s really special and probably unique to all in Richmond.” ¦

Not too many years ago, Chesterfield had several summers in a row of restricted water usage. No one explains how, all of a sudden, water is not a problem? We are bringing in hoards of people and no one discusses where the water and electricity are coming from? On the other hand, the more we can do to avoid having to go to Richmond City for anything is a plus!

This development does not consider the strains it will place on the Swift Creek Reservoir or the increased sewage treatment load caused by this project. Next thing you know we’ll need yet another bond issue for water and sewer improvements, on top of this years $540 million bond issue. Also, the developers on this project clear cut all the trees for the project prior to approval of the project by the Board indicating corruption. On top of this, Dominion already installed a major substation across the street to power up this development which will be added into our electric rates, which are already up 15% this year. Although the Board is 4 out of 5 Republican, they are a true tax and spend Board who fails to recognize citizens that get stuck paying all the bills. We are held hostage by the Board.

This is another case where huge tax abatements are granted to developers while home owners are held hostage and forced to pay huge tax increases, 18.5% increase in 2022 on top of the 7.3% tax increase in 2021. We have to pay or our houses will be sold at sheriffs auction. I wish the Board would authorize a 80% tax abatement on my home, as it in reality depreciates each year (the roof, heat pumps, water heaters all fail over time). Imagine that if developers paid the full taxes that they should, we wouldn’t need the $540 million bond issue which, if passed, will require another $25 million annually just to pay interest on this new debt. I say “No to Winslow.” We will be mounting a campaign to oust him in 2023 as he constantly advocates for tax increases without our consent.

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