Infills adding 11 million-dollar homes near Patterson and Libbie

The first three homes at Richmond Hill Design + Build’s Enclave at Westview infill were recently listed with prices around $1.6 million. (Images courtesy SRMF Real Estate)

The densification of Richmond’s Westhampton area continues with a pair of residential infills that have started taking shape and are set to add nearly a dozen new million-dollar homes near the crossroads of Libbie and Patterson avenues.

Richmond Hill Design + Build has completed the first three of 11 new homes it’s fitting into what had been two larger residential lots in the 500 block of Westview Avenue, off Patterson two blocks east of Libbie.

The three homes are the start of what it’s calling the Enclave at Westview, which will total seven homes of varying architectural styles.

A couple doors down, on the other side of an existing house that’s not included in the developments, four more homes with modern designs will make up a separate infill, to be called Cashel Modern.

A rendering of the Cashel Modern homes, which will rise nearby.

All of the homes will be sized around 3,400 square feet and priced around $1.6 million. The two- and three-story homes include four or five bedrooms, 3½ or 4½ bathrooms and two-car garages.

The Enclave’s first homes hit the market this week, including a farmhouse-style house listed at $1.6 million and a Georgian priced $15,000 higher. A transitional-style house rounds out the trio, and the remaining homes to be built include a Tudor, Spanish Revival, New England Shingle Style and Southern Style.

Those homes will be built after the Cashel Modern homes, which are underway and scheduled to be built in about eight months. The three-story modern homes will include mid-level verandas, cable railings and elevators.

An existing house separates the Enclave at Westview, left, and Cashel Modern infill sites.

The homes come four years after Richmond Hill filed plans for the infills, which were originally to consist of 13 homes with prices starting at $900,000.

Lloyd Poe, who runs Richmond Hill with his daughter Vanessa Poe, said the increases in costs for materials, land and labor since the project was announced in 2020 drove up the prices, though he noted that sale prices across Richmond have increased as well.

Lloyd Poe

“The development costs have risen as fast or faster than homebuilding costs, so it’s been a difficult thing to keep up with,” Lloyd said. “That’s part of what’s driving all new construction no matter where you’re building. The cost to get a lot these days has probably almost doubled in five years.”

However, he added, “The market has gone up in value in an equal proportion to the costs rising. What we thought we could do for one number has cost more, but what we thought we could sell it for has gone up as well, so it’s in balance.”

Lloyd put the overall cost for the 1.3-acre project at $2.75 million, up from a $2.25 million estimate in 2020.

The Poes are listing the homes with Mike Hanky, an agent with Shaheen Ruth Martin & Fonville Real Estate who identified the properties as infill opportunities and brought them to Lloyd’s attention.

Hanky said the price point for the Westview homes is based off comparable sales for other new-builds in the area.

Mike Hanky

“That’s squarely in line with four or five new homes that have closed within the past six months within a half-mile of that location,” Hanky said, citing sales on nearby Arlie Street and Pepper Avenue and for two of the homes in Maplewood, a similar infill development on Maple Avenue.

“It’s pretty remarkable to us as well, but the market has just caught fire post-Covid. Cost of material, cost of labor obviously has a lot to do with it, but that market and that pocket has just exploded for new construction,” Hanky said.

Hanky and the Poes have worked on infills and rebuilds in other parts of the city, such as Sauer’s Gardens in the West End and near Willow Oaks, but Lloyd agreed that a full-on transformation is occurring along Libbie Avenue not only between Patterson and Libbie but as far south as Cary Street Road.

“If you look at what’s happened on Libbie between Cary and Patterson,  they’re tearing down million-dollar houses and putting up $2 million houses,” Lloyd said. “That whole area has gone crazy in terms of desirability and costs.”

The homes feature open floorplans and first-floor primary suites.

The group expects the Westview homes will be particularly desirable for their location on a dead-end street, as well as access and walkability to area shopping and trails that connect to Libbie Playground.

“You’ve got a very sought-after location for Richmond, but this is at the end of a private street with a cul-de-sac, which is very unique for Richmond,” Hanky said, noting the city’s grid pattern of mostly through-streets. “It’s just a phenomenal location, and it really is private.”

Vanessa, who is designing the homes, also pointed to the variety of home styles and designs, which she said would appeal to a mix of buyers.

Vanessa Poe

“Architecturally speaking, they’re all different elevation styles. Every house in the community is going to have its own different angle for personality,” she said. “We thought that would be a unique spin for the owners, to have their own identity within this community.”

The three completed homes were entered as “coming soon” listings last week and went active Monday. Hanky said he’s marketing the homes with a VIP list and a broker’s open house scheduled today (Wednesday). He said he’s been fielding calls since the homes hit the market.

As they finish out the rest of the homes on Westview, Lloyd said he and Vanessa are keeping an eye out for more infill opportunities in and around the Libbie area, though he noted that 11 homes in one spot is not easy to replicate.

“It’s a very unusual event that you can create a new neighborhood with a private street with seven brand-new houses, all 3,400 square feet and up,” Lloyd said. “You can’t get that, really, in many places in Libbie and Grove.”

Richmond Hill’s infills add to other projects that are increasing the density in and around Westhampton.

Across Patterson, a four-story commercial building is planned to replace the single-story shops at Patterson and Libbie, across from the Westhampton Commons development that continues to fill out.

On Libbie, Eagle Construction of VA is wrapping up its 14-unit Row at Westhampton townhomes, while nearly twice as many condos are in the works farther south. And on Grove, construction continues on a new office building a block over from another office site that’s being marketed as a build-to-suit project.

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