Reworked Genito Crossing plan gets OK from Chesterfield Planning Commission

The updated site plan for Genito Crossing shows townhomes configured around roads that would connect to the adjacent shopping center. (County documents)

The latest version of a plan to redevelop a former cinema-turned-church property on Hull Street Road has received the support of the Chesterfield Planning Commission.

Commissioners were unanimous in recommending approval of the amended plan for Genito Crossing, a residential redevelopment of the former Genito Cinema 9 property at 11000 Hull Street Road that’s now home to Village of Faith Ministries’ Southside location.

The church is proposing to fill the 14-acre property with 111 for-sale townhomes, along with a central recreation area and other common areas. The project was scaled down from an earlier proposal that called for 232 units, most of those apartments.

Since submitting the amended plan earlier this year, Village of Faith held a community meeting in March that resulted in further tweaks to the project based on feedback from attendees.

Speakers who addressed the commission at its June meeting reiterated concerns about traffic impacts on Hull Street and surrounding neighborhoods, as well as the displacement of businesses in a retail strip on the property that would be razed along with the church building.

The church’s Southside location is housed in the former Genito Cinema 9 complex. (Image courtesy LoopNet)

One speaker bemoaned the loss in particular of Mr. Pepe, a Mexican restaurant that’s among the current businesses in the strip. A Truist bank branch and NTB tire shop fronting Hull Street are not included in the project.

Hirschler attorney Jeff Geiger, who is representing Village of Faith in its rezoning request, said a goal of the project is to help attract more businesses to the adjacent Food Lion-anchored Genito Crossing Shopping Center that connects to the site. He encouraged the owners of Mr. Pepe and other impacted businesses to work with Chesterfield’s economic development team for assistance in relocations.

“We hope that this project will encourage more eating establishments, better establishments, to locate at the Food Lion shopping center, and maybe Mr. Pepe’s can locate there as well,” Geiger said.

Geiger also noted the revisions to the plan that were made with community input and reduced the proposed density.

Thanking county planning staff for their help in that process, Geiger said: “This request came in to them with over 230 dwelling units on this property, and we have worked diligently with them to find a layout that has significantly less homes and fits in better with the surrounding community.”

Geiger added: “We are proud of this proposal. After the community meeting, based on feedback from the community, we reduced it down a little bit more, and we think we have a better community that can be parked and driven through.”

Elizabeth Hardin, who represents the Clover Hill district that includes the site, led the commission in recommending approval to the Board of Supervisors, which would make a deciding vote at an upcoming meeting.

Noting the initial plan predated her time on the commission, Hardin said, “I’m happy to see how far this has come since the original submittal. The applicant has addressed most of the concerns that were raised at the community meeting.

“I’m also sad to see the small businesses going,” Hardin said. “I hope everybody is able to relocate. That is an issue when you’re tenants and don’t own the property.”

The 14-acre property is covered with surface parking and includes the movie theater-turned-church building and a retail strip. (Image courtesy LoopNet)

The development would replace a sea of parking lots and the existing retail strip and church building, which was converted from the former Genito Cinema 9 complex. The two-story townhomes would be at least 1,200 square feet in size and include front-loading garages and driveways.

Planned amenities include a dog park, a recreational field, and the common areas that could include a play area, covered pavilion, fire pit, outdoor games, benches, hardscaped patio and outdoor eating area or similar improvements.

Village of Faith is working on the project with homebuilding firm D.R. Horton, which is listed as the contract purchaser of the property. Village of Faith, led by senior pastor and state delegate Michael Jones, plans to find another Southside location to supplement its home church in Sandston.

In other business at the meeting, the commission deferred to its August meeting a vote on Crossroads at Roseland, a plan from TC Development for more than 440 townhomes and condominiums on 107 acres northwest of Otterdale and Old Hundred roads, at the southern end of the planned Woolridge Road extension.

Also at the June meeting, the commission recommended denial of Denver-based developer Tract’s proposal for a data center project on more than 700 acres near Colonial Heights. The case now goes to the Board of Supervisors for a final vote.

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