West Broad Village owner eyes new retail buildings in center of the neighborhood

The grassy area, pictured center, is the last piece of green space within West Broad Village. (County documents)

The stage is being set for a new stretch of retail space in West Broad Village.

CTO Realty Growth, which owns the bulk of the commercial space in the mixed-use, Whole Foods-anchored neighborhood, has filed plans for a set of four new retail buildings to be built on part of a 1-acre grassy area at 2301 Old Brick Road.

The parcel is one of the last undeveloped pieces of West Broad Village, which was originally conceived in the early 2000s.

The new buildings, described as “retail jewel boxes” in preliminary plans filed with Henrico County, would house three 1,500-square-foot storefronts, along with a 2,500-square-foot restaurant space with a 1,000-square-foot patio.

The “farmside kitchen” building, as it’s described in plans, would be at the eastern end of the parcel, across from Park Lane Tavern. Much of the grassy area would be kept as such, the site plan shows.

Charlotte-based Southwick Architecture + Interiors is designing the new buildings. 

A site plan of the proposed new buildings.

CTO did not respond to a request for comment by press time. The company in 2022 paid $94 million for 392,000 square feet of the commercial space in West Broad Village. Its holdings in the neighborhood include buildings occupied by Whole Foods, REI, HomeGoods and Dave & Buster’s.  

The grassy area on Old Brick Road is currently used as a dog park, and in years past was used to host events and an outdoor ice skating rink in the winter. 

Local real estate development firm Capital Square owned the plot from 2022 to 2024, as it had planned to build a new headquarters for itself there. But those plans fell through and last year Capital Square sold the land to CTO for $1.5 million. Capital Square still owns the neighborhood’s multifamily component, the 339-unit Flats at West Broad Village. 

West Broad Village has seen a bit of tenant churn in recent years. The Burger Bach and Carrabba’s there closed, but those spaces have since been snapped up by Detroit-style pizzeria Emmy Squared Pizza and building materials retailer Tilebar, respectively. Other recent arrivals at the development include Ford’s Garage, a Ford Motor Co.-themed restaurant, and Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian steakhouse. 

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