- June 29th, 2006, 9:00 am
#19521
this proposed development is nothing but good for lynchburg IMO. this is the area diagonal from billy craft honda, some of the last farm land in the city. LU continues to spur on the development of this area, and a stadium seating theatre will finally make an appearance. it will also be good to get martin's supermarket here as well. all the guys up north should know of this chain, they are a division of Giant.
Planning for Lakeside's future
Conor Reilly
mreilly@newsadvance.com
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Developers hope 1 million square feet of new commercial space will draw major national retailers to one of the last big pieces of empty land in Lynchburg.
Plans submitted to the city this week show space for a home improvement store, movie theater, hotel, grocery store and a bookstore on roughly 130 acres fronting Lakeside Drive and the Lynchburg Expressway.
“What’s making this a reality now is that Lynchburg is finally getting to the size that it can support two of the same stores,” said Ray Booth, the developer for the project.
He said the location is smack in the middle of two booming areas - Forest and Boonsboro. And it’s important for the city’s tax base that upscale retailers aren’t lost to Bedford County.
The target date to open the complex is summer 2008. Booth declined to talk about specific stores because leases have not yet been signed.
He did say shoppers could expect to see some of the same types of stores that are already open in the Wards Road area.
The architecture, Booth said, will be “at least one step above Wards Crossing.”
Before it gets that far, the project must first get through public hearings and a final decision by City Council. Booth is asking the city to rezone the property from residential to business use.
Several issues will undoubtedly be raised.
The scale of the Lakeside development is immense, dwarfing the 650,000-square-foot River Ridge mall. And with it will come traffic, which will impact nearby residents and the intersection of U.S. 501 and Lakeside Drive.
Booth acknowledged that the intersection is “already a mess.” As a solution, he offered to help pay part of a new $16 million city plan to improve traffic flow.
There’s also a four-lane road that cuts the project into two sections, plans show. One end would funnel traffic out near the Country Kitchen on Lakeside Drive, the other on McConville Road.
Booth said the proposed road would take traffic off the neighborhood streets and keep it on the major roads.
The site, which includes the 50-acre McConville Farm and the Westgate Mobile Home Park, also has several streams and creeks.
As part of the rezoning negotiations, Booth said he agreed not to disturb a number of the streams. For the ones he has to disturb, state environmental agencies require that he help improve other streams.
Typically, that means paying cash to an organization or bank involved in efforts to improve waterways, he said.
But Booth said he wants specifically to work with Lynchburg College and city officials to help alleviate pollution problems at College Lake.
The plan is the second major development to come to city planners recently. In April, developers proposed a traditional neighborhood development of between 650 and 1,000 homes, plus 100,000 square feet of retail shops, for a 100-plus acre tract off Greenview Drive.
City planning commissioners approved the plan last month; it now moves to City Council for final approval.
AT A GLANCE:
City planning commissioners approved the plan last month; it now moves to City Council for final approval.
The target date to open the complex is summer 2008.
New grocer may be headed to Lynchburg
By Conor Reilly
mreilly@newsadvance.com
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
A new grocery store with a name unfamiliar to the Lynchburg area could be on its way to the Hill City.
Ray Booth of English Construction confirmed Monday that he is in talks with Pennsylvania-based Martin’s Food Markets, and hopes they will be a tenant at the proposed Lakeside Centre retail complex.
Martin’s is owned by Giant Food Stores, whose stores are primarily located in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Martin’s spokeswoman Tracy Pawelski said Monday that the chain is looking to expand in the Southern Virginia area.
“The Lynchburg market continues to be a market of interest for us,” she said. “(But) we have not made any formal commitments to any specific sites.”
Pawelski said there are plans to open two Martin’s in Harrisonburg in 2007. A store opened earlier this year in Waynesboro, and there are also stores open in the Northern Virginia area, she said.
According to a recent article in The Roanoke Times, Martin’s is looking for five local sites in that area.
The new stores, according to Pawelski, offer “modern amenities” and natural, organic markets.
Martin’s Web site says the store has a butcher shop and seafood market.
Booth stressed that plans to bring Martin’s to Lynchburg are not concrete.
The 130-acre Lakeside Centre still has to receive approval from the Planning Commission, City Council and environmental overseers. The developer tentatively plans to open stores in 2008.
Planning for Lakeside's future
Conor Reilly
mreilly@newsadvance.com
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Developers hope 1 million square feet of new commercial space will draw major national retailers to one of the last big pieces of empty land in Lynchburg.
Plans submitted to the city this week show space for a home improvement store, movie theater, hotel, grocery store and a bookstore on roughly 130 acres fronting Lakeside Drive and the Lynchburg Expressway.
“What’s making this a reality now is that Lynchburg is finally getting to the size that it can support two of the same stores,” said Ray Booth, the developer for the project.
He said the location is smack in the middle of two booming areas - Forest and Boonsboro. And it’s important for the city’s tax base that upscale retailers aren’t lost to Bedford County.
The target date to open the complex is summer 2008. Booth declined to talk about specific stores because leases have not yet been signed.
He did say shoppers could expect to see some of the same types of stores that are already open in the Wards Road area.
The architecture, Booth said, will be “at least one step above Wards Crossing.”
Before it gets that far, the project must first get through public hearings and a final decision by City Council. Booth is asking the city to rezone the property from residential to business use.
Several issues will undoubtedly be raised.
The scale of the Lakeside development is immense, dwarfing the 650,000-square-foot River Ridge mall. And with it will come traffic, which will impact nearby residents and the intersection of U.S. 501 and Lakeside Drive.
Booth acknowledged that the intersection is “already a mess.” As a solution, he offered to help pay part of a new $16 million city plan to improve traffic flow.
There’s also a four-lane road that cuts the project into two sections, plans show. One end would funnel traffic out near the Country Kitchen on Lakeside Drive, the other on McConville Road.
Booth said the proposed road would take traffic off the neighborhood streets and keep it on the major roads.
The site, which includes the 50-acre McConville Farm and the Westgate Mobile Home Park, also has several streams and creeks.
As part of the rezoning negotiations, Booth said he agreed not to disturb a number of the streams. For the ones he has to disturb, state environmental agencies require that he help improve other streams.
Typically, that means paying cash to an organization or bank involved in efforts to improve waterways, he said.
But Booth said he wants specifically to work with Lynchburg College and city officials to help alleviate pollution problems at College Lake.
The plan is the second major development to come to city planners recently. In April, developers proposed a traditional neighborhood development of between 650 and 1,000 homes, plus 100,000 square feet of retail shops, for a 100-plus acre tract off Greenview Drive.
City planning commissioners approved the plan last month; it now moves to City Council for final approval.
AT A GLANCE:
City planning commissioners approved the plan last month; it now moves to City Council for final approval.
The target date to open the complex is summer 2008.
New grocer may be headed to Lynchburg
By Conor Reilly
mreilly@newsadvance.com
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
A new grocery store with a name unfamiliar to the Lynchburg area could be on its way to the Hill City.
Ray Booth of English Construction confirmed Monday that he is in talks with Pennsylvania-based Martin’s Food Markets, and hopes they will be a tenant at the proposed Lakeside Centre retail complex.
Martin’s is owned by Giant Food Stores, whose stores are primarily located in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Martin’s spokeswoman Tracy Pawelski said Monday that the chain is looking to expand in the Southern Virginia area.
“The Lynchburg market continues to be a market of interest for us,” she said. “(But) we have not made any formal commitments to any specific sites.”
Pawelski said there are plans to open two Martin’s in Harrisonburg in 2007. A store opened earlier this year in Waynesboro, and there are also stores open in the Northern Virginia area, she said.
According to a recent article in The Roanoke Times, Martin’s is looking for five local sites in that area.
The new stores, according to Pawelski, offer “modern amenities” and natural, organic markets.
Martin’s Web site says the store has a butcher shop and seafood market.
Booth stressed that plans to bring Martin’s to Lynchburg are not concrete.
The 130-acre Lakeside Centre still has to receive approval from the Planning Commission, City Council and environmental overseers. The developer tentatively plans to open stores in 2008.
- By ECC29