Libbie Mill Development gets first office lease

Richmond Memorial Health Foundation has signed the first lease for office space at Libbie Mill, a new 80-acre, mixed-use community under construction between West Broad Street and Staples Mill Road near Libbie Avenue.

The nonprofit, a regional, private health legacy foundation that gives grants to local health care providers, will occupy about 9,454 square feet of space on the second floor of a two-story, retail and office building.

The foundation is currently located in a smaller space at Bayberry Court in Henrico County. It also houses the Nurse Leadership Institute of Virginia, a statewide leadership development program for nurse managers, and the Greater Richmond Patient Centered Medical Home Collaborative, a network of the region’s health safety net providers who are working to implement a national model of care to serve the region’s uninsured and underinsured.

The foundation’s new home at Libbie Mill will be located near one of the community’s entrances on Staples Mill Road.  The building also will serve as headquarters for Gumenick Properties, a Henrico-based development and management company that’s developing Libbie Mill.

Work on the new office building should be completed in September with occupancy to follow in October.

CBRE|Richmond represents Gumenick Properties for leasing of retail and office portions at Libbie Mill. CBRE|Richmond represented Gumenick Properties, and Cushman & Wakefield|Thalhimer represented the foundation.

“The midtown location allows us to connect easily with people and organizations across Central Virginia as we work to improve health and health care throughout our region,” Jeff Cribbs, president and CEO, Richmond Memorial Health Foundation, said in a statement.

Libbie Mill is located close to I-64 and I-95. When complete, the community is projected to have 994 homes for sale and 1,096 apartments. Libbie Mill also will have a total of about 160,000 square feet of retail space and 50,000 square feet of office space. The neighborhood is estimated to take 10 years to complete.

Southern Season of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is Libbie Mill’s first commercial tenant. It will operate a 53,000-square-foot gourmet food store that’s scheduled to open on July 31. The company’s first store in the Richmond market will offer an extensive wine selection, housewares, cookware, candy, cut flowers, a coffee shop and ice cream shop, tasting stations and take-out prepared food among other items. The store also will feature a full-service restaurant and culinary school.

Also coming soon is a  three-story, 60,000-square-foot Libbie Mill library that will replace the area’s Dumbarton Library.  Located next to a two-acre lake, it’s expected to be under construction this summer with an opening slated for November 2015.  Gumenick Properties donated the land for the library.