22 acres in Innsbrook to be developed into mixed-use

Newton, Massachusetts-based Northland has acquired 22 acres to build a mixed-use development at the “North End” of the Innsbrook area in Henrico County, from Raleigh-based Highwoods Properties.

The site is located on the north end of the Innsbrook Corporate Center, at the Intersection of Interstate 95, Nuckols Road and Lake Brook Drive. It already has 5.5 million square feet of office space, 3,400 apartment and residential units, seven hotels and 20 restaurants, according to a news release from Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer.

Jane DuFrane, senior vice president and Richmond market leader for Highwoods Properties, said that the northern area of Innsbrook does not have many food choices or amenities in easy walking distance so Highwoods sought a partner to develop retail. Highwoods is known for building office space , but knew this area needed to be a mixed-use community in order to help its customers retain and attract talent.

“We wanted to urbanize without increasing the traffic,” DuFrane said.

The site is zoned for up to 700 residential units (600 apartments, 100 condos), 55,000 square feet of retail and a 150-room hotel. Early-stage design and master planning efforts will begin this year, but the completion date has not been announced.

Highwoods Properties owns 12 acres adjacent to the site where it could develop 315,000 square feet of Class A office space as part of the 34-acre mixed-use development.

“The firm plans to introduce a diverse mix of retail options, including chef-curated restaurant concepts and amenity boutiques centered around activated open space, for both future multifamily residents and office tenants,”  Northland wrote in a news release announcing the acquisition.

“We’re thrilled to establish Northland’s entrance into the Richmond market with such a transformative, landmark project. Richmond, and especially the area’s numerous active suburbs, has long been a compelling target market for Northland given its consistently fervent population growth, institutional higher education ecosystem, and flourishing Fortune 500 job prospects,” Santo Dettore, associate vice president of development at Northland, said. “This site represents the next step of the Northland development platform, enabling us to leverage our extensive experience in mixed-use design and large-scale master planning to create a vibrant neighborhood for residents, employees, and visitors to the area.”

Sale negotiations were handled by Eric Robison of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer’s Capital Markets Group, along with David Baird and Michael Denise of Cushman & Wakefield’s Baltimore land development team.