Hazelwood Farms is set to become industrial park

A 328-acre former James City County farm is set to become the largest speculative industrial project along the Interstate 64 corridor between the Port of Virginia and Richmond. 

Hazelwood Farms was purchased for $12 million in April by Houston-based industrial real estate firm Lovett Industrial, which plans to develop a 2.2 million-square-foot business park on the site with Class A industrial facilities for manufacturers, importers, and warehousing and distribution companies. Multiple buildings will be constructed, ranging from 100,000 square feet to 1 million square feet. Twenty acres will be set aside for future commercial and retail development. Currently in the permitting process, the project is slated to begin construction on its first phase in early 2024. The project’s working name is Enterprise Logistics Park.

Rapid growth at the Port of Virginia, along with the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel expansion and the widening of Interstate 64 between Williamsburg and Richmond, attracted Lovett to the property, its first acquisition in Virginia. 

“The Hampton Roads market has some of the best fundamentals in the country,” says Ben Swift, the company’s senior associate for the East Region. “That, combined with the billions of dollars being spent to upgrade the port and I-64, makes this property perfectly positioned to … draw upon the demand for industrial in Hampton Roads … [and] in Richmond.”

Ellis Colthorpe, an associate with Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, which is handling marketing and leasing for the park, says tenants will include businesses already in the region, as well as newcomers. “Most tenants will use the Port of Virginia,” he adds. “The port has $1.4 billion in infrastructure projects, and that’s driving new tenants into the market.”

Additionally, Colthorpe notes, more than 500,000 potential workers live within a 45-minute drive from the park. “This will be a huge employment opportunity for James City County. Job creation and tax revenues are the two biggest hot-button items.”

Situated on Old State Road and a portion of Barnes Road south of I-64, the property had been in the Hazelwood family since 1886. The three Hazelwood siblings who sold the land to Lovett initially wanted the property rezoned to accommodate 75,000 square feet of commercial space, a truck terminal and up to 250 multifamily units. Community members had expressed concern about traffic and noise impacts, however.