Henrico issues new RFI for arena project

Following the collapse of the $2.3 billion GreenCity project in March, Henrico County on Tuesday released a new call for developers to submit plans for an arena-anchored development in the county’s West End.

Developers must submit their plans by July 28, according to the county’s request for interest, and supervisors are expected to approve the chosen plan in December. After that, the 93-acre property would be conveyed to the winning development team in January 2026, with the 17,000-capacity arena expected to open in 2028. The county has dubbed thr project “Best Products Reimagined” in a nod to the site’s former incarnation as the corporate headquarters campus for Best Products, a national retailer that went out of business in 1997.

Currently, the Henrico County Economic Development Authority is suing the developers of the failed GreenCity project to return the 93-acre site back to the EDA after the developers defaulted on more than $5 million in payments in March. Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of the Henrico Sports and Entertainment Authority, confirmed Tuesday that the land has not yet been conveyed back to the county.

In April, the Henrico EDA sued two LLCs linked to the GreenCity developers, Michael Hallmark of Los Angeles-based Future Cities and Susan Eastridge of Falls Church’s Concord Eastridge, in Henrico County Circuit Court. According to the lawsuit, the EDA agreed to sell the 93 acres at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Parham Road to the developers in a November 2022 agreement for $6.2 million, and the sale took place on Feb. 28, 2023.

After paying the county $1 million in two installments on time in 2023, the developers failed to pay the remaining $5.2 million due Feb. 28, the complaint says. In March, the EDA sent a notice of default, giving the developers until March 13 to make the payment. When they failed to pay, the EDA notified Hallmark and Eastridge that the county would exercise its repurchase option of $1 million on April 15, the lawsuit says.

Meanwhile, ASM Global, which was set to be the operator and manager of the GreenCity arena, sued the developers in April, saying that the developers owed an ASM subsidiary more than $1.5 million, including interest and attorney’s fees. On April 11, a Henrico County Circuit Court judge issued a garnishment summons to the EDA, seeking to garnish any sums it was holding for the development team, and the developers have filed a motion to vacate the judgment.

Since the garnishment summons was issued, the EDA’s complaint says, the developers have “refused to convey the property to the EDA, despite the EDA’s willingness to pay the repurchase price, unless ASM agrees that the EDA may pay some or all of the repurchase price to [the developers] rather than to ASM, as may be required by the garnishment summons.”

Bickmeier said that nothing has changed regarding the conveyance of the property since the county sued the developers April 29.

According to the RFI, “the previous developers of the Best Products site defaulted on their purchase agreement for the property by failing to make the final installment payment of the purchase price. The EDA is in the process of enforcing its repurchase option and expects to complete the reacquisition of the site in the coming months.”

Despite the legal turmoil, “I think there’s a high level of excitement to get this restarted,” Bickmeier said. “We’ve opened up the doors for developers to be creative.”

According to the RFI issued this week, the Best Products property to be developed comprises the southern 93 acres of a 204-acre district that is zoned as a conditional urban mixed-use district with a provisional use permit that would allow development of an arena, 1.9 million square feet of office space, 135,000 square feet of retail space, three hotels and 2,138 residential units.

Bickmeier said, however, that the winning development plan could differ from those parameters — such as an arena having a 17,000-person capacity rather than 17,000 seats, which would give the facility more flexibility to host NCAA sporting events, for instance. Also, the GreenCity developers’ intention to build the nation’s “greenest arena” is “not the driving force” of what may ultimately be developed, although sustainability is still a priority, Bickmeier added.

Asked whether ASM Global will still be involved in the project, Bickmeier said that’s “to be determined.”

Meanwhile, an adjoining 110-acre parcel, known as Scott Farm, is under development by Scott Farm Partners, a limited liability corporation linked to Markel|Eagle Partners, and construction of residential units and a park at that site is expected to start later this year, the county says.