Post GreenCity, Henrico tries again

Following the collapse of the $2.3 billion GreenCity project, Henrico County released in May a new call for developers to submit plans for an arena-anchored development.

Developers must submit their plans by July 28, 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 a 17,000-capacity arena expected to open in 2028.

The request for interest came while the developers of the failed GreenCity project are being sued by the Henrico County Economic Development Authority and ASM Global, the company that was set to operate the GreenCity arena.

In 2022, the county agreed to sell the property to the developers for $6.2 million, and the sale took place on Feb. 28, 2023.

After paying the county $1 million on time, the developers failed to pay the remaining $5.2 million due Feb. 28, the county’s complaint says, and the developers went into default March 13. At that point, Henrico said it would exercise its repurchase option on April 15, paying back the $1 million to the developers in return for the land.

But in a separate lawsuit, ASM Global claimed the developers owed an ASM subsidiary more than $1.5 million, and a Henrico County Circuit Court judge issued a summons to the EDA in April, seeking to garnish the $1 million repurchase fee. The developers filed a motion to vacate the judgment, and they’ve “refused to convey the property to the EDA … unless ASM agrees that the EDA may pay some or all of the repurchase price to [the developers] rather than to ASM,” Henrico says in its complaint.

Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of the Henrico Sports and Entertainment Authority, confirmed May 27 that the county has not yet received the land.

Despite the legal turmoil, “I think there’s a high level of excitement to get this restarted,” Bickmeier says.

The property is zoned as a conditional urban mixed-use district that would allow development of an arena, office and retail space, hotels and residential units, giving prospective developers creative freedom, Bickmeier says.

Construction of residences on the adjoining 110 acres, known as Scott Farm, is set to start later this year, under the development of a Markel|Eagle Partners subsidiary, the county says.