Mixed-Use Development with "Specialty Grocer" Proposed in Fredericksburg
There will be a public hearing on the proposal, which includes 605 single- and multifamily housing units, at Wednesday's Planning Commission meeting.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The Fredericksburg Planning Commission on Wednesday will hear public comment on a proposed mixed-use development project that will include 605 housing units and 50,000 square feet of commercial space—including a “specialty grocery store.”
The proposed grocery tenant is still confidential, according to an analysis of the application by Fredericksburg’s planning department, but it “punches above its weight in terms of customer traffic and parking demand.”
The project is proposed for the 35-acre parcel located across Fall Hill Avenue from Wegman’s grocery store. Developer Greystar LLC has applied to rezone the property from residential (R2) to a combination of commercial highway (CH) and planned development-residential (PD-RI), as well as for a special exception to construct parking in excess of the minimum required for a shopping center.
The residential portion of the development would be a mix of 240 single-family attached units—townhouses and/or “two-over-two” units, also known as “stacked townhouses”—and 365 multifamily units.
According to an analysis of the application by planning department staff, the Planning Commission should recommend approval of the zoning map amendment and special exception, with conditions that the grocery tenant be the first such business within a 30-mile radius of the property and that grocery store use be limited to 16,000 square feet.
By contrast, the smaller Wegmans stores that have opened in recent years are 81,000 square feet, according to the industry site ProgressiveGrocer.com, and the typical size is 120,000 to 150,000 square feet.
According to a chart included in the staff analysis, the 12,500-square-foot specialty grocer being considered for the project generates 39,216 visits and $1,723 in sales per square foot—more than two other specialty grocers it was compared with.
According to the staff analysis, the proposal is consistent with the comprehensive plan’s vision for Small Area 1, which calls for mixed-use residential developments in “a sustainable, integrated, and walkable pattern…a variety of housing types, and a connected network of open spaces.”
The proposed development is laid out in a street/block pattern with formal open spaces and a shared-use path.
The 605 proposed housing units will go towards meeting the demand for additional housing in the city. Fredericksburg’s population is expected to reach 39,402 by 2050, according to population estimates in the city’s comprehensive plan, and an additional 2,400 new housing units are needed every year to meet this growing population.
Council has approved 1,046 new housing units as part of other development projects, but according to the staff analysis, 70% of these were part of the Neon project, which now—following Council’s approval of a technology overlay district for that area—is likely be developed as a data center campus instead of a mixed-use project
The Area 1 plan also recognizes that this part of the city is “not only uniquely situated to absorb the bulk of the City’s anticipated residential growth but also needs that residential growth to stabilize and feed its portions of the City’s commercial market…”
The applicant is proffering $5.4 million to offset the development’s impact on city schools, and about $791,000 to support the fire and rescue department.
Per state code, the Planning Commission must make a recommendation to Council about the project 100 days after the first public hearing, which is scheduled for Wednesday. That means the Commission’s recommendation must come before September 24, 2025.
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“punches above its weight in terms of customer traffic and parking demand.” 👀 . . . Could it be Trader Joe’s???