Cornerstone development ready for grand opening

Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: June 18, 2008

Two years ago, it was 113 acres of fields and one of the city’s largest remaining undeveloped tracts of land.

Now the first residents are moving into the sprawling Cornerstone development off Greenview Drive, a mixed-use project that includes a park, commercial space and hundreds of condos, town homes and single-family houses.

The development is staging a grand opening celebration Thursday that will include tours of some of the more than 200 residential units already under way.

Of those, close to 60 have been sold or leased, and 20 already are occupied.

“There’s a lot of activity out here,” Realtor Ginny Haskins of Dawson Ford Garbee Co. said. “The trend in real estate is to go to smaller square footage, but with better amenities.

“We’ve been getting a big influx of Liberty University students and employees. We also have a lot of interest from retirees and people in outlying subdivisions who are tired of cutting grass and paying big electric bills and all the maintenance that goes with a bigger home.”

Cornerstone’s condos start at $119,900. The single-family homes start around $225,000.

Site plans turned in to the city map out a total of 983 residences. Cornerstone, which operates under a conditional permit issued by City Council, is allowed a maximum of 1,000 units.

“I see this as a very positive thing,” said Haskins, one of several real estate agents handling sales at the site. “Lynchburg is growing and thriving. … We don’t want to be a ghost town.”

Developers estimate a majority of Cornerstone will be complete within four years. Construction is currently nine months ahead of schedule, according to Marcus Borel of development company JBO, LLC.

Site plans under review at City Hall call for 134 single-family houses, 251 town homes and 598 condos. That’s 34 more single-family units than included in the original design.

The extra houses, which were approved by City Council in February, will supplant previously planned town homes. They will not alter the original single-family zone established as a buffer between the project’s denser areas and the neighboring Windsor Hills subdivision, whose residents have strongly opposed the new development.

The commercial side of the project will encompass four blocks along what will be the finished product’s main entrance. The buildings will offer first-floor storefronts and upper-story condos. Construction is ready to start, and it’s hoped half the space will be occupied within the next 18 months, according to Mark Borel, a partner in JBO and father of Marcus Borel.“This is going to be some pretty upscale stuff Lynchburg’s not used to,” he promised.

The entire area is expected to offer 150,000 square feet of commercial space — less than originally projected due to the decision to forgo any second-story commercial room.

Last January, developers told planning commissioners the reduction was made after watching commercial trends at the similarly styled Wyndhurst development.

Mark Borel, who was involved in that project as well, said last week the change evolved over time as part of the natural planning process.

“A plan is a metamorphosis,” he said. “It’s always changing.”

Under the terms of its permit, Cornerstone is allowed a maximum of 200,000 square feet of commercial space.

The project has offered an employment boost to the area, employing around a half dozen subdevelopers and, at different points, an estimated 3,000 people ranging from builders to plumbers to electricians.

It also has boosted city coffers, Borel said, yielding more than $2 million in permit fees alone.

City Hall also will reap additional property taxes as construction continues. Projections compiled by the assessor’s office estimate the development’s real estate value could rise to more than $149 million once it’s complete. That would generate an extra $1.6 million annually in tax revenue, assuming the tax rate remains the same.

Prior to the start of construction, the Cornerstone property was valued at just over $2 million.

The development will be accompanied by major upgrades to Greenview Drive to accommodate the extra traffic generated. The project will include widening the road to four lanes from Frederick to Hermitage drives (phase 1) and Hermitage Drive to Leesville Road (phase 2).

Additional work will include gutters, sidewalks, raised medians and a traffic light at the corner of Greenview and Lighthouse drives. The speed limit will be reduced from 45 to 35 mph to address safety concerns.

Cornerstone is expected to generate 10,000 vehicle trips per day once it reaches build-out.

Phase 1 of the Greenview Drive project is expected to cost $4.8 million and will be funded with local tax dollars. Cornerstone contributed $180,000 to that sum for design and surveying costs. It also granted the city a 10-foot right of way.

None of the nearly dozen homeowners along that stretch of road will lose property due to construction, according to the city traffic engineers. Right-of-way contracts are being negotiated with two churches on the street.

Roadwork on phase 1 is expected to start in September with a construction schedule of 12 to 18 months.

Phase 2, which includes upgrades to the Greenview Drive and Leesville Road intersection, is tentatively scheduled for a mid-2009 start. State and federal money has been requested for that project.