November 15, 2006

Roseland’s New Urbanism a New Era for Chesterfield

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information contact:
Tim Asimos, Marketing Manager
Timmons Group
804.200.6375
tim.asimos@timmons.com

Chesterfield County, VA – November 15, 2006 -  After more than two years of detailed planning, GBS Holding, Ltd. submitted an application Monday for the rezoning of approximately 1400 acres in Chesterfield County to permit the development of a mixed-use community called Roseland.

George B. “Buddy” Sowers, Jr., a lifelong resident of Chesterfield, along with his son Casey Sowers, are founding Roseland on the principles of New Urbanism, where the focus is on creating walkable and connected communities. Roseland is located at the Woolridge Road interchange of Route 288.

“Everything about this project is different from what Chesterfield is used to,” says Casey Sowers. “We have been lucky to work with one of the World’s best land planners, Urban Design Associates, in creating a plan where people can live, work, and enjoy living in a beautiful, respectful community in the heart of Chesterfield County.

“This is a landmark opportunity for the County to raise its standards and expectations for new development. Route 288 has provided us the opportunity to put a great project in the right place. It is the proper alternative to residential and commercial sprawl.”

As conceived by the Sowers, Roseland will permit over 1.5 million square feet of office and retail uses and up to 5140 residential units, including a full range of housing types. Modeled after Andres Duany’s new urban model ordinance called the “Smart-code”, Roseland will concentrate densities at points closest to its town center and decrease density as the project moves away from the town center.

While Roseland provides a regional answer to many of the County’s current traffic issues, it also looks to a longer-lasting solution. “At Roseland, someone can leave his or her home in the morning, have coffee at the corner café, go to work, go for a run or bike ride, go out to dinner, all without ever getting into a car,” says Casey. “This should be the model for any large new development in our County, to reduce our dependency on the automobile.”

The heart of Roseland is its “Old Town” District, a walkable streetscape of shops, small offices, and live/work units. Its architecture is based on some of the historic towns in and around Virginia, including Alexandria, Fredericksburg, and Georgetown. “We have also taken care to emulate many of the great precedents here in the Richmond area as well, including the historic architecture of Windsor Farms and Ginter Park, the street dynamics of Monument Avenue, and the walkability of Cary Street,” Casey emphasizes.

Roseland’s proximity to Route 288 has allowed its founders to design for a significant corporate office district near the interchange. The “North Park” district serves as an anchor to one end of the “Main Street” of Old Town with walkable shops and offices, giving corporate users a compelling amenity for their workers while providing important employment opportunities for Chesterfield County. “This won't be a typical office park,” mentions Casey. “Although it has the capacity for approximately one million square feet of business space, business here can take place in a way that is unique to Chesterfield County and the metro Richmond area. It’s that kind of design that will give us a competitive advantage in attracting business to Chesterfield.”

Over three hundred and fifty acres of open space and active public parks are planned in Roseland as well. The spine of the park system is a greenway park that will link the various districts of Roseland to one another. Fred Bonci of Laquatra Bonci Associates, Roseland’s award winning parks and open space planner, has developed an extensive landscape pattern book to guide the design and development of this extraordinary park system.

“We have worked with the Sowers and UDA to plan green space that integrates not only a dynamic central park system, but also provides for as many as 60 individual, neighborhood, and pocket parks throughout every district of Roseland,” says Bonci. “One of our primary goals is that no resident of Roseland will live further than a five minute walk from a park.

Environmentally, the founders of Roseland want to be leaders in stormwater management and low impact design. “We know that to develop in the Upper Swift Creek watershed, we need to not only be sensitive but also creative in protecting the Reservoir,” says Dave Anderson, the lead project development consultant with Timmons Group. “This is going to be one of the most important projects for this County because it will provide an opportunity for the private and public sectors to work together on innovative solutions to issues that are important to us all.”

The Sowers likewise have proposed building a neighborhood elementary school in the early stages of the project to provide capacity for the children that Roseland will bring to the area. “Most developers pay cash proffers then leave everything up to the County,” says Casey. “We want to build the school and the roads up front, and to full build out capacity. We even want to bring the sewer system all the way to Watkins Center to help accelerate that economic development.”

To pay for and build the infrastructure needed, the Sowers intend to use a Community Development Authority to fund major road, utility, school, and park improvements. The CDA funding would allow for the completion of Woolridge Road from the Swift Creek Reservoir to Route 288, significantly improving the traffic situation along the Rt. 360 corridor by providing an efficient alternative to Rt. 288 and Powhite Parkway. Center Pointe Parkway also would be completed between St. Francis Hospital and the new Woolridge Road, extending an important east-west arterial for the County and providing a much-needed safety improvement for the area. Additionally, the CDA would help fund the creation of the public park and greenway system. In all, the CDA will provide funding for over $70 million in public transportation, school and park system improvements, costing the County nothing while dramatically increasing the County’s tax base.

“What is most important about the CDA,” says Casey “is that the improvements are put in place at the beginning of the project and built to full capacity, creating adequate facilities from day one.”

Chesterfield County is meeting on November 20th to discuss how to meet its growing transportation problems. On the table for that summit is the discussion of funding alternatives for building future roads, including transportation districts and using community development authorities. “We believe that they will conclude like we have, that CDA’s are a great tool to use for getting significant public needs projects built,” says Buddy.

In short, the Sowers are looking to develop Roseland based on the principles of environmental responsibility, social connectivity, and economic opportunity. “This is a legacy project for us,” says Buddy. “This property and this county are too important to do anything less than our best.”

To learn more about Roseland, visit the web at www.RoselandVA.com.

About Timmons Group
Through innovation, unparalleled service and commitment to its clients Timmons Group provides engineering, surveying, planning, construction management, landscape architecture and technology services to public and private clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic. In the more than 50 years since its inception, the firm has gone from one 4-person office in Richmond, VA to a staff of more than 325 in offices located throughout the Mid-Atlantic. By always focusing on clients’ needs and looking for future endeavors, Timmons Group is planning to become even more prominent in the industry by perfecting practices that ensure client satisfaction.

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