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# Chesterfield Towne Center is getting a facelift, but won’t join other mixed-use makeovers
- URL: https://www.richmonder.org/chesterfield-towne-center-is-getting-a-facelift-but-wont-join-other-mixed-use-makeovers/
- Published: 2026-10-16T00:56:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-16T01:08:22.000Z
- Description: Thursday’s presenters said they’re not looking to raze it or add residences.
- Author: Eleanor Shaw
- Tags: Chesterfield County, #lead

Imagine the mall days of old: bustling avenues, buzzing storefronts and chattering crowds.

That downtown-esque atmosphere is exactly what Chesterfield Towne Center’s new stewards pitched to the Midlothian community during a Thursday night town hall.

While they’re still cooking on the concepts, New York-based investment firm JRE Partners and Swiss single-family office Anastacia AG said they’re eager to revive the mall into a thriving community hub.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/10/IMG_2712.jpeg)

The mall, like many across America, has struggled to retain tenants in recent years. (Photos by Eleanor Shaw/The Richmonder/Report for America)

Chesterfield Towne Center changed hands in late 2025, and Thursday’s presenters said they’re not looking to raze it or add residences (both points earned applause from roughly 60 attendees). The hope is to complete the first phase by the end of 2027, keeping the mall operational with minimal disruption.

The wish list includes greenery, outdoor eating, activity spaces and relaxing hideaways.

“We’re not knocking this down,” JRE Managing Fraser said. “In fact, we’re hoping to improve what’s there.”

Built in 1975, the mall was last renovated in 2015\. 

The decision not to add housing is a new twist for the area.

In 2019 — the last time Chesterfield revamped its comprehensive plan — mixed-use was all the rage. Midlothian Planning Commissioner Frank Petroski, who joined the planning commission in 2020, said things have since shifted.

“We added a lot of mixed-use for the first time around the region in our comprehensive plan,” Petroski said. “This is our vision; this is what we want. I will say, seven years later, it’s not been what we had envisioned.”

Currently, Chesterfield Towne Center rests on land that the county previously designated as almost entirely mixed-use. But [the 2026 proposed comprehensive plan](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a65a57ac6dee480e88d61a3afc695a8c#:~:text=Chesterfield%20Towne%20Center/Robious%20%26%20Huguenot%20Area) now reduces mixed-use land, shifting toward arterial business and residential zoning — mostly to match what's already there.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-c7d2192a-b69b-4ff1-ae48-c7e2b22d4ca2.png)

A new plan scales back the amount of land zoned for mixed-use.

Between first-floor shopping and high-rise living, mixed-use is costly. And Chesterfield’s makeup isn’t always conducive to the density mixed-use requires.

“We don’t really have the density or the demand, quite frankly, for a developer to invest that type of money in building that type of product here, because you’re not going to get a return on investment,” Petroski said.

Some builders have attempted to skirt the county’s mixed-use dreams by proposing housing and, maybe, a gas station on a corner. The argument is that, since both residential and commercial are present, it’s technically mixed-use.

As the county solicits input from residents, The Richmonder took a look at some other local malls that have reinvented themselves in recent years.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/10/IMG_3115.jpeg)

### **Springline: Another Chesterfield redevelopment**

Further up Midlothian Turnpike from the Chesterfield Towne Center, Springline at District 60 is setting Chesterfield’s standard for mixed-use development. With its high-rise apartments and first-floor retail space, it sits [where Cloverleaf Mall once stood](https://www.chesterfield.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/3425).

Even with the new changes to the comprehensive plan, the county is leaning into a mixed-use Springline.

So, what does mixed-use look like at Springline?

The answer is first-floor retail, apartments stacked above it, neighboring hotels, and a shiny new headquarters for both Chesterfield’s EDA and school district. This is how Chesterfield has historically looked at “mixed-use” — as Petroski put it, it’s creating villages where people can work, shop and live.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/10/IMG_3088.jpeg)

### **Regency: Keep the mall, add the housing**

Beginning in 2017, Henrico's Regency (formerly Regency Square) saw multiple exterior additions, while the closed-air mall remains intact.

Many of Regency’s anchor stores — which would have once housed a department store connecting the interior to a parking lot — are now activity spaces. These include swimming, pickleball, VR activity rooms, mini golf and Henrico County’s adult education program.

Upon exiting through the doors next to the mall’s customary bright plastic play place, there are several stories’ worth of apartment complexes called “The Rise at Regency.” These opened in April 2022.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/10/IMG_3095.jpeg)

### **Willow Lawn: Shops without the residences**

Before being demolished in 2011, Willow Lawn was an enclosed mall. While Cloverleaf Mall was completely demolished to make way for Springline, Willow Lawn underwent several renovations to add open-air shopping to its campus before fully leaning into outdoor offerings.

The land Willow Lawn sits on is zoned for retail and office space — not residential. Apartments are across the street, but they’re not part of the Willow Lawn complex.

*Contact Eleanor Shaw at* [*eshaw@richmonder.org*](mailto:eshaw@richmonder.org)*. She is a Report for America corps member.*