Henrico County’s Planning Commission is expected to vote Thursday night on a plan guiding the redevelopment of two key pieces of land off of Interstate 95.

In a presentation to residents last week, the county showed renderings of what planners envision the future looking like along Brook Road, to the west of I-95, and the Best Products Reimagined area, to the east of the highway.

The county noted that while Highway 1 was once the main north-south artery along the East Coast, there is no longer the same level of regional traffic, which has brought economic decline along the stretch.

“Aging one-story commercial corridors characterized by expansive and often underutilized parking lots present significant opportunities for transformation,” planners said. “These areas can evolve over time into more compact, walkable, and mixed-use environments that accommodate new housing, employment, retail, and public spaces while retaining economic activity and strengthening the long-term viability of the corridor.”

At the Best Products site, planners are working with a full blank slate. They showed where a future trail can connect the area to the under-construction Fall Line Trail.

The development itself is currently planned to be anchored by a 17,000-seat arena, though a request for development proposals is ongoing after the failure of the Green City project.

Renderings show ground-floor retail anchoring a mix of living, working and hotel spaces.

At the meeting with neighbors, the group that put together the plan for Henrico, Able City East, asked a key question: “Will this really happen?”

Their short answer: “maybe,” though they noted that even if the full project as envisioned doesn’t come to fruition, the area still has “strong development potential” as the county rethinks what its neighborhoods of the future should look like.

Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@richmonder.org.