Crescent Development and Spy Rock Real Estate Group are seeking conditional rezoning for a six-acre site at Walmsley Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue, where a church could be replaced by a 200-unit apartment complex. The proposed apartments would be priced for renters earning 60% of the area median income, according to city filings.
The developers are under contract to buy the property, which is owned by the board of trustees for the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. The board acquired the land from Walmsley Boulevard UMC in 2024, according to Richmond BizSense. The 2910 and 2950 Walmsley Blvd. parcels are part of a larger 13-acre assemblage divided by CSX railroad tracks; the two parcels have a combined assessed value of $1.24 million.
Three Buildings, Hundreds of Parking Spaces
The plan calls for 200 apartments averaging 918 square feet. One building would have 87 units, another 33, and a third 80 along with nearly 7,000 square feet of amenity space. Plans show more than 300 parking spaces—274 pull-in and 30 parallel spots—with entrances from Walmsley and Atlantic, as well as a stormwater retention pond, according to the project account.
The site is just north of the Chesterfield County line and across Walmsley from a warehouse distribution center. Crescent and Spy Rock are working with Poole & Poole Architecture and Nyfeler Surveying; attorneys Preston Lloyd and Brian Prater represent them in the rezoning request. In a memo, Lloyd said the apartments would fit area land-use designations and provide a transition between planned mixed-use development and nearby single-family housing, according to the same account.
Transit Along Walmsley
GRTC lists Route 86, Broad Rock/Walmsley, as serving Walmsley, Southside Plaza and the Richmond VA Medical Center.
A Pattern of Affordable Projects Along Walmsley
The project would utilize state and local affordable-housing financing and grants, the report states, though the development filings include no cost estimate. Crescent principal Zac Frederick did not return a call seeking comment, the outlet reported. A separate grant record reviewed by richmonder.org lists Walmsley Gardens, LLC and Crescent Development & Spy Rock Real Estate as recipients tied to several Walmsley Boulevard addresses, with an approval date of October 10, 2023, and an amendment dated June 24, 2024 — though it's unclear whether that record applies to this specific proposal.
This would not be the pair's first affordable project along the corridor. Crescent and Spy Rock recently completed the 344-unit Foundry Creek Apartments about a mile west at Walmsley and Broad Rock boulevards, a $92 million development that includes 216 family apartments and a 128-unit building restricted to seniors, all targeting renters earning 60% of area median income, according to Richmond BizSense. The same developers are also planning a 228-unit complex along the west side of Belt Boulevard just north of Warwick Road, aimed at the same income tier and including one-, two- and three-bedroom units with some set aside for seniors, as reported by Richmond BizSense.
More Affordable Housing in the Pipeline Nearby
The Walmsley corridor has become something of a hub for affordable housing proposals. Separately, the NOON Cottrell project, developed by an affiliate of Lynx Ventures, would add up to 402 housing units across two buildings on nearly 11 acres near Broad Rock and Walmsley boulevards, according to richmonder.org. That proposal's Planning Commission recommended City Council approval of a special use permit, with Council expected to issue a final decision later that month.
The flurry of projects comes as the Richmond region continues to grapple with a shortage of affordable rental housing. The Partnership for Housing Affordability has reported that between 2009 and 2018, median incomes in the region rose by an average of 10% while median rents climbed 20%. Dedicated affordable apartments have accounted for less than 20% of new rental construction regionally over the past five years, the group notes, with the area producing an average of just 240 affordable units annually against a deficit of 20,000 homes affordable to very low-income renters. New market-rate apartments built since 2014 have averaged $1,200 to $1,400 in rent, the group says, affordable only to households earning $50,000 a year or more.
