If you've walked or driven past Kroger on Willow Lawn Drive this month, you've seen the chain-link fence, the cleared lot where three low office buildings used to sit, and the first equipment staging for what's coming next. Demolition wrapped up earlier this year. Construction on the building itself is starting right now, this August.
Most people passing that fence assume they're looking at "the Willow Lawn redevelopment," the mixed-use overhaul that's been discussed in Henrico County planning meetings since 2023. They're not. What's actually rising there is a separate, much smaller, much faster project, and understanding the difference tells you more about what your walk around here will look like over the next two years than either project does on its own.
Two Projects, Two Very Different Clocks
The site across from Kroger is called Willow Circle, named for the residential cul-de-sac that occupied the spot before three 1960s-era office buildings replaced it decades ago. It's a joint venture between Thalhimer Realty Partners and the Crenshaw family, who've owned and managed those office buildings through their Crenshaw Realty firm. The plan calls for a 228-unit apartment building with a $63 million development cost, targeted for completion in spring 2028. That's the fence you're looking at right now.
The other project, the one people usually mean when they say "Willow Lawn is getting redeveloped," is a different animal entirely. In October 2023, Henrico County's Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning request from Federal Realty Investment Trust covering the shopping center's full 37 acres. That plan envisions more than 2,200 residential units, multiple standalone buildings, and a 10-story tower with ground-floor retail and upper-level office space. It's also explicitly planned to unfold over the next 20 to 30 years.
So the thing you can see happening has nothing to do with the thing most people are talking about. Willow Circle will be leasing apartments while the Federal Realty master plan is still mostly a set of approved drawings. If you're trying to picture what changes on your daily walk between now and 2028, Willow Circle is the honest answer. The 10-story tower and the 2,200 units are a story for a different decade.
Why the Northern Half of the Block Is Still Quiet
There's a second piece of the Willow Circle story that explains something else you might have noticed: construction hasn't started everywhere at once. Thalhimer and Crenshaw originally planned a second building a few blocks north on Byrd Avenue, another 7-story structure with hundreds more apartments, on land the Crenshaw family also owns. That part of the plan has been on hold since 2022, and it's staying on hold for now.
The reason isn't financing or permitting delays in the usual sense. GRTC and Henrico County are working through plans to extend the Pulse bus rapid transit line west as far as Parham Road, with a new western terminus planned for that stretch of Broad Street. Until those transit plans settle, the Byrd Avenue building is paused. It's a reminder that a lot of what gets built around a commercial corridor like this one depends on infrastructure decisions happening somewhere else entirely, on a timeline nobody controls from a rezoning application.
What You'll Actually See This Year
Setting the bigger master plan aside, here's what the Willow Circle project itself means on the ground:
- The building replaces three 1960s office buildings at 1506-1510 Willow Lawn Drive with a 7-story structure along the street, scaling down to 4 stories closer to the neighboring homes, a requirement under Henrico's neighborhood compatibility standards.
- It includes a parking deck with roughly 360 spaces, about 1.5 per unit, with the apartments wrapped around the deck so it isn't visible from Willow Lawn Drive.
- The mix is evenly split between one- and two-bedroom units, averaging 675 and 994 square feet respectively. Projected rents run from $1,650 to $2,850.
- Getting to this point took longer than the timeline suggests. A deed restriction from when the original office buildings went up prohibited other commercial uses on the property, and clearing that restriction required sign-off from all twelve neighboring homeowners.
None of that changes the character of Monument Square itself. But it does mean more foot traffic near Kroger over the next two years, a construction zone to route around on Willow Lawn Drive, and eventually a few hundred new neighbors within easy walking distance of the same shopping center you already use.
The Retail Side Moves Faster Than Either Development
While the buildings take years, the storefronts turn over on their own, faster schedule. Amigos Family Restaurant, a Mexican spot near Willow Lawn that had built a following over ten years, closed abruptly in fall 2025. Right now, the dining lineup in and around the shopping center includes Taco Bamba, Ugly Dumpling, Shagbark, The Greek Taverna, Yoshi Sushi, The Continental Westhampton, Lafayette Tavern, The Answer Brewpub, and Pegasus.
Walk a few minutes further onto the Libbie & Grove stretch of Grove Avenue and the pace picks up again. That corridor has held its identity for generations, anchored by longtime fixtures like Stuffy's, known for sandwiches served heated rather than toasted, alongside Bar West and Jack Brown's Beer & Burger Joint. One of the more notable recent additions is Beijing on Grove, a Cantonese restaurant that's brought Chinese food back to the corridor after a gap. The retail side leans toward Richmond institutions with staying power: Alton Lane for custom-fitted suits, Apothec for wellness and fragrance, Hampton House for linens and registries, Levy's for women's clothing, Palette Home for interior design, and Peter-Blair for traditional menswear. The corridor also keeps its own calendar tradition alive: a Dog Days of Summer sidewalk sale and dog parade, held annually on the third Saturday in July, worth noting for next year if you haven't caught it.
Reading the Fence Correctly
The mistake is treating Willow Lawn as one story with one timeline. It's at least three: a fast-moving 228-unit apartment building finishing in 2028, a decades-long mixed-use master plan still mostly on paper, and a restaurant and retail scene that reshuffles on its own schedule, sometimes within a single season. Knowing which clock you're looking at, whether it's the fence by Kroger, the quiet lot on Byrd Avenue, or the space where Amigos used to be, tells you what to actually expect on your next walk through the neighborhood, rather than what a decades-out rendering promises.
If you own property in Monument Square and want a conversation about how any of this, near-term construction, the slower master plan, or the retail turnover, could shape your own address over time, the Chris Small Group knows this stretch of Richmond block by block. You can view current listings and neighborhood detail on our Monument Square page, or reach out directly to schedule a private consultation.
