If the owners of 5728 Patterson Avenue are now looking for someone else to build the four-story building they spent two years getting approved, who decides what goes on that corner?
Most of that was settled in May 2025. The former Westhampton Pastry Shop building went up for sale the week of September 24, 2026, according to Richmond BizSense. The listing comes with an approved special-use permit for a new four-story office and retail building at Libbie and Patterson. The permit's terms, including the ones that came out of the neighborhood's own objections, go to whoever buys the land.
The Tenants Left on the Project's Schedule
The corner is empty now because both of its long-time tenants moved out when redevelopment seemed close. Neither one closed.
| Business | Former home | Where it is now | When it moved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westhampton Pastry Shop | 5728 Patterson Ave. | 8903 Three Chopt Rd., Ste E, Henrico | Now open; reopening was announced for June 26, 2026 |
| Gild and Ash | Same building | 5021 Huguenot Rd., River Road Shopping Center II | Old store closed Aug. 15, 2025 |
The bakery is 74 years old, and it did not want to leave. Co-owner Mark Oley told Richmond BizSense in May that the business "had no intention of leaving the Libbie-Patterson area" and moved only to clear the way for the new building. Mark Oley and his brothers George and Anthony have owned the bakery since 2016. They also own Westwood Pharmacy on Patterson and Westbury Apothecary, which is right next to the bakery's new shop on Three Chopt. The Oleys own that Three Chopt building. A family entity owns the old Patterson one.
The new space is about 3,500 square feet, bigger than the old one. Diana Rogers still runs the day-to-day, as she has since she and her husband Guy sold the business to the Oleys. Oley's line on the recipes was short: "It's the same recipes. We're not changing anything."
So Westhampton gave up a bakery on the Libbie and Patterson corner for a project whose owners have since put the site up for sale.
The Owners Stepped Back. The Permit Did Not.
The 0.3-acre parcel belongs to a family partnership connected to the Frayser and Robins families. In spring 2025 they took the project through the city's special-use permit process themselves. Scott Frayser told Richmond BizSense that the families later decided they were not the right group to build it:
"The more we got into it, we (asked ourselves), 'Are we the ideal group to develop it?' And the answer was no. We don't have experience as developers... We're very conscious of (the fact that) that corner is important, and that whole area is important. It needs to be done right for the neighbors around it."
He described the listing as a way to see what comes in, whether developers or "end users" who might build a project for their own business. The listing has no asking price. As of the September report, the city's most recent assessment put the property at $2.4 million, and $1.7 million of that was the land. That leaves about $700,000 for a roughly 8,300-square-foot building from 1949, which Frayser said needed so much work that building new made more financial sense. Most of what is for sale is the corner itself and what the city has already said can be built on it.
Under Code Refresh, the city's new zoning, the lot is marked MX-3. That allows up to three stories. The approved permit allows four. That extra floor, and the approval behind it, is a big part of why the permit sits at the center of the listing.
What Westhampton Already Negotiated
The extra floor was the main point of contention. City Council adopted Ordinance 2024-329 on May 12, 2025. It authorizes a mixed-use building at 5728 Patterson Avenue and 805 Libbie Avenue. Before the vote, the Westhampton Citizens Association sent the city a letter dated December 30, 2024. It argued that four stories went past the three-story guidance in the Richmond 300 master plan and would be out of scale with the area's village character, and that 24 parking spaces would not cover demand from the offices and shops. In individual public comments filed with the city, residents also raised traffic at the busy Libbie and Patterson intersection.
Council approved the four stories, but with conditions. The adopted ordinance:
- caps the building at four stories
- requires at least 24 off-street parking spaces
- requires rooftop and other mechanical equipment to be screened from public streets and sidewalks
- allows the outdoor dining area shown in the plans
- covers grading, drainage and screened trash areas
- requires street work, including tree wells, street trees and a modified Libbie Avenue curb, and ties occupancy to finishing those improvements
The plan the families drew up in late 2023 called for about 29,000 square feet of offices over ground-floor shops, plus outdoor dining and a covered 24-space parking lot. A buyer who wants to build that project under this permit gets the height and also takes on the parking floor, the equipment screening and the new street trees on Libbie. The listing could change who builds at the corner. The list above still describes what that building has to be. It is general information, not legal advice. Anyone weighing the corner as a buyer or neighbor should read the ordinance text on Legistar and talk with the right professional about their own situation.
As of the September 24 report, no buyer, price or new plan had been announced.
Keeping the Old Routine Going Until Then
For now, the bakery run from Libbie and Grove means a drive. The new shop is at 8903 Three Chopt Road, Suite E, near Westbury Apothecary and Freeman High School. It is open Tuesday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Sunday and Monday. The bakery takes no online orders. You place orders by calling 804-282-4413 or stopping in, and the shop asks customers to check with it about holiday hours. Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, and the bakery has not posted a holiday order deadline, so call well ahead if you want a holiday order. The menu still includes the Radio Bars, éclairs, cinnamon buns and cream horns from the Patterson days.
Gild and Ash is a short trip down River Road, at 5021 Huguenot Road in River Road Shopping Center II, according to Richmond Magazine's 2025 coverage of the move.
The Avenues still have their December morning. The Westhampton Business Association's Santa Breakfast is Saturday, December 12, 2026, from 8 to 10 a.m. at Westwood Fountain Diner, 5823 Patterson Avenue. The breakfast special of pancake, bacon and two eggs is $7.99. Afterward, a free Holiday Trolley loops through the Avenues all day, stopping for shopping along the way, according to the association's events page.
For more on how scarce commercial space on these blocks shapes what opens where, see our look at the restaurant trade that shows what's scarce in the Near West End. Our Near West End neighborhood page covers the wider area around Libbie, Grove and Cary Street Road.
Whoever buys 5728 Patterson will shape one of the most prominent corners on the Avenues. If you own a home a few blocks from Libbie and Patterson and want to know how a project like this could affect your property's value, Chris Small Group is glad to go over it with you. Schedule a Private Consultation, and we'll keep you posted as the sale moves forward.
