The shopping center at 9700 Midlothian Turnpike opened in 1990 as Stein Mart Festival, 182,759 square feet of it, anchored by the big-box tenants that defined suburban retail for the next two decades. A.C. Moore announced it was closing in November 2019. Stein Mart filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and its 36,240-square-foot store went dark. Marshalls, the last long-term tenant in the strip, announced a Westchester Commons store in December 2023 and opened there in May 2024. What was left was about 90,000 square feet of mostly empty inline space and a landlord with a decision to make.
Sauer Properties decided to put apartments there. The Board of Supervisors approved the rezoning in August 2023, the plan settled at 206 units rather than the 350 it was allowed, demolition started in March 2026, and roughly 80,000 square feet of retail is staying put under a new name: The Village at Bon Air. This post walks through how it happened and what is actually being built.
At a glance
Where: 9700 to 9790 Midlothian Turnpike, on the north side of the Turnpike at Moorefield Park Drive, in the Bon Air area of unincorporated Chesterfield County. It is in the Midlothian Magisterial District, west of the Chippenham and Springline node and east of Chesterfield Towne Center.
The case: 22SN0137, "Stein Mart Multifamily Conversion," 16.67 acres, rezoned from C-3 and R-15 to C-3 with a conditional use for multifamily and a conditional use planned development.
The vote: the Board of Supervisors approved it 5 to 0 on August 23, 2023, on Supervisor Mark Miller's motion, seconded by Supervisor Holland, on the consent agenda. One resident spoke in support and no one spoke against.
What is being built: two four-story buildings with 206 apartments, 102 one-bedroom and 104 two-bedroom, plus a pool, fitness room, clubhouse and a small park, with about 650 parking spaces.
What stays: roughly 80,000 square feet of retail, to be refreshed under the approved commercial elevations.
The 2023 rezoning
Sauer went public with the plan on July 6, 2023, seeking zoning for as many as 350 apartments in three four-story buildings and proposing to demolish the roughly 90,000-square-foot strip. Marshall French, now president of Sauer Properties, put the problem plainly: "Big-box retail is moving away from that area and we've been struggling to fill the big-box spaces." He also described the goal at the time as looking at "options for affordable workforce housing in this area."
The Planning Commission heard the case on July 18, 2023 and recommended approval. The Board of Supervisors took it up on August 23. Supervisor Mark Miller, whose district it is, summarized the reasoning: "Retail has fundamentally changed over the last three or four years, and (the Stein Mart has been) closed a period of years and it's not coming back. As a result, we need to be creative in what we're going to do there."
The conditions attached to the approval cap the project at 350 units, limit three-bedroom units to no more than 10 percent of the total, set a road cash proffer of $5,640 per unit, require at least 4,000 square feet of indoor recreation space, and require the remaining commercial buildings to be reskinned according to the approved Commercial Refresh Elevations.
What was approved and what is being built
Approved, August 2023 | As planned, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
Apartments | Up to 350 in three four-story buildings | 206 in two four-story buildings |
Unit mix | Three-bedroom units capped at 10 percent | 102 one-bedroom, 104 two-bedroom |
Retail retained | About 67,500 square feet in the plan as filed | Roughly 80,000 square feet |
Road cash proffer | $5,640 per unit | Unchanged |
Strip demolished | About 90,000 square feet | Demolition began the week of March 19, 2026 |
The zoning still permits up to 350 units, so a third building remains possible, but Sauer has said it is not currently planned.
Money and shovels, 2026
November 25, 2025: the county approves site plan 25PR1076, The Village at Bon Air, covering 8.94 acres.
January 2026: Marshall French is named president of Sauer Properties, having joined the company in 2020 and served as director of development from 2021.
March 2, 2026: building permits are issued, a 139-unit Building 1 at 9742 Midlothian Turnpike valued at $12 million and a 67-unit Building 2 at 9752 valued at $8 million, with Purcell Construction as general contractor.
March 13, 2026: Berkadia closes a $39.25 million HUD 221(d)(4) construction-to-permanent loan on behalf of Sauer Properties.
Week of March 19, 2026: demolition of the 90,000-square-foot strip begins. ISG is the architect and Timmons Group the civil engineer. Sauer put vertical construction at mid to late September 2026 and declined to give a total cost.
The company's statement when demolition began sets the tone it has kept throughout: "For decades, the center has served as a community retail hub, and this redevelopment honors that legacy while meeting the demographic growth of Chesterfield County..."
The retail that stays
Olive Garden sits on its own pad and is unaffected. Dollar Tree, Plato's Closet and T-Mobile were among the tenants reported still in place in 2026. As of early September 2026, Cushman and Wakefield | Thalhimer was marketing the center with six vacant suites totaling 16,780 square feet, at a location it puts at 64,000 vehicles per day, with Connie Jordan Nielsen and Nicki Jassy handling leasing.
For a business already in the center, the practical questions are the construction sequence, the parking count during demolition and vertical work, and when the façade refresh reaches their storefront. Those are landlord questions rather than county ones at this point; the zoning approval required the refresh but did not schedule it.
Why this one matters
This is the clearest local example of a dead anchor becoming housing rather than sitting empty or being torn down for another strip. The county got 206 households within walking distance of a working retail center on a corridor it has been trying to intensify; the landlord got a use for space it could not lease; and the stores that were still trading stayed open through the whole thing.
It is worth reading alongside the $80 million sale of Chesterfield Towne Center to the west, where the new owners have publicly weighed redevelopment but have filed nothing, and the Center View Drive apartment proposal that was withdrawn in 2025. Not every aging commercial property on this corridor converts; this one did.
Read more
Sauer Properties planning to add apartments to Midlothian shopping center, Richmond BizSense, July 2023
Sauer gets green light to add apartments to Midlothian shopping center, Richmond BizSense, August 2023
Board of Supervisors minutes, August 23, 2023, Chesterfield County, for case 22SN0137 and its conditions
Sauer offers new details of apartment redevelopment plan, Richmond BizSense, April 2025, on the 206-unit site plan
Sauer starts demolition, Richmond BizSense, March 2026
Berkadia's financing announcement, April 2026, which reports the $39.25 million HUD loan closed March 13
The center's retail leasing listing, Cushman and Wakefield | Thalhimer
This post draws on Richmond BizSense reporting, the Board of Supervisors minutes for August 23, 2023, Chesterfield County site plan and permit records, Berkadia's financing announcement and Thalhimer's leasing materials. Sauer has not disclosed a total project cost or a completion date, and the square footage of retained retail has been reported at several figures between 2023 and 2026; "roughly 80,000 square feet" reflects the most recent.
Last updated September 16, 2026.