Lynchburg Council Approves New 43 Acre Development Off Graves Mill Road

Lynchburg, VA - 43 acres is slated to be turned into a wedding and event venue, commercial, residential, and retail space.

A plot right off Graves Mill Road is the proposed site. The development is slated to include 165,000 square feet of commercial space, 35 residential apartments, as well as a business and technology park.

It all got the green light Tuesday night from a unanimous Lynchburg City Council, first approving rezoning the property and then a conditional use permit to build on it.

The type of construction the city calls a "cluster commercial development" The developers say the space will lend itself to people being able to live, work, and play all within the same area.

Adjacent to this development is a state and nationally designated historic property; The Rosedale Mansion, and a pre-revolutionary war Grist Mill. A part of the agreement aims to keep those properties intact, and develop them into an event venue.

The owners of the Bedford Columns stepped in to take on that responsibility. Vickie Runk of Runk and Pratt is the property owner and shared her vision for the property.

"The mill is already refurbished inside, so we're ready to go inside. It's going to be the outside landscaping that starts so we can start holding events in the mill and the bottom part next to the creek bed as soon as the fall" she said.

Developers of the Graves Mill development are hoping to have a convenience and grocery store, along with commercial and retail space, with a business park in the rear of the property. They're hoping to break ground in less than a year.

"We would like to do something that has more of a historic feel or is done something a little different than a typical strip shopping center" said Bryant Hare, one of the project's developers.

The city planning commission did not recommend approval of this project to city council. But council said they ultimately disagreed with that recommendation.

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Lynchburg Council Approves New 43 Acre Development Off Graves Mill Road