Tossing dirt in the ceremony were, from left: Nathan Rasnick with RK&K, Kevin Wong with Davis Cos., Henrico EDA Director Cari Tretina, John Mason with Lingerfelt, and Lynwood Washington with Arco Design/Build. (Jonathan Spiers photos)
More industrial space is on approach in eastern Henrico and set to touch down near Richmond International Airport.
Local real estate firm Lingerfelt recently broke ground on the first of four warehouses that will make up 7 Hills Distribution Center, a 95-acre complex with over 820,000 square feet of space that the firm is developing with Boston-based Davis Cos.
Representative with both companies were joined by officials with the county and the Henrico Economic Development Authority for a ceremony this month to mark the project’s start. The crowd converged on the site that’s across South Airport Drive from Seven Hills Boulevard, which will be extended eastward through the site to connect with Monahan Road.
“This is an especially exciting day, because it’s been quite a long journey on this particular project,” Lingerfelt President Brian Witthoefft said in his remarks. He added that the companies first offered to purchase the site in mid-2021, put it under contract in late 2022 and closed in May 2025.
“After nearly four years,” he said, “here we are today.”
7 Hills Distribution Center is planned to consist of four buildings totaling over 820,000 square feet of space. (Images courtesy Lingerfelt)
Lingerfelt and Davis purchased the site through a joint venture for $9 million. The seller was International Real Estate Development, a Henrico-based firm led by Josef Haas Jr. that had owned the land since at least 2004.
Ben Bruni with Commonwealth Commercial and Matt Anderson with Range Commercial Partners brokered the deal for Lingerfelt. The land was assessed by the county at over $3.8 million at the time of the transaction.
Brian Witthoefft
7 Hills Distribution Center was planned to start earlier this year but was pushed back due to delays related to the county’s site plan review process, Witthoefft told BizSense. In his remarks during the ceremony, Witthoefft thanked Henrico and the EDA for their support of the project.
Noting that Lingerfelt has built or acquired 19 industrial properties in the region over the last five years, amounting to 4.5 million square feet and over $650 million in investment value, Witthoefft said, “Henrico’s played a big role in that.”
With eight of those projects in Henrico totaling nearly $250 million in investment value, including its nearby Westport Trade Center and White Oak Distribution Center developments, Witthoefft added, “We’re very proud of that, and we’re very thankful to our partners in Henrico.”
The first building at 7 Hills will total 267,000 square feet and is scheduled for completion in early April. The subsequent warehouses will be built one by one after that, either to suit or on spec, starting with a 186,000-square-foot building beside the first one. The two remaining buildings north of the Seven Hills Boulevard extension will total roughly 218,000 and 148,000 square feet.
A site plan shows the respective buildings’ square-footages.
Witthoefft said they don’t have tenants pre-signed for the buildings but have seen “a fair amount of activity” and interest. In her remarks during the ceremony, EDA Director Cari Tretina said its staff was meeting with advanced manufacturers that would help fill the buildings.
“These types of investments, these types of projects are what drive Henrico’s economy,” Tretina said, describing 7 Hills as perfectly located in the industrial submarket around RIC.
“Henrico’s airport submarket serves as an industrial and logistics engine for all of the region,” she said. “7 Hills Distribution Center directly answers the sustained demand that we’re seeing for modern, Class-A warehouse and manufacturing space.”
Addresses for the new buildings at 7 Hills will include 2900, 2901, 3000 and 3001 Seven Hills Blvd. The site is just north and east of Sauer Industrial Center, the 450-acre industrial park that Sauer Properties is developing and last year landed a $50 million expansion for global power management company Eaton Corp.
Site work for the first building started in recent months.
7 Hills is the second joint venture for Lingerfelt and Davis, which previously collaborated on a 325,000-square-foot building at Carmel Church Business Center in Caroline County.
Arco Design/Build is the general contractor for the project, and RK&K is the civil engineer. Colliers agents Wood Thornton, Rob Dirom and Frank Hargrove III are handling leasing for the buildings.
Witthoefft said Andy Proctor with Atlantic Real Estate Capital introduced the group to Mike Gasiorowski with Burke & Herbert Bank, which is handling the project’s financing. An investment value for 7 Hills was not disclosed.
Also around the airport, the Henrico EDA has been making its own investments, paying nearly $6 million for two derelict properties along Williamsburg Road as part of its “Rebuild Henrico” initiative to revitalize the county’s older commercial corridors. It’s also marketing 200 acres off Beulah Road and other sites around the airport for development.
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