Builder, neighbors find common ground for trees

With a battle over trees resolved, a local builder is ready to get the bulldozers humming at a new a Southside residential development.

Courtesy of

The Villas at Archer Springs will be focused on low-maintenance housing that includes first-floor bedrooms. Images courtesy of StyleCraft.

StyleCraft Homes hopes to start site work at the Villas at Archer Springs this fall. The project will put nearly 100 houses on 44 acres that sit about halfway between Stony Point Fashion Park and Chesterfield Towne Center.

The development is buffered by 19 acres of wooded area. Preserving some of that land became a sticking point last year between the builder and nearby residents. Signs calling for “Save our neighborhood” went up in the area as StyleCraft was first working its plan through the city council.

StyleCraft spokesperson Scott Kaminski said city officials, neighbors and StyleCraft worked together to come up with a way to keep as many trees in the plan as possible.

“All parties involved spent the better part of a year working together on an accurate tree survey and grading plans to save as many large-specimen trees as possible,” he said. “This included shifting roads to save trees in the vicinity of the neighborhood park and reducing the overall right-of-way width to save additional trees on the perimeter of the property.”

The new subdivision, located near the intersection of Duryea Drive and Old Gun Road, will be a low-maintenance community, meaning the homeowners association will provide lawn maintenance for residents.

StyleCraft will be the developer and builder of the 96-lot property.

Kaminski said the villa-style houses will be 1,550 to 2,500 square feet and will range in price from about $275,000 to $350,000. They’ll offer first floor bedrooms, an attractive amenity for the older customers that typically seek out low-maintenance developments.

“Through our demographic research, we determined there is a need in this area for first-floor living plans,” Kaminski said in an email.

The community won’t be age-restricted but may have a small percentage of lots reserved for homebuyers 55 and older. Subdivisions built to specifically target that age group have become a hot part of the housing market in Richmond recently, and StyleCraft has another project aimed at that demographic in the works in Mechanicsville.

Villas at Archer Springs 2The first lots Archer Springs should be available for sale in October, and a model home is expected to open early next year.

The development will leave room for a historic house that sits on one of the lots. According to city property records, the house at 10500 Duryea Drive, was built in 1780.

Kaminski said StyleCraft doesn’t own the house but its current owner has it under contract for sale to a third party.

StyleCraft started buying pieces of the Villas at Archer Springs property in 2006. Kaminski declined to say how much the company paid for it.

Although he didn’t say how much the development will cost to build, he said StyleCraft has received bank financing. In 2012, the company said Archer Springs would cost between $7 million and $10 million to develop.

StyleCraft Homes has a couple of new neighborhoods in the works, including The Landing at Swift Creek on Woolridge Road in Moseley, and the Villas at Rose Hill.

With a battle over trees resolved, a local builder is ready to get the bulldozers humming at a new a Southside residential development.

Courtesy of

The Villas at Archer Springs will be focused on low-maintenance housing that includes first-floor bedrooms. Images courtesy of StyleCraft.

StyleCraft Homes hopes to start site work at the Villas at Archer Springs this fall. The project will put nearly 100 houses on 44 acres that sit about halfway between Stony Point Fashion Park and Chesterfield Towne Center.

The development is buffered by 19 acres of wooded area. Preserving some of that land became a sticking point last year between the builder and nearby residents. Signs calling for “Save our neighborhood” went up in the area as StyleCraft was first working its plan through the city council.

StyleCraft spokesperson Scott Kaminski said city officials, neighbors and StyleCraft worked together to come up with a way to keep as many trees in the plan as possible.

“All parties involved spent the better part of a year working together on an accurate tree survey and grading plans to save as many large-specimen trees as possible,” he said. “This included shifting roads to save trees in the vicinity of the neighborhood park and reducing the overall right-of-way width to save additional trees on the perimeter of the property.”

The new subdivision, located near the intersection of Duryea Drive and Old Gun Road, will be a low-maintenance community, meaning the homeowners association will provide lawn maintenance for residents.

StyleCraft will be the developer and builder of the 96-lot property.

Kaminski said the villa-style houses will be 1,550 to 2,500 square feet and will range in price from about $275,000 to $350,000. They’ll offer first floor bedrooms, an attractive amenity for the older customers that typically seek out low-maintenance developments.

“Through our demographic research, we determined there is a need in this area for first-floor living plans,” Kaminski said in an email.

The community won’t be age-restricted but may have a small percentage of lots reserved for homebuyers 55 and older. Subdivisions built to specifically target that age group have become a hot part of the housing market in Richmond recently, and StyleCraft has another project aimed at that demographic in the works in Mechanicsville.

Villas at Archer Springs 2The first lots Archer Springs should be available for sale in October, and a model home is expected to open early next year.

The development will leave room for a historic house that sits on one of the lots. According to city property records, the house at 10500 Duryea Drive, was built in 1780.

Kaminski said StyleCraft doesn’t own the house but its current owner has it under contract for sale to a third party.

StyleCraft started buying pieces of the Villas at Archer Springs property in 2006. Kaminski declined to say how much the company paid for it.

Although he didn’t say how much the development will cost to build, he said StyleCraft has received bank financing. In 2012, the company said Archer Springs would cost between $7 million and $10 million to develop.

StyleCraft Homes has a couple of new neighborhoods in the works, including The Landing at Swift Creek on Woolridge Road in Moseley, and the Villas at Rose Hill.

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Barbara Daniello
Barbara Daniello
8 years ago

I was on the original group opposing this project. My main issues were the narrow roadway of Duryea with shrubbery and trees overgrowing into the roadway (which is too narrow to begin with while having to accommodate the buses, delivery trucks, big SUVs, etc.) and destroying wildlife habitats. To this end, we now have coyotes with the mange roaming my and my neighbors’ yards here at Pondera and Croatan Roads, plus an overpopulation of deer!! The now existant other problem is the Duryea Road surface. I understand the digging to lay piping/electricity/phone/cable service under the road is necessary, but must… Read more »