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Business Insider
Bill Freehling is a business writer for The Free Lance-Star and Fredericksburg.com. This blog is on Fredericksburg-area business. Send an e-mail to Bill Freehling.
Cowan Crossings an example of new Silver model
The Cowan Crossings development at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Cowan Boulevard in Fredericksburg is an example of the smaller projects that the Silver Cos. is now focusing on, a vice president for the firm said Tuesday.
Silver Vice President Chris Hornung on Tuesday briefed property owners along the U.S. 1 corridor about the Cowan Crossings project, on which clearing and other site work have begun. The meeting was held at the University of Mary Washington’s Anderson Center and was organized by the city’s Economic Development and Tourism Department.
Silver has long focused on large developments such as Central Park, Cosner’s Corner and Harrison Crossing. But Hornung said these are different economic times, and he doesn’t see demand for more large retail developments in the region for the foreseeable future. As a result the company is looking for opportunities for smaller developments in which profits are smaller but faster.
A Silver affiliate reached a deal to acquire the land for Cowan Crossings, which is on the west side of U.S. 1, from the Embrey family. The company is now working on creating a pad site that will be sold to First Citizens Bank for a new branch.
The bank site is near the stoplight that’s south of the Cowan and U.S. 1 intersection. Hornung said a right-turn lane will be added off U.S. 1. The company hopes to have the entire site graded by mid-summer.
Silver is now working on attracting additional users for the development. Medical office buildings are planned to the south of the bank branch. To the north of the branch, Silver plans two pad sites. The company is hoping to attract a drug store on the corner of U.S. 1 and Cowan and possibly a restaurant between that store and the bank branch.
There will be a right-in and right-out access built from Cowan into the complex, and a new access road behind the planned buildings that will extend to the signalized service road on U.S. 1. Buffers will be added between the commercial development and the homes behind it along Keeneland Road.
