Cousins bought the land through real estate services firm Thalhimer/Cushman & Wakefield, which is currently marketing other parcel's in the same Richmond area submarket for approximately $200,000 to $225,000 per acre. Retail development land in Richmond, according to the NAI 2004 Global Market Report, typically sells at a minimum of $200,000 per acre.

"With its strong demographics and existing retail base, the area around I-295 in Mechanicsville is perfect for this type of center," Cousins' Retail Division president Joel Murphy explains. "During our due diligence we became even more interested in this site because several power center retailers told us their existing Mechanicsville locations were among their best performing stores in the Richmond market." Work is expected to get under way later this month and will wrap up about a year from now. PetSmart has already claims 19,000 sf, leaving the main property 75% committed. Merchants Tire, SouthTrust Bank and First Market Bank have signed on for some of the outparcel space.