Last night, the Henrico County Board of Supervisors approved plans by Gumenick Properties to redevelop 79.5 acres between Staples Mill Road and Libbie Avenue.

The Henrico-based developer plans to spend $434 million to build Staples Mill Centre, a compact, urban-style community where homes would be mixed with businesses. Plans call for 2,090 condominiums, town houses, homes and apartments, plus about 165,000 square feet of stores and offices. Officials say it is the largest revitalization project in Henrico history.

Supervisors praised the project’s detailed design and said it would help efforts to revitalize The Shops at Willow Lawn nearby.

“It takes people to serve that retail, and this brings the people for that area,“ Glover said.

Much of the property is the site of the former Suburban Apartments, a post-World War II complex that was demolished more than four years ago.

Gumenick plans to tear down 225 apartments that remain along Crestwood Avenue and Yorkshire Drive, plus about 20 homes the company owns along Libbie and Bethlehem Road. The apartments and homes are not expected to be vacated before July 2008.

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