Where Chesterfield County economic development officials saw a yawning void, Mike Uzel saw sprawling green space within 5 miles of more than 40,000 mostly middle-class homes.
At first, some state officials backed the local bid to lure an advanced manufacturer to the swath of southeastern Chesterfield once slated for 5,000 more housing units. Then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe touted the project last August as a win for Virginia and county residents from the steps of Chesterfield’s historic courthouse.
But the shine faded on the megasite pitch as project opponents rallied in the months that followed, even as report after report commissioned by the county’s Economic Development Authority pointed to thousands of potential jobs, millions in economic investment and an “unlikely” drop in adjacent property values.
