Church Hill is one of the most historic areas in Richmond. It’s the locale in the eastern portion of the city where Patrick Henry gave his famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech at St. John’s Church. Much of it is rich in similar history, making it one of Richmond’s unique neighborhoods. It’s the foundation of what has been sectored into areas known as Chimborazo, Fairmount, Peter Paul, Union Hill, and Woodville. There have been a few iterations of revitalization that have taken place in the 1970s, early 2000s, and the late 2010s.

                                      Historic site of St. John’s Church in Church Hill.

Today, what once was a food desert for over two decades, is now working towards becoming a thriving neighborhood once again. Businesses and neighbors alike have hopes of seeing the return of the days when all of their needs could be met without having to leave their community. There are several developments, including the Church Hill North Retail Center, that have assisted in bringing life back to the community with a specific focus on Church Hill North.

The Church Hill North Retail Center came into existence as a philanthropic endeavor of Steven (Steve) and Katherine (Kathie) Markel. “We had been involved in many charitable projects during the previous decade,” Steve mentioned. Despite their community involvement across the city of Richmond, Steve and Kathie wanted to focus their attention on a larger issue. “We realized that we really had not done anything to address Richmond’s poverty in a major way and we felt the need to address it,” said Steve. There were several initial planning conversations with organizations and community members focused on redeveloping the East End. Stakeholders in those conversations included Richmond Redevelopment and Housing, Bon Secours, the City of Richmond, and longtime Church Hill resident Mrs. Mary Thompson. The biggest problem that was identified was that the community lacked a source of healthy food. Steve and Kathie, along with the support of the community, took that problem head on and began the process to develop a retail hub anchored by a full-service grocery store.

Bird’s eye view of the Church Hill North Retail Center during construction.

Initial phase of construction for the Church Hill North Retail Center.

In addition to the investments made by Steve and Kathie, a portion of the financing for the project came from investments through the New Market Tax Credits Program and a grant from the City of Richmond. Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority contributed a portion of land held along the Nine Mile Road corridor.

The next step was identifying an advisory board that focused primarily on developing a neighborhood grocery store. Members of the board included Melissa Brooks, Stephanie Carrington, Norm Gold, Gilbert Howard, Curtis Lee, Sean Miller, Mike Maruca, Dan Stembridge, Karen Wells, and Lawson Wijesooriya. The team met frequently to discuss the vision for the grocery store and the most efficient way to bring it to fruition.

The group was formulated by Mike Maruca, the Head of School at Anna Julia Cooper. “We convened an advisory group of about eight people who met every month or so. We met with all types of groups in the neighborhood – community organizations, schools, public housing, and neighborhood associations to ask for input,” Mike said.

Having a diverse advisory board was of importance to many of those appointed as members. Sean Miller, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Richmond, said that having a diversity of organizations helped to pull in the voice of the community. “Had everyone walked to the beat of the same drum, the community wouldn’t have liked the outcome. Our ability to capture information and have community conversations drove more community feedback on what they ultimately thought the neighborhood would benefit from having the most,” Sean said.

The group was responsible for guiding the conversation around all aspects of the grocery store, from the name to its operations. Some of the results of what we did was coming up with the name for the grocery store, ideas for employment, and connecting with CARITAS,” Mike explained. Mike said what ignited the group was the possibility of change and bringing a much-needed grocery store to the neighborhood. “The hope of creating something that was significant enough to help change a whole neighborhood was the vision. At the heart the thought was that there is always a desire for a nice clean grocery store. That was the heartbeat of the development,” Mike said.

In April 2019 the Market @ 25^th opened its doors to the community as a full-service grocery store in the heart of Church Hill North. The store also features an in-house pharmacy called Hope Pharmacy. It is the first African American female led pharmacy in the area. The leaders in bringing the operations to fruition, were Norm Gold and Jae Scott. Norm signed on to the project as the developer. “Steve, Kathie, and I met while the project was still dirt and I agreed to be the developer of the grocery store. In the beginning, the plan generally consisted of what the building would look like,” Norm explained. There was a need to hire a store director that could implement the vision that Norm developed.

Norm sought out Jae Scott who had over 20 years of grocery experience, including being a member of the Community Pride team when it was a staple in the Church Hill community. Jae came on board officially as the store director, but it became clear that his role had a greater emphasis than just managing groceries. “I had a conversation with Steve regarding what the goal of the project was. Steve told me that he and Kathie were trying to answer the question of how you can help a neighborhood in poverty. He told me that he didn’t know the answer to that but that we we’re going to figure it out together,” Jae explained. “I came in thinking I would just be a store manager, and soon realized that it was more about being a face for the store and promoter of what the project is trying to do. I became someone who pools resources for the community,” Jae said.

One need that was addressed within the Market @ 25^th was the desire for a community pharmacy. Dr. Shantelle Brown, owner, and operator of Hope Pharmacy, agreed to provide bring those services to the neighborhood. Dr. Brown’s Hope Pharmacy is the first African American, female owned pharmacy in the region.

Norm noted that earning the community’s trust has been a long term process. The goal has always been to be a part of the community. The growth in trust has a lot to do with the hires made by Jae,” Norm said. That impact has been felt by neighbors, employees, and shoppers. Gilbert Howard feels that the grocery store gave him a new outlook on life. In addition to being a member of the advisory board, Gilbert has worked in the loss prevention department at the Market @ 25^th since it opened its doors. “It gave me a chance to do something different. As someone who was formally incarcerated, it showed me both sides of work,” Gilbert said.

For everyone at the Market @ 25^th, meeting the needs of the community expand far beyond groceries. One initiative that the grocery store has for its customers is the Virginia Fresh Match program, which is also known as ‘Double SNAP.’ The program allows SNAP benefit recipients to receive 50% off of their produce purchases at the Market @ 25^th. The grocery store also offers transportation for customers who spend $40 or more at the store back to their home. There are also long-standing partnerships with the American Heart Association, Aetna, United Healthcare, the Better Housing Coalition, and VCU’s school of nursing to promote community health.

Once the concept of the Market @ 25^th was solidified, the secondary portion of the vision was identified – the need to promote healthy lifestyles and reignite the vibrancy of the community. This sparked the engagement of Virginia Commonwealth University, J Seargent Reynold’s Community College’s Kitchens at Reynolds, and the Boys and Girls Club.

Parcel B of the Church Hill North Retail Center. Location of the Kitchens at Reynolds.

The Kitchens at Reynolds is a branch of J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Virginia. It is the educational home to culinary arts, hospitality, and entrepreneurship courses. The program is facilitated by eight chefs and instructors with varying backgrounds in the culinary and hospitality professions. The program head is Chef Jesse Miller, who has over 22 years of teaching and industry experience. Dr. Paula Pando, President of the college, expressed their commitment to the East End and the expansion of their program. “It’s a new front door to everything we have to offer,” Dr. Pando said. She is excited to expand their program offerings at the Kitchens but is aware that steps will need to be taken to increase enrollment. “We know that getting the enrollment into the programs will be a ground game. “The goal is to connect with those who are trusted community members to promote the programs,” Dr. Pando stated.

The VCU Health Hub at 25^th is a Richmond East End health education and activity wellness center. The majority of their programs are free, and are in partnership with VCU faculty, staff, students, health team members, and community partners. The Acting Director and Operations Coordinator, Kristoffer “K.J.” Ricasata, expressed that the organization is a first of its kind model for Metro Richmond. “The Health Hub didn’t exist prior to opening in the East End. It is very unique. It’s a bridge between community, higher education, and resource connections,” K.J. noted. In addition to working in the Church Hill community, K.J., has lived in the neighborhood for 10 years, and has seen firsthand the neighborhood’s evolution firsthand. “The Health Hub could have been placed in a number of locations. The highest and greatest need is here in the East End. Good work is happening here person to person,” K.J. said.

The Boys and Girls Club of Richmond provides programming to school-aged youth that centers on empowerment to create success in life. The organization has been serving the youth in the East End for over 20 years. The organization leased space in the Church Hill North Retail Center through the end of 2022.  President and CEO Sean Miller says that they are continuing to increase their presence in Church Hill. In 2022, the first Teen and Community Center opened its doors on Nine Mile Road. Sean says that the Church Hill North Retail Center is one of the factors that sparked their expansion and the overall shift in the neighborhood. “The neighborhood went from hopeless to hopeful. There is a beacon of life and hope now that is achievable and foreseeable. Its positive impact is spreading towards I-64,” Sean said. Part of the success of the organization has been the summer programming. “The summer program and youth development circles have been our largest successes. We have had 85-90 kids from across the city in the building for the past two summers,” Sean mentioned.

Addressing the need for affordable housing was also a priority for Steve and Kathie. The grocery store advisory board turned their attention to this need. There were discussions on how to merge affordability for tenants with sustainability for operations. From this ideation the Flats at 25^th was born. The Flats at 25^th were developed by Church Hill North Holdings to help close the gap on the availability of affordable housing within the neighborhood. There are 54 units, with one- and two-     bedroom layout offerings. The apartments include 14 certified affordable housing units where the rent is restricted based on the resident’s income.

With a hub of engaged organizations, partnerships were formulated to expand the focus of addressing the needs of the community together. This level of engagement has been rewarding for many of those involved in the project, including K.J. with the VCU Health Hub. “I have been able to forge authentic bonds with neighboring organizations. I love that I can share ideas with the individuals within the organizations around me and vice versa,” K.J. stated.

One resource that was still needed after the development of the retail center was banking services. Virginia Credit Union began leasing space in the development in early 2023. Virginia Credit Union has over 320,000 members and offers a variety of affordable banking services, loans, mortgages, and free financial education resources. “We decided to open a branch in Church Hill because it was an underserved community from a financial standpoint,” said Mike Pessendo, Virginia Credit Union’s Public Relations & Corporate Communications Director. “Our Church Hill branch is one of the most actively engaged communities, and it’s clear that people are happy that we are there,” Mike said.

It is evident that the development has impacted members of the community in a major way. Even with all the changes, many of the original neighborhood stakeholders remain. “The neighborhood does have a strong sense of pride and place,” said Lawson Wijesooriya who has been a member of the neighborhood for over 19 years and was on the retail center formation committee. “People who grew up in the neighborhood are still around and give a strong sense of ‘we are here.’ A lot of older folks [60s and 70s] have a strong bond and a sense of community and connectivity,” Lawson explained.

Mrs. Mary Thompson is a longstanding member of Church Hill and is affectionately known as the Mayor of 22^nd Street. She has worked to further that sense of community through revitalization efforts beginning in the 1990s. Fast Forward 17 years, after many planning and development sessions, initiatives began to move forward to bring a retail center to Church Hill because of Mrs. Thompson’s tireless efforts.  “We can see a thriving community now. We now have things in the community that we thought were gone forever,” said Mrs. Thompson.  All of the organizations that have entered the community are making it a greater community and are offering resources that we need,” explained Mrs. Thompson. Organizations such as Real Life Center, which is a life-skills program, are now anchored in Church Hill. Others that have since joined and are actively engaged in the neighborhood include Mercy Chefs, Planned Parenthood, ReWork Richmond, and Urban Hope.

The Church Hill North Retail Center acted as a catalyst for other developments in the neighborhood and the entrance of other needed resources. Dan Stembridge, Consulting Director for Administrative Services at Challenge Discovery Projects, echoed that sentiment. “The retail center has had a solid impact and has ways that it will continue to impact the community in the future. It’s turning into a key place on Nine Mile Road that has sparked the renovation of the rest of Nine Mile,” Dan said. The revitalization of the community’s infrastructure is also progressing. Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) began the process of redeveloping Creighton Court in 2017. The project is set to have several development phases to overhaul the longstanding housing project. The goal of the Creighton Court redevelopment project is to create a vibrant mixed-income community of choice.  

What’s next for Church Hill? Community members alike are eager to see the neighborhood continue along the path of becoming a thriving East End again. Residents have stated that they would like to see more affordable housing and businesses enter the community in a way that maintains the fabric of Church Hill. “As businesses are opening and retail spaces continue to creep along, I hope that those businesses develop in an opportune way. I just want everyone to feel included,” K.J. explained. Lawson expressed similar thoughts. “I hope that there is more affordability protection and that there are not more people displaced. I think that we will see more businesses coming into the neighborhood no matter what. I would like to see those developments stewarded more like the Market @ 25^th with intentional hiring and business use,” Lawson said.

In order to continue to sustain the momentum that began with Steve and Kathie’s investment large and small partnerships are needed to continue to expand the infrastructure of Church Hill North. “Now the vision needs to be “let’s get involved” so we can realize the dream for the community. The residents of the community need to have this mindset. Those who have entered the neighborhood need to learn the history of the community and capitalize on it through investment,” said Mrs. Thompson.

For Steve and Kathie, the legacy they hope the Church Hill North Retail Center carries into the next 10 years and beyond is one of success for the Market @ 25^th and continuing to provide value to the community. “I would like the grocery store to be hugely successful with sales twice what they are currently, double the number of employees, contributions being made to the community, and potentially a co-op structure with dividends being paid to customers and employees. I foresee the store being employee-owned. There will be an early childhood program in place, over 400 students enrolled in the culinary program, and it all coming together,” Steve said.

Church Hill North Holdings will be partnering with RVA Community Development Corporation (RVA CDC) on future development projects to further meet the needs of the community. RVA CDC is a non-profit community development organization that is based in the East End of Richmond and is continuing to bring sustainable programming and resources to Church Hill. RVA CDC’s current focal areas include educational spaces, affordable housing, and workforce development. The goal of the organization is to continue to build upon Church Hill North Holdings’ efforts to create a sustainable East End of Richmond.

The two organizations have plans to continue to develop Church Hill from Nine Mile Road through 25^th street. One priority the two community developers both have is to maintain the historical fabric of the neighborhood, by getting input from the community members. Their future projects will be constructed in an economically and socially sustainable manner to create a mixed-income neighborhood that meets that needs of all who inhabit it.