Wyndhurst finds growth in 'live here, work here' identity

When developers looked at 400 acres of cow pasture in Lynchburg 10 years ago, they saw a thriving community with homes, service businesses, restaurants and unique retail stores. Wyndhurst.

Now, about five years after businesses first opened, Nathan Bottenfield is trying to see the same thing on a street where 11 of 26 commercial spaces are vacant.

On Friday, Bottonfield plans to open Threads, a clothing store specializing in denim, on Tradewynd Drive at the heart of Wyndhurst.

When he shopped around for a location, some warned him to stay away from Wyndhurst.

People “had a little fear of the area because of the stores that are dropping out,” he said.

He chose to disregard that fear. The way he sees it, “this area has been through its first cycle, and everything’s on its way up.”

It may be on its way as something different than originally planned, many business leaders in Wyndhurst say. Several retail shops — selling specialty items ranging from children’s clothing and golf equipment to candles and art work — have come and gone. Some closed completely; others moved to a different location in the Lynchburg area. At the same time, Wyndhurst is finding a growing market in professional services and offices.

Business owners, while acknowledging the dozens of empty commercial spaces, say many are the result of a slowed economy, normal business closures and the building out of the community five years faster than originally planned.

“Nothing’s wrong with Wyndhurst except it’s young,” said Eddie Tarazona, owner of a cigar shop on Enterprise Drive that has been in Wyndhurst for five years. “Yes, there are a lot of vacancies, I will agree. But it will start picking up.”

“If people are patient enough, believe me, it’ll go.”

Wyndhurst was Lynchburg’s first “traditional neighborhood development,” which mixes residential areas with shopping and businesses.

It was planned in the mid- 1990s and received city approval in 1997.

“We knew the concept,” said Ken Burger, executive director at The Summit retirement community, who helped plan Wyndhurst. “We knew we wanted a planned community where people could live and work and shop.”

The first homes went up for sale in 2001. Subway opened in May 2003, followed by other businesses that summer.

The commercial buildings went up faster than planned, reaching the 10-year build out in half that time. Chuck Hagerty, who recently bought a building in Wyndhurst, said some commercial units originally sold for 10 percent over value. “That’s how hot the market was.”

The homes, apartments and condos had strong growth as well. Wyndhurst developer Phillip Jamerson, of J.E. Jamerson & Sons, said that the residential market has continued strong.

(Terry Jamerson, publisher of The News & Advance, is the wife of Phillip Jamerson.)

Overall, development increased the land’s taxable value from $2.2 million in 1999 to $220 million today, according to City Assessor Greg Daniels.

That yields more than $2 million in real estate taxes per year, which City Councilman Jeff Helgeson said makes it a success in land-use policy.

Helgeson was on the city’s planning commission when Wyndhurst was approved.

Making the individual businesses there a success is the responsibility of the owners, Helgeson said.

Many business owners have succeeded: At Home Gourmet regularly delivers meals to 125 clients around the city. The children’s center Romp n’ Roll is growing enrollment faster in Wyndhurst than any of the franchise’s other Virginia locations, and Subway’s business has grown incrementally each year. Flips draws shoe shoppers from a large area.

But struggles have come alongside that success.

Mike Anich opened Edible Arrangements in Wyndhurst this year after hearing that it was an up-and-coming community.

Being on Enterprise Drive brings lots of customers, but “Now that we’re in here we see the struggles of the community,” Anich said.

One is the lack of an anchor store to draw shoppers, he said.

Another issue is garbage disposal. Wyndhurst has no trash Dumpsters in order to maintain a pristine image, but Anich said businesses need them.

Darlene Hill, owner of The Fat Tuna, agreed. She added that lease rates are an issue, too. At her restaurant’s second location on U.S. 221, she pays half the rent of the Wyndhurst location.

Last November, rental rates pushed Pet Cabana, a pet grooming shop, out of Wyndhurst and on to Timberlake Road.

“They were not wanting to renegotiate,” owner Suzette Johnson said. “They kept on going up on the lease.”

Several other businesses have moved out in the past year: Artifacts and A Little French both moved to Boonsboro. La Li D’s moved to Forest this year.

Other stores went out of business, including Savannahz and a Golf USA franchise.

The owners of Savannahz, Artifacts and A Little French declined to comment on their reasons for closing or moving.

Gary Case, a real estate agent for some commercial land there, said that Wyndhurst had a net gain of businesses last year.

Several leaders in Wyndhurst say that store closures can’t be blamed on the location. “That’s not new to Wyndhurst. That’s business. That’s life,” said Anich.

Burger said many of the shops were run by first-time business owners, and that many first businesses fail.

Several shoppers and storeowners in the area said that some former businesses didn’t stay open late enough.

In contrast, late one evening last week some of the successful shops were still open. Hiker’s Outpost had the lights on, advertising a sale. People were still in Tarazona’s cigar store and lounge, and Mountain Frost Creamery was dipping ice cream after the 10 p.m. closing time.

Roger Dudley, owner of The Fireplace Shop on Wyndhurst Drive, said, “If you take a look at the ones who are still out here, they’re putting a lot more time into it than those that just popped up and then moved out.”

Even though some businesses are doing well, Wyndhurst has to fight a negative perception cast by empty buildings.

An informal visual survey shows Wyndhurst with more than 140 commercial spaces, and more than 40 of those are empty.

“There’s not a lot of shopping out here. There used to be, but not anymore,” said Shannon Porter, who comes to Wyndhurst to walk and get ice cream.

“I really don’t pay much attention to (the stores) because they come and go,” said Megan Spaulding, who lives in a Wyndhurst condo. “They’re not here very long.”

Some businesses in Wyndhurst hope to fight those perceptions with way-finding signs. Approved last month by City Council, the signs on Enterprise Drive would point the way to businesses off the beaten path.

Traffic estimates say an average of 14,000 vehicles traverse Enterprise Drive each day.

Marcus Borel, a member of Wyndhurst’s Town Center Association, said some visitors have commented that the area is hard to navigate. Erecting signs should change that and increase visibility for businesses, he said.

Others are trying to change perceptions by filling empty spaces in a market that has cooled. Hagerty bought his current building for $90,000 below the tax-assessed value.

He’s trying to lease it for $9 per square foot, though spaces once went for as high as $15. “Something is better than nothing,” he said.

The rates have dropped in other locations, too.

Robert Dawson, a broker listing several sites on Tradewynd, said, “Commercial rentals in Wyndhurst are a very good deal … I don’t understand why people aren’t filling those spaces up.”

Vince Phelps, the owner of Subway and Kingston Executive Suites, said the spaces likely will fill service businesses, such as Merrill-Lynch, which recently signed a long-term lease in one of his buildings.

Eye care, dentist and bank administrative offices have opened this summer.

“Wyndhurst might have been built on ‘live here, shop here.’ But maybe ‘live here, work here’ is what it’s becoming,” Phelps said.

“It’s not going to be the retail hub that everyone thought.”