NoVa-based developer pays $11M for 6-acre Broad Street lot ahead of ‘Scottwood’ project

Mike Platania

Four years and three prospective buyers later, a piece of Henrico’s Westwood area has finally sold. 

The 5.75-acre lot at 4400 W. Broad St. was purchased last week for $11.5 million, Henrico records show. 

The buyer was Middleburg Communities, a Northern Virginia-based developer that has been planning a nearly 300-unit apartment complex on the site called “Scottwood.”

The seller was 4400 West Broad LLC, an entity tied to Mark Motley of Motley’s Asset Disposition Group, which was formerly headquartered there before moving to the Southside years ago. 

The sale closed March 27 and equates to an even $2 million per-acre. Bruce Milam of Bruce Commercial Realty brokered the deal. The property was most recently assessed at $2.7 million.

Middleburg is working on Scottwood with Harbor Group International, a major developer out of Norfolk that, per its website, owns and manages over $21 billion worth of real estate globally. Representatives for Middleburg and HGI also weren’t available for comment. 

Scottwood’s 299 apartments are planned to be split across two 4-story buildings, one with 132 units and the other with 167. 

A Middleburg announcement said construction is scheduled to begin this month and last about 18 months. The project architect is Poole & Poole Architecture and the engineer is Timmons Group. Henrico property records show that Middleburg secured a $51.2 million loan from Truist Bank to help finance Scottwood. 

The property splits the Richmond City-Henrico County line, a distinction that caused a hiccup in the site’s initial development plan a few years ago. 

Phoenix-based developer Alliance Residential Co. put the property under contract in 2022, with plans to build 340 apartments, but punted on it a year later when an issue regarding utility access to the site came to light. 

After the utility snafu was worked out, the lot went back on the market and by late 2023 Mill Creek Residential, a developer out of Florida, had it under contract for another 300-unit development. 

That deal fell apart in early 2024 due to financing issues and it wasn’t until early 2025 that Middleburg stepped in and filed plans for the site. Henrico approved the Scottwood development last year, and the city gave it the thumbs up in February. 

With the property’s split jurisdiction, unusual utility access and easements on surrounding properties, Middleburg’s Richmond development partner Ross Magette described the project as “one of the most complex we’ve pursued in the market,” in Middleburg’s announcement.

Motley also acknowledged the winding path the deal took.

“As they say, the third time is a charm. It took a little perseverance, not only from us but also the buyer,” Motley said. “(Scottwood) is the right thing for the area. That area is ready and prime for development.”

Middleburg has been gradually increasing its local presence the last few years. In 2025 it wrapped up work on a trio of residential developments in Chesterfield and Henrico, and filed plans just before the year’s end for nearly 350 apartments and townhomes near the Diamond District. 

HGI, meanwhile, seems to be reentering the Richmond market after a 15-year hiatus. In 2010, it bought the Sundance Station apartments in Henrico, but sold the property a year later to a Thalhimer affiliate. It’s unclear whether the firm owns or manages any other properties in the area.