With the revitalization of Virginia Center Commons underway up the road and another major development planned in the vicinity, a fast-growing restaurant chain is getting in on the action in Central Henrico. 

Breakfast and lunch spot First Watch is planning to build a new location in the Stuart’s Crossing shopping center at 1091 Virginia Center Parkway. 

Earlier this month, the Florida-based chain filed plans to build the new restaurant on an undeveloped, 1.2-acre plot adjacent to the intersection with Brook Road.

First Watch first arrived in Richmond in 2018, serving breakfast classics like eggs benedict, omelets, pancakes and waffles, along with salads, bowls and sandwiches for lunch. It calls itself a “daytime cafe,” with most of its locations closing in the early afternoon. 

The company was founded in the 1980s near Tampa, Florida, and has been on a growth kick in recent years, now operating 520 restaurants in 29 states. Locally it has six locations in areas like Willow Lawn, Short Pump, Midlothian and Chester. 

A spokesperson for First Watch said the company is “exploring further growth in the Greater Richmond area and has several leases in various stages of negotiation.”

Plans show the First Watch on Virginia Center Parkway would total around 4,200 square feet and include an outdoor dining area. First Watch is listed as the project developer and E.D. Lewis & Associates is the engineer. 

It’s unclear whether First Watch would look to acquire the land ahead of the development. The parcel is currently owned by Sauer Properties, which is planning a major multi-use development with up to 780 homes on the nearly 100 wooded acres it owns to the east. Sauer Properties director Marshall French declined to comment about First Watch’s plans.  

More new restaurants are likely to join First Watch as part of the ongoing redevelopment of the former Virginia Center Commons mall. Last week Shamin Hotels broke ground on a pair of restaurant outparcels and hotels that’ll take shape next to the new Henrico Sports & Events Center. 

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) -“It’s definitely a feeling of just being scared. I wear a star of David but have it tucked under my shirt the past few months,” said Ethan Werner is the president of Hillel at Virginia Tech, the campus’s Jewish community.

While they were surprised at the intensity of Sunday night’s protests, he says hostility toward Jewish students has been going on for months. He says anti-Semitic chants have members of the Jewish community on edge.

“I heard from the river to the sea, which Congress just declared that that is officially hate speech and antisemitic, as it calls for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from the area. So it was just a very different vibe yesterday,” said Werner.

He also said they’re not just being targeted with words.

“I know a lot of students who’ve had who’ve been targeted by a lot of anti semitic attacks, swastikas on doors, anti semitic fliers under their doors on the or desks,” said Werner.

Amanda Herring is Hillel’s director. She says it’s unfair to blame Jewish students at Virginia Tech what’s happening in the Middle East as it is far beyond their control.

“Everyone has complicated political views. And so to assume that because someone is Jewish, or because they’re wearing a Star of David, that you can scream at them that they are causing violence in the Middle East is antisemitic, and that’s what needs to end,” said Herring.

Werner and Herring both said they’ve tried to schedule meetings with pro-Palestinian groups on campus to try and get some mutual respect and humanize the situation. However, they say those attempts have fell through. They want a discussion because it is the only way to bring peace on campus.

“If anyone was ever willing to do that with us, we would be more than willing, we’d be beyond grateful to come to that table and have that discussion. Unfortunately, that has not been what a lot of students have been wanting to do. It’s been a lot more aggressive, a lot more.

“Jewish students and Palestinian students could sit together and talk about their shared care and concern for this one small piece of land,” said Herring.

As the semester comes to a close, members of Hillel said they hope the summer will resolve the chaos between the two groups, so they can come together again as Hokies in the fall.

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A new American Legion post with a bar, a conference room, slot machines and an outdoor grill hosted an open house over the weekend.

American Legion Post 13 at 3445 Washington Blvd replaces a previous Legion building with a smaller footprint, which was demolished in 2020. The Virginia Square facility now sits at the foot of 160 units of affordable housing, half of which is set aside for veterans.

“The new Post 139 features a modern meeting and activity room, available for rentals with an 85-person capacity and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment,” a press release said. “A well-appointed, modern kitchen is adjacent. Members, auxiliary and their guests have access to a street-front post lounge, complete with bar, plush seating, wide-screen televisions and gaming machines.”

Among the post’s most prominent features is a 22-by-15-foot mural displaying three young Legion representatives and several Arlington landmarks, finished last summer.

The full press release about the open house is below.

American Legion Post 139 opens its doors on Saturday, April 27, giving the public a first look inside the unique Virginia Square facility that serves as a welcoming home for the veterans group while providing key affordable housing to the community.

The new Post 139 features a modern meeting and activity room, available for rentals with an 85-person capacity and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment. A well-appointed, modern kitchen is adjacent. Members, auxiliary and their guests have access to a street-front post lounge, complete with bar, plush seating, wide-screen televisions and gaming machines.

The Legion site, on property owned by the post since the 1930s, occupies 6,000 square feet of the ground floor of the new seven-story building developed by the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing. APAH bought the land in 2016 with an agreement that half of the future 160 Terwilliger Place apartments would be set aside for veterans for the next 75 years. The building’s first residents arrived in August 2022.

The previous Post 139 building, known for its American flag mural and cannon, was built in the 1950s and occupied a much smaller footprint with two floors and a basement. It was demolished in 2020.

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The April 27 open house is free for the public and will offer chances to meet Post 139 members, discuss special resources and partnerships available and view artwork by veterans. Live music. A variety of foods including grill items will be served.

The post, at 3445 Washington Blvd., is a short walk from Virginia Square-GMU Metro station and is also served by several bus routes. There is limited on-site parking; use street spaces or the GMU Van Metre garage.