600 additional students will be able to participate in career and technical education programs at CTC@Hull.
The Chesterfield Board of Supervisors approved an agreement Wednesday to lease space in a new office building planned at the intersection of Midlothian Turnpike and Chippenham Parkway, enabling the county’s school system to consolidate its administrative staff in one location and more than double the instructional capacity at its career and technical center in the western Route 360 corridor.
Under the terms of the lease, Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) and Chesterfield Economic Development will occupy a total of 75,000 square feet, or half of a five-story office building to be constructed in Phase I of the Springline at District 60 mixed-use project.
CCPS central office staff currently are divided between the main administration building at 9900 Krause Road, within the county government complex, and the Career and Technical Center on Hull Street Road.
Once those employees move into the new offices at Springline, the school system will repurpose about 41,000 square feet of administrative space at CTC@Hull for instruction – creating capacity for an additional 600 students to participate in career and technical education programs.
The CTC@Hull building, which was extensively renovated for use as Chesterfield’s second tech center following the relocation of Clover Hill High School to its current campus on Kelly Green Lane, can accommodate a maximum of 560 students under its present configuration.
“We’re excited to give more of our students opportunities to study more career fields and be ready to enter the workforce after graduation,” said Josh Davis, chief operations officer for CCPS. “We’ll also be able to add a number of programs.”
The school system plans to introduce new career pathways, or clusters, in arts and communication, energy, information technology, health and medical sciences, and hospitality and tourism.
Among the new career and technical education courses it expects to offer are coding, programming, cybersecurity, energy supply sustainability and efficiencies, health informatics, hotel and restaurant management, and television and media production.
At its business meeting Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors also approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the county and school system that requires CTC@Hull to be utilized solely for instruction once the new Springline office building is ready for occupancy.
Increasing instructional capacity at CTC@Hull is particularly significant because of Chesterfield’s success in economic development – companies such as LEGO have cited the county’s deep talent pool as a major reason for establishing operations here – and will position CCPS to send more of its high school graduates directly into rewarding careers.
The 42-acre site of the former Spring Rock Green shopping center will be home to Springline at District 60.
“It’s the single most-important thing business prospects ask us: Where is my labor coming from and how are they going to get trained?” said Garrett Hart, director of Chesterfield Economic Development. “Businesses are chasing the workforce now, not the other way around. There are a lot of great things happening here and we’re going to double our ability to train students.”
According to Matt Harris, deputy county administrator for finance and administration, building 41,000 square feet of new classroom space for career and technical education would cost about $40 million.
“The cost avoidance of returning CTC@Hull to its original purpose more than covers the cost of leasing office space at Springline at District 60,” he said. “It makes a ton of financial sense.”
Chesterfield will also save money and enhance customer service by relocating the general registrar’s staff from leased space near the county complex into the Krause Road school administration building.
Strategically located at a key eastern gateway, Springline at District 60 is the planned successor to the underutilized Spring Rock Green shopping center that was acquired by the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority in 2021.
The 42-acre mixed-use development is zoned for as many as 1,400 residential units, 300,000 square feet of office space, 150,000 square feet of retail, a 100,000 square-foot sports and entertainment facility and a 125-room hotel, with mixed-use trails, abundant green space and a central gathering area for community events.
The Chesterfield Police Department also plans to build its new Falling Creek Precinct building on the Springline property.
Demolition of the existing shopping center began in March.
The county’s use of part of the first 150,000 square-foot office building will jump-start Phase I of the Springline project, which also includes a mixed-use building with ground-floor retail space and 300 apartment units, as well as a parking deck.
The initial phase of development represents a private investment of more than $180 million. At full build-out, total capital investment is expected to be about $675 million.