A 30,000 square foot off-price anchor is filling a vacancy on West Broad. The interesting part is not the store. It is which end of the corridor it chose.
Jack Jacobs reported for Richmond BizSense that Nordstrom Rack has signed a lease at Westpark Shopping Center in western Henrico County, with an opening planned for fall 2027. The store takes the 30,000 square foot space at 9819 West Broad Street that Painted Tree Boutiques used to occupy. InvenTrust Properties owns and manages the center.
It will be the brand’s first store in the Richmond market.
Westpark is not Short Pump Town Center, and that matters
West Broad Street runs for miles and functions as several different retail markets stitched together. Westpark sits east of the Short Pump Town Center cluster, closer to the Parham and Glenside end of the corridor than to the Route 288 end.
That distinction is the whole story for a homeowner. Retail follows rooftops and household income, and it tends to fill in from the strongest node outward. When a national off-price anchor takes a large vacancy at the eastern end of the corridor rather than adding to the western cluster, it is a signal that the trade area between Short Pump and Tuckahoe is being read as strong enough to support its own destination retail.
The immediate beneficiaries are the neighborhoods that sit between the two. Homes in the Tuckahoe and near Innsbrook area gain a large-format retailer within a short drive without absorbing the traffic that comes with being adjacent to a regional mall. That combination, close to but not on top of major retail, is consistently the most durable position in a suburban corridor.
Retail vacancy is the number to watch, not retail openings
One lease does not make a trend. What makes this one worth noting is what it replaces. Painted Tree Boutiques was a large-format tenant, and large-format vacancies on West Broad have historically taken a long time to fill or ended up subdivided into smaller units.
A single national tenant absorbing the whole footprint is a healthier outcome for the center than three or four smaller ones, and it is a better outcome for nearby homeowners. Subdivided anchor space tends to bring higher turnover and more signage churn. A stable anchor with a long lease does the opposite.
BizSense also reported that a new retail strip is being built in the center’s parking area, which suggests the owner is investing rather than harvesting.
What we tell buyers about corridor retail
Buyers moving to western Henrico from denser metros consistently overvalue proximity to shopping and undervalue the cost of it. Being able to walk to retail is a genuine amenity in the City of Richmond, where our post on the most walkable Richmond neighborhoods maps where that actually works. On West Broad, retail proximity means car proximity, and the difference between a five-minute drive and a two-minute drive is not worth the traffic, noise and cut-through that come with the two-minute version.
The school question comes up in the same breath. Westpark sits in a part of Henrico where attendance zones shift between several high schools, including Douglas Freeman. Zones are set by Henrico County Public Schools and they change, so confirm the assignment for a specific address rather than trusting a listing sheet. Our Douglas Freeman zone guide covers the neighborhoods in that boundary.
The 2027 timeline is the useful detail
Fall 2027 is far enough out that it should not change what you pay for a house today. Announced retail routinely slips, and a lease signing is not a certificate of occupancy.
What it should change is how you read the corridor if you are choosing between western Henrico and somewhere else. Two years of announced investment on West Broad, in a county that posted the fastest sales in the metro at 16 days on market and the tightest supply at 1.5 months in July 2026, is a reasonable basis for confidence in the area holding value. Henrico’s median single family price was $475,000 in July 2026 per Central Virginia Regional MLS, up 11.8 percent year over year, though a single month of county-level median moves on sales mix as much as on appreciation.
For the fuller picture of the submarket, start with our guide to Short Pump real estate in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
When does the Nordstrom Rack at Westpark open?
Fall 2027, according to the company’s announcement as reported by Richmond BizSense on August 28, 2026. It will be Nordstrom Rack’s first store in the Richmond market.
Where exactly is Westpark Shopping Center?
9819 West Broad Street in western Henrico County. The 30,000 square foot space was previously occupied by Painted Tree Boutiques. The center is owned and managed by InvenTrust Properties.
Will this raise home values nearby?
Not measurably on its own, and not on this timeline. A single retail lease two years out is a confidence signal rather than a value driver. Henrico’s county median was $475,000 in July 2026, up 11.8 percent year over year, and that movement predates this announcement entirely.
Which neighborhoods are closest to Westpark?
The neighborhoods between Short Pump and Tuckahoe along the Broad Street corridor, including the Innsbrook area to the north. It sits east of the Short Pump Town Center cluster, nearer the Parham and Glenside end of West Broad.
Which high school serves that area?
It varies by street, and Douglas Freeman is one of several in play depending on the specific address. Henrico County Public Schools sets and periodically revises attendance boundaries, so verify the zone for a particular address with the district rather than relying on a listing.
Is more retail coming to that center?
A new retail strip is under construction in the center’s parking area, per BizSense’s reporting. That is a sign the owner is reinvesting, which generally correlates with a stable anchor lineup rather than a center in decline.
Watching western Henrico?
We follow the West Broad corridor closely, including which subdivisions are still adding phases. Browse new construction in the Richmond area, or see how we work with buyers if you want a read on a specific street.
Reporting credit: Jack Jacobs, Richmond BizSense, August 28, 2026. Local analysis is our own. County context from Henrico County and market data from Central Virginia Regional MLS, July 2026.
