The first residential piece of a 105-acre project near Brandermill is going vertical. Every unit in it is a rental, and that is the detail worth sitting with.
Jack Jacobs reported for Richmond BizSense on August 26 that The Breeden Co., a Virginia Beach developer, has broken ground on Vida on the Lake in Chesterfield County. The $72 million project puts 258 units on 15.6 acres at 2900 Radiance Trail, on the western edge of The Lake development.
Of those 258 units, 240 are apartments and 18 are houses. All of them are for rent. Breeden bought the site from Flatwater Cos. for $6.1 million in 2022. First move-ins are expected in January 2028.
What The Lake is supposed to become
Flatwater’s 105-acre project has been in the works for years and is planned to hold nearly 1,200 residential units alongside commercial and office space. The anchor amenities are unusual for our market: a 13-acre recreational lake with a cable system for wakeboarding and a floating obstacle course, plus a 6-acre surf pool designed to generate rideable waves.
Brett Burkhart of Flatwater told BizSense the lake work is largely finished and expected to open sometime next year. The surf pool has not started construction.
Breeden’s spokeswoman Christine Gustafson framed the timing as land banking that came good, saying the company wanted to secure its site knowing development would progress. Jamie Kane, Breeden’s vice president of new development, provided the unit mix.
The rents tell you who this is built for
| Unit type | Size | Starting rent |
|---|---|---|
| Two-bedroom apartment | 1,000 to 1,200 sq ft | $2,000 to $2,300 |
| Three-bedroom apartment | about 1,400 sq ft | $2,600 |
| One-bedroom house | 995 sq ft | $1,750 |
| Two-bedroom house | about 1,070 sq ft | $2,150 |
| Three-bedroom house | 1,300 sq ft | $2,530 |
Rents and unit sizes as reported by Richmond BizSense, August 26, 2026, from Breeden Co. Amenities include a gym, pool and dog park.
There are no one-bedroom apartments at all, which is deliberate. Gustafson told BizSense that Chesterfield reads as a residential submarket rather than a downtown one, so the units were programmed larger. That is a developer saying out loud that they expect families, not young singles.
Why for-rent single-family matters more than the apartment count
Here is our read, and it is not in the coverage.
Eighteen detached rental houses is a small number. The category is not. Build-to-rent single-family has been expanding across the Southeast for several years and has been largely absent from Chesterfield until now. If these lease well at $1,750 to $2,530, more will follow, and they will compete for the same buyers who currently shop entry-level and mid-market houses in Woodlake, Hampton Park and Harpers Mill.
For an owner nearby, that cuts both ways. A well-run rental community with a lake and a gym raises the amenity profile of the area. A large concentration of rental product also changes the buyer pool over time, and appraisers eventually notice tenure mix in a submarket.
Set the rent against the cost of owning. Chesterfield’s median single family sale price was $440,000 in July 2026 per Central Virginia Regional MLS, with county real estate tax at $0.89 per $100, which is $3,916 a year or about $326 a month before insurance. A 1,300 square foot rental house at $2,530 is priced to compete with ownership of a considerably larger home, which tells you Breeden is selling convenience and amenities rather than value per square foot.
Brandermill is the neighborhood to watch
The Lake sits near Brandermill, one of the region’s original master-planned communities. We do not have a dedicated community page for Brandermill yet, so our guide to living in Brandermill is the place to start, and the Midlothian page covers the corridor context.
Brandermill homeowners have spent decades with a lake as the organizing feature of their community. A second, purpose-built recreational lake with a cable park two miles away is a genuine change to the local amenity map, and one that a listing agent in that area should be able to speak to by 2027.
If you want to see what is currently selling around it, browse new construction in the Richmond area, and our July 2026 market update has the county-level numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a home at The Lake?
Not in this phase. All 258 units at Vida on the Lake are for rent, including the 18 detached houses. The wider 105-acre Lake development is planned for nearly 1,200 residential units in total, and the tenure mix of future phases has not been announced.
When will it open?
First residents are expected to move into Vida in January 2028. The 13-acre recreational lake is largely finished and expected to open sometime in 2027. The 6-acre surf pool has not begun construction.
Where exactly is it?
2900 Radiance Trail in Chesterfield County, on the western edge of The Lake development near Brandermill. The Vida site is 15.6 acres of the 105-acre master project.
What are the rents?
Two-bedroom apartments of 1,000 to 1,200 square feet start at $2,000 to $2,300. Three-bedroom apartments of about 1,400 square feet start at $2,600. The rental houses run from $1,750 for a 995 square foot one-bedroom to $2,530 for a 1,300 square foot three-bedroom.
Will this hurt my home value in Brandermill or Woodlake?
There is no evidence for that and the timeline is long. The nearer-term effect is amenity access. The longer-term question is tenure mix in the submarket, which matters if build-to-rent expands well beyond 18 houses. Chesterfield’s median was $440,000 in July 2026, down 3.3 percent year over year, a county-wide move unrelated to this project.
Is a surf pool actually being built in Chesterfield?
It is planned at 6 acres and designed to generate artificial waves, but construction has not started as of late August 2026. Treat it as approved intent rather than a scheduled amenity.
Shopping near Brandermill?
We can tell you which streets sit closest to The Lake’s frontage and which are insulated from the construction route. See how we work with buyers or call (804) 601-4960.
Reporting credit: Jack Jacobs, Richmond BizSense, August 26, 2026. Local analysis is our own. County context from Chesterfield County.
