Developers for a long-awaited 470-home senior community have to wait until May to hear if James City County leaders will OK proposed amendments to their plans.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday postponed voting on changing the master plan for Ford’s Village, an age-restricted development that includes a mix of homes, independent living apartments and memory care rooms.
The master plan, approved in 2008, initially called for 741 homes. Progress, however, stalled after the 2008 financial crisis. Developers scaled back the number of units to 470 in 2022 and hit another roadblock when developer Retirement Unlimited, Inc. (RUI) pulled out in 2024. It cited “changed market conditions and requirements of their financial partner.”
Frye Properties and its partners, Greenbriar Senior Living and Pembroke Realty Group, still want a maximum of 470 units, but with more independent living and fewer assisted living or memory care rooms.
Vernon Geddy, representing Frye, said that after RUI pulled out that the group spoke with dozens of operators and brokers in the senior living business during 2025.
“The feedback they got is you need a more flexible mix of independent and assisted living units in today’s market,” he said.
The 2022 plan allowed for 270 single and multifamily homes, 75 independent living apartments and 125 assisted living and memory care rooms; the new proposal allows for 160 independent living apartments and a minimum of 40 assisted living and memory care rooms. Geddy said some of the apartments will be able to flex between independent and assisted living.
Developers describe the project as a vibrant neighborhood with amenities geared toward older adults. The county is one of the fastest-growing localities in the region and the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center predicts its population will increase by 40% by 2050. The number of people older than 65 will hover around 30% to 31% of the population in that span, though the over-80 populace is expected to more than double.
The growth is why Board Member Jim Icenhour is concerned about reducing the number of assisted living and memory care rooms.
“That was the selling point,” he said during the meeting.
Icenhour, who opposed the 2022 plan amendment as well, also believes the development is too dense for its placement on a narrow road and that traffic would be a problem.
Board Chair John McGlennon also raised concerns about the cost of housing, estimated at $4,500 to $5,000 per month for its independent living rooms and thousands more for assisted living rooms, in addition to community fees. County staff said the plan does not meet the locality’s recommendations that 20% of units be affordable for people who make 80% or below the area’s median income.
“It can be off-site, but it has to be addressed,” McGlennon said. “And it fails on that ground.”
Board Vice Chair Ruth Larson, however, motioned to defer voting to allow the developers to work on the proposal while county staff looks into whether the Virginia Department of Transportation has approved plans for a traffic signal for a second entrance into the neighborhood.
If the amendment fails in May, Frye and its partners could continue the project under the 2022 plan. But Jeff Warmers, Frye’s president, said the future of Ford’s Village is uncertain if that happens.
“We’re in a very tight box with the current proffers,” he said on Tuesday. “What we’ve learned talking to industry specialists is we don’t know if we can get out of the current box, economically, with that mix of AL/IL.”
