A rendering of the planned Eli Lilly facility in Goochland County. (Courtesy Goochland County)
A pharmaceutical giant just spent eight figures to secure the land it needs for the massive manufacturing facility it’s planning in West Creek.
Eli Lilly last week purchased a 227-acre parcel at 12575 West Creek Parkway for $38.39 million, or $169,000 per acre, according to Goochland County records.
The deal is among the first big steps in Lilly’s bid to construct a $5 billion, 1 million-square-foot facility that’s expected to produce bioconjugate and monoclonal antibody medicines, which are used to treat cancer and other autoimmune diseases, the company previously announced.
The company has said the new facility would create 650 permanent jobs and will be its “first dedicated, fully integrated, active pharmaceutical ingredient and drug product facility for cancer, autoimmune conditions and other advanced therapies.”
Lilly’s plans for the site were announced last year in conjunction with then-governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration as the first of four plants it plans to open in the U.S. as part of a $50 billion total investment.
The company said at the time that the typical timeline to build such facilities is around five years.
The seller of the West Creek land was Henrico-based insurance company Markel, which had owned the property since purchasing it for roughly $18 million in 2005.
The site had most recently been used as a field complex for local soccer club Richmond United before it was closed last year after the announcement of the Eli Lilly project.
Site work at the property has not yet begun, with Lilly’s plan of development for the facility still pending with Goochland County.
The property is zoned as light industrial, which allows laboratory, pharmaceutical or medical buildings as a by-right use.
The eight-figure land purchase came shortly after the Virginia State Corporation Commission last week issued its recommendation on the route for a miles-long transmission line and substation deemed necessary by Goochland officials to bring electricity to the Lilly site.
The SCC’s chief hearing examiner recommended that Dominion proceed with a proposed route that would run 6.5 miles from near Interstate 64 to the north and follow the eastern side of Route 288 southward, ending in a proposed West Creek substation east of Richmond Country Club and south of the Lilly site.
The utility project would include creating a new double-circuit, 230-kilovolt transmission line and right-of-way corridor to connect to a new substation that would be built near the West Creek site.
The SCC is anticipated to come back with a ruling on the project sometime this summer, according to Dominion documents, with construction tentatively scheduled to begin in the summer of 2027 and be completed sometime in 2028.
This is a breaking story. Stay tuned to Richmond BizSense for updates.
Print Article