September 30 was the last day Hsun "Sonny" Lee stood behind the counter at Peking on Mechanicsville Turnpike. He had been there since the restaurant opened in 1994. To regulars he was "Mr. Lee" or "Sonny." WTVR reported his retirement two days before his final shift.
A long-tenured owner stepping away is the biggest change on the Turnpike this year. Most of what else changed for anyone living off Shady Grove Road happened the same way. Nothing new got built. Familiar buildings got new tenants, new hours and new people behind the counter. The only large piece of fresh restaurant ground nearby is still a zoning case, and its developers project full build-out by 2031.
Thirty-two years at 7100 Mechanicsville Turnpike
Peking's own site lists the Mechanicsville restaurant at 7100 Mechanicsville Turnpike. In WTVR's account, Lee started as a waiter at Peking and worked his way up until he bought a stake in the franchise in 1994, the year the Mechanicsville location opened. His wife, Shu "Sue" Tsai, managed the original Grove Avenue location until 2000.
His son, Hansheng Lee, described the job to WTVR in terms most regulars will recognize: "welcoming regulars, remembering favorite orders, keeping track of allergies and special requests, and watching generations of families return to the restaurant year after year."
If you call ahead for an order this fall, a different voice may pick up for the first time in 32 years. The address on the Turnpike is the same.
The rest of the year follows that pattern. The nearby changes worth knowing about came from people and storefronts, not new buildings.
Hanover Square filled its space with a hibachi grill
Hanover Square sits at 7324 Bell Creek Road. Kohl's, Hobby Lobby, Gold's Gym and Five Below anchor it. The center's newest restaurant is Flame Japanese Hibachi, at 7354 Bell Creek Road. A July 23, 2026 post on Flame's own blog describes the Mechanicsville location as already open, so it was serving by midsummer. The Mechanicsville store page now lists hours and online ordering. If you saw a "coming soon" listing for it earlier in the year, it is out of date.
Flame took a numbered space in a center that was already full of places to eat. The landlord's site plan, updated October 15, 2026, shows a roster that covers a weeknight dinner, a dessert run and holiday errands without leaving the parking lot:
| What you're there for | Names on the Hanover Square roster |
|---|---|
| Sit-down or hibachi dinner | Flame Japanese Hibachi, Gus's Italian Restaurant, Fuji Asian Cuisine |
| Quick meal | Bonchon, Panera, Chipotle |
| Dessert or holiday table | Crumbl, HoneyBaked Ham |
| Errands | Kohl's, Hobby Lobby, Five Below, Dollar Tree, Plato's Closet |
The same October site plan also shows a 1,600-square-foot former restaurant space available to lease. Restaurant turnover in Mechanicsville looks like this. One kitchen space empties, another fills, and the center's footprint stays the same.
Rutland Grove is filling one storefront at a time
Farther west, off Chamberlayne Road, the Shops at Rutland Grove is a newer center that is still filling its first storefronts. Its first tenant was Hanover Mercantile, a neighborhood market run by two sisters. It opened at 8109 Judith Lane in May 2025, according to Richmond BizSense.
Grit Coffee followed on the same street. In April 2026, BizSense reported that Grit was taking a 1,400-square-foot space at 8101 Judith Lane and expected to open in May. That made it the company's third Richmond-area cafe. Grit's locations page now lists the Judith Lane cafe with hours, a local phone number and online pickup ordering.
A market in May 2025, a coffee shop by spring 2026. That pace matters if you're waiting for something new to open closer to Shady Grove Road. Even a center built for new tenants fills one lease at a time.
The big new site runs on a 2031 timeline
The one tract that could add several new restaurants at once is at Mechanicsville Turnpike and Creighton Parkway. An LLC tied to Larry Page of Page Auto Group, which operates Mechanicsville Toyota and Mechanicsville Honda, has owned the site for a decade. BizSense reported on September 24 that the Hanover Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of a mixed-use plan for it.
Per the BizSense report, the plan comes in two phases:
- First phase: a 5,000-square-foot Sheetz with 12 fuel pumps on the corner, plus 120 for-sale townhomes built by Eastwood Homes
- Second phase: more than 50,000 square feet of additional commercial space, including pad sites for future users
- Road work: a widened Creighton Parkway and two roundabouts, one inside the development and one on Creighton
- Timeline: full build-out projected by 2031, according to the project's traffic study
That second phase is where new places to eat would go. BizSense reported that more than one sit-down restaurant is eyeing the project, but none has been named. Apartments and a movie theater were floated early on and are not in the current zoning request.
The site's history shows how slowly new ground moves here. Part of it was rezoned in 2004 for a shopping center that never got built. Andy Condlin, the Roth Jackson attorney representing Page, told planning commissioners, as quoted by BizSense, that "it's really hard to market this property, because it's so unique in where it is located," and that without road improvements and zoning in place, interest from businesses may not turn into signed deals.
The Hanover County Board of Supervisors set its public hearing on the rezoning, case REZ2025-00025, for Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at 6:00 p.m., according to the county's published notice. The same agenda included a proposed change to the county's General Land Use Plan Map closer to home. It covers the area along the north side of U.S. Route 360 and Route 360 Business, east of Shady Grove Road and west of Interstate 295. The proposal would change that area's designation from Suburban Center to a mix of Highway Commercial, Multi-Family Residential and Suburban High Residential. The Board of Supervisors meetings page carries agendas and outcomes for both items.
The restaurants interested in Creighton Parkway have no names and no opening dates yet, and the traffic study projects build-out of the whole site by 2031. For now, Peking is at 7100 Mechanicsville Turnpike, Flame is in space 14 at Hanover Square, and Grit is at 8101 Judith Lane in the Shops at Rutland Grove.
If you want help reading what the Creighton Parkway decision or the land-use map change could mean for the streets around Shady Grove Road, Cowan Realty is here for that conversation. Renee has watched Mechanicsville's corridors fill in for 30 years, and she's glad to talk it through with neighbors whenever a new plan comes up. Work with Us.
