In Greenbrier, the Traffic Objection That Killed One Mall Plan Didn't Stop the Next One

"If it was open tomorrow, people would be overjoyed, but one huge issue: traffic." That's what Chesapeake resident Vic Nichols told the city council this year, standing at the same podium where residents raised the identical concern six years earlier about the same empty corner of Greenbrier Mall. The corner is still empty. The concern never left. What changed is that this time, the council voted yes anyway.

If you live at The Retreat at Greenbrier, you've probably driven past that dark storefront a hundred times without giving it much thought. It's worth a second look now, because the story of how it got approved says more about your daily commute than any press release will.

Six Years, Three Plans, One Empty Anchor

Sears closed its doors at Greenbrier Mall in 2018, leaving one of the property's largest spaces vacant. What's happened since is less a straight line than a loop.

Eight years is a long time for a 15-acre lot to sit unused in the middle of a commercial district that everyone from The Retreat to Greenbrier Country Club treats as their errand run. The Costco plan calls for a store with roughly 200 employees serving an estimated 7,000 customers a day, plus a gas station and tire center. It's the first proposal for that lot to actually clear a council vote since Sears left.

The Same Streets, Twice

Here's the part that generic coverage of this story skips past. When the 2020 entertainment complex plan died, it wasn't killed by public opinion or financing. The city withdrew it specifically because of traffic projections at the intersections along Greenbrier Parkway, Crossways Boulevard and Eden Way North.

Fast forward to this year's council meeting, and the same two names come up again. Chesapeake City Council member Pat King said during the discussion:

"The infrastructure is a concern, and Greenbrier Parkway, Volvo Parkway, Eden Way is a very busy, traffic-laden area."

Greenbrier Parkway and Eden Way didn't get less congested between 2020 and 2026. They got flagged twice by two different councils looking at two different projects on the same lot. The difference this time isn't that the traffic problem was solved. It's that the council approved the project with the infrastructure conversation still open, rather than pulling the plan the way it did in 2020.

For anyone who uses Volvo Parkway to reach Greenbrier Country Club, that's the same road named in this year's discussion, which tells you the traffic conversation isn't confined to shoppers heading to a warehouse store. It touches the corridor most of Greenbrier already drives through to get almost anywhere.

City leaders were direct about what comes next. According to reporting on the June vote, additional work remains before construction actually begins, and the approved Greenbrier Area Plan calls for a master plan covering street network, utility upgrades and parking before ground breaks. In plain terms: there's no opening date yet, and there's still a construction phase to get through once one is set. If you route your errands through Greenbrier Parkway or Eden Way, that's worth keeping in mind well before any equipment shows up.

What Doesn't Wait on a Vote

While the mall corner works through its permitting, the rest of the neighborhood's fall calendar is running on its own schedule, one that has nothing to do with council votes.

• Chesapeake Farmers' Market at City Park, 900 City Park Drive, runs Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon through November 25. Farmers sell vegetables, herbs, cut flowers, honey, eggs and grass-fed beef and pork under the Marketplace Shelter, with parking close by.
• The Chesapeake Arboretum, 624 Oak Grove Road, hosts a fall fungi walk on September 26, with tree trail tours, a portable sawmill demonstration and a food truck on site.
• A Dismal Swamp Canal paddle is scheduled for October 10, open to anyone bringing their own kayak, canoe or paddleboard for a non-motorized trip down the canal.
• The Greenbrier Men's Golf Association at Greenbrier Country Club, 1301 Volvo Pkwy, closes out its season with a wrap-up meeting in November, capping a schedule that started back in March and included the club's Member Member and Member Guest tournaments on the Rees Jones-designed course.

None of that calendar depends on whether the Sears lot ever becomes a Costco. The market sets up under the same shelter whether the mall corner is under construction or still sitting empty. The golf league plays out its season on the same course it always has. If there's a lesson in watching this corner sit vacant for eight years and cycle through three different redevelopment plans, it's that the neighborhood's actual rhythm, the Wednesday market run, the golf league standings, the arboretum walk, keeps its own time. The mall's fate is a slow-moving subplot, not the main story of daily life around Greenbrier.

Quick Answers

Is there a firm opening date for a Costco at Greenbrier Mall? No. As of the June 2026 council approval, city officials said additional planning and construction steps remain before any store opens.

Which roads should residents expect to see construction traffic on once building starts? The corridor most frequently named in council discussion is Greenbrier Parkway and Eden Way, the same intersections flagged when a different redevelopment plan for the same lot was withdrawn in 2020.

Does the Farmers' Market at City Park run all winter? No. The current season runs Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to noon, through November 25.

That's the version of this story worth knowing if you already call Greenbrier home: not that a warehouse club is coming, but that the traffic concerns tied to it are old news wearing a new name, and the calendar you actually live by doesn't pause for either one.

If you'd ever like to talk through what any of this means for your own plans in the neighborhood, or just want a second set of eyes on the market around Greenbrier, Debbie Childs is always glad to talk. Let's Connect.