HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Could the Henrico County Police Division be getting a brand new South Precinct in the near future? The department just received an unsolicited bid from a small veteran-owned business firm to build an expansive, state-of-the-art facility on Airport Drive.
Former Navy SEAL Mark Lilly owns Syncon, LLC, the Chesapeake, Va.-based construction firm that submitted a proposal for the new precinct through the Public-Private Education and Infrastructure Act (PPEA), a General Assembly-approved process that allows local governments in Virginia to review concepts in proposals before allowing other developers to submit alternative bids for consideration, a statement from Henrico County read.
If Syncon’s bid is given the green light, the company would begin to build its proposed 17,000-square-foot police precinct on an 11.2-acre county-owned parcel located at 640 North Airport Drive.
“We can design, construct and deliver a high-quality project within a defined time frame with appropriate fencing, parking, lighting, landscaping, garage, fitness area, ballistic protection and other features that a modern public safety structure should have,” Lilly said in a statement to Henrico County.
Syncon submitted its bid in partnership with Empire Development of Virginia Beach, the firm that built Henrico Police’s Central Precinct in 2014. According to the county, Hugh Tierney of Empire Development said the new South Precinct they’re hoping to build with Syncon will also feature a conference room with a capacity to seat 100 people and offices for patrol personnel, detectives, a SWAT team and other staff.
Henrico currently has three police precincts — West, located at 7721 Parham Road; Central, located at 7850 Villa Park Drive; and South, which is leased at 561 Eastpark Court in Sandston. The county has indicated in the past that it needs a larger and updated facility for the South Precinct.