On August 18, the Colonial Heights, Virginia city council voted 6 to 1 to sell roughly 38 acres of city land to SINA Hospitality for $1, clearing the way for a $180 million sports, hospitality, and entertainment destination just south of Richmond. The plan places six synthetic turf championship fields alongside hotels, dining, retail, and community space on a site that has sat unused for years. The nominal land price reflects what SINA is taking on in return: the cleanup of a former landfill, plus the roads and utilities the property needs.
SINA is an established Virginia hotel company rather than a first-time developer. It owns and operates 35 hotels across six states, including nearly a dozen in the Richmond region, and in 2025 it launched a sports-travel company aimed at the region's growing tournament market. The Colonial Heights project brings those threads together into one destination, and it does so on a parcel most developers had passed over.
What SINA Is Building
The centerpiece is a minimum of six multi-purpose synthetic turf fields for soccer and other sports, built for tournament play. Around them, SINA plans a 130-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott and a Mellow Mushroom restaurant to start, within a fuller vision that CEO Ravi Patel has described as multiple hotels totaling 390 rooms, 300 apartments, dining, and retail. SINA projects the finished destination will produce roughly $50 million in annual economic output once operational, along with 383 to 590 permanent, recurring, and seasonal positions and more than a thousand construction jobs during the buildout. Those figures are the company's projections, and SINA describes the investment as fully funded from the private sector.
The $1 Land Comes With a Cleanup and a Commitment
Behind the dollar price sits a substantial set of obligations. Part of the site is a brownfield that was formerly a landfill, and SINA is responsible for the environmental work, estimated at around $3 million and potentially up to $7 million, in collaboration with Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality to safely cap the property for athletic use. SINA is also handling the roads, water, and sewer the site requires.
The agreement builds in protections and public benefits. SINA is posting a $1.8 million performance bond, has agreed to keep the fields in first-class, playable condition for at least 15 years, will build an access road to the Appomattox River launch, and will relocate the city's animal shelter. Colonial Heights can use the fields at no cost when they are not otherwise in use, and it retains the right to repurchase the field parcel for $1 if the obligations are not met. The city is contributing a difficult, long-dormant parcel, and SINA is contributing the capital, the cleanup, and a multi-year commitment to keep the fields running.
Why a Hotel Company Is Building Sports Fields
For an operator that already runs hotels across Virginia and the Southeast, a tournament-anchored destination is a natural next step. Pairing the fields with hotels, dining, and community space in one place makes a weekend of youth sports easier for the teams and families who travel for it, and it gives the surrounding businesses a reason to be there year-round. Patel framed the goal in community terms.
"If we do this correctly, its impact won't just be measured in hotel rooms, tournament sales, or tax revenue. It will be measured in memories."
Ravi Patel, CEO of SINA Hospitality
What Comes Next
The approval clears the land sale, and the build proceeds in phases. Hotel and restaurant construction could begin as early as January 2027, with the fields targeted for completion within about four years and the full destination roughly five years out. The project still requires rezoning to a planned unit development and master-plan approval before construction, so the timeline and final scope remain subject to those approvals.
Takeaways for Investors
A Fully Funded Private Commitment
SINA describes the $180 million as fully funded private-sector investment, a large private stake in sports-tourism infrastructure in a proven Richmond-area market.
The Developer Takes On the Site
SINA is absorbing the brownfield cleanup and the roads and utilities, turning a long-unused parcel into usable athletic and hospitality space.
Community Benefits Are Written In
Free city use of the fields, a relocated animal shelter, a new access road, and a 15-year maintenance commitment are all part of the agreement.
A Phased, Multi-Year Build
Hotels and restaurant first, fields within about four years, full completion around five, with rezoning approval still ahead.
Read More →
