Barksdale Haggins Sr., 88, was shocked after reading newspaper accounts in early December that Henrico County officials were endorsing a massive 250-acre project to build an entertainment, housing, retail, office and hotel complex dubbed GreenCity near his home on quiet Scott Road.

“I really was surprised, very surprised,” Mr. Haggins said.

The project calls for a $2.3 billion investment in Scott Farms and the former Best Products headquarters building north of Parham Road and Interstate 95 to build a 17,000-seat arena for concerts and sporting events, 2,400 housing units, two hotels, about 2 million square feet of office space and 280,000 square feet of retail space.

Mr. Haggins has lived for 40 years in the quiet Garden City community, a largely African-American neighborhood in an area surrounding the proposed GreenCity development. About 50 homes are along Scott Road, where there is concern that four homes closest to the Best Products building may be taken for the project, said William “Bill” Forrester Jr., president of the Garden City Neighborhood Civic Association. Another 15 homes along Scott Road may be impacted, as well, he said.

The neighborhood is made up of older people, he explained, retirees living on a fixed-income, people who are unsure about how their homes – and their property taxes— will be affected.

Several homeowners brought their concerns directly to Mr. Forrester.

After attending two virtual town hall meetings last month hosted by county officials with GreenCity developer Michael Hallmark, Mr. Forrester and the civic association members developed a list of questions for Henrico County Manager John A. Vithoulkas and Henrico Supervisor Frank Thornton, their Fairfield District representative on the county Board of Supervisors.

In addition to asking whether residents would be displaced by the GreenCity project, they wanted to know whether Scott Road would be widened from two lanes to four to accommodate the expected traffic; whether sound barriers would be built to minimize noise from the arena; and if the county would consider freezing, reducing or deferring real estate taxes for people who remained in the area.

Mr. Forrester said residents are concerned that the development will cause property taxes in the neighborhood to skyrocket to the point that many of the residents, who are elderly and living on fixed incomes, will be forced to move because they can’t afford it.

They also asked in the letter if the county is willing to work with residents and the civic association to create a “neighborhood planning initiative” to address the residents’ issues and potential challenges stemming from the development.

The association is awaiting an answer.

“I’m just trying to do my job,” Mr. Forrester said. “These people asked me to be their president and I’m going to do the best I can to serve them.”

Mr. Thornton is holding a constituent meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, to discuss the project. The developers, Mr. Hallmark and Susan Eastridge of GreenCity LLC, will be a part of the virtual meeting on WebEx. People also can participate by phone by calling (415) 655-0002 and using the access code 180 695 4999.

Residents are encouraged to submit questions in advance to dav127@henrico.us or during the meeting in the video’s comment section.

“I realized some time ago that all that area would be developed,” Mr. Haggins said. “I just would have preferred a heads-up.”

Mr. Forrester said that Mr. Thornton has talked about the project in terms of the benefits it will bring to the county, but hasn’t specifically addressed the civic association members about the project’s impact on their neighborhood.

People are concerned and are looking for answers, he said.

“Right now we don’t have that much information,” Mr. Forrester said. “But I believe we should be the first to know since this is going on in our backyards.”

For more details about the meeting on Feb. 17, go to https://henrico.us/supervisors/fairfield-district/ or call (804) 501-4208.