Henderson General Contractors of Williamsburg, Va., will begin construction in December on a three-building, 146,800-sq-ft retail complex at the Williamsburg Pottery Factory in Lightfoot, Va.

The $20-million design-build project seeks to reinvigorate the longtime Williamsburg-area tourist attraction, which has seen sales drop in recent years due to the combined effects of the recession, and competition from big box and online retailers.

Designed by Guernsey Tingle Architects of Williamsburg, the complex will be located at the front of the Pottery Factory’s 130-acre site alongside U.S. Route 60. A string of vacant outlet stores will be demolished and replaced with steel-frame buildings designed to emulate a European-style market, each with a distinctive fa�ade and multiple entrances that feed into a single showroom.

The new retail center is scheduled to be ready in time for what would have been the 100th birthday of Pottery Factory founder Jimmy Maloney on April 5, 2012. .