When the top brass of Qroe Companies rolled through town last week to unveil its plans for the 2,300-acre Scott Farm located nine miles south of Charlottesville, they wanted to make sure everyone knew that theirs is not the standard by-rights rural development plan. But savvy reporters didn’t need the hour-long presentation or eco-system maps to get the point. The mere presence of peerless caterer Chef Ted, who had laid out a groaning board of pork, chicken, lemonade and Frisbee-sized oatmeal cookies, might have been enough to signify Qroe’s distinctiveness. (Developers don’t tend to fete land-use reporters!)
Still, a few particulars couldn’t hurt: Southern Albemarle farmer Fred Scott sold his rolling parcel of forest and pasture, known as Bundoran Farm, to Derry, New Hampshire-based Qroe last year for about $30 million. Qroe earned Scott’s allegiance because of its commitment, as president Robert Baldwin explained last week, to “protect at least 80 percent of the land we work with.” In the case of Bundoran, that means limiting development to only 88 homesites of the 163 currently allowed under Albemarle zoning. Yes, that’s right—there’s a developer in town that prides itself on under-developing property. Crazy stuff! The company makes back its investment by pricing the lots according to the magnificence of their viewshed. Think $400,000-$700,000 per two-acre parcel.
Qroe, which has an on-site project manager in David Hamilton, plans to go before the County Planning Commission sometime in the next several weeks. Given the project’s promise of unobtrusive, environmentally-friendly development, it ought to be a cakewalk getting through the planning process, compared to some of the more controversial projects facing Albemarle these days.—Cathy Harding
