At 69.5 acres, the Granger Property is the last major undeveloped tract of land in the southern Albemarle growth area surrounding UVA, officially known as Area B. On Tuesday night, the Albemarle County Planning Commission wanted to know why.
“It looks like leftover land,” Commissioner Duane Zobrist said, “that we’re forcing ourselves to use.”
“We’re not trying to force anything,” Commission Chair Marcia Joseph interjected, “just developing in a growth area.”
The back and forth followed almost two hours of discussion of the property that sits neatly between Sunset and Fontaine avenues. Previous owners have tried to develop it as strictly residential, but current owner Stribling Holdings LLC (reportedly led by Coran Capshaw) are seeking to have the tract rezoned as mixed-use with an emphasis on office space.
 Who’s behind the 70 acre Granger property development near Fontaine Research Park? Coran Capshaw, that ever-industrious Dave Matthews Band manager, Musictoday founder and Charlottesville developer. |
As with most properties on the Biscuit Run side of town, traffic concerns led the list. The property is currently accessible only by Sunset Avenue Extended and Stribling Avenue. Five alternatives for a new road were before the commission, with a staff recommendation to build a connector road that would link Sunset to Fontaine. Initially, Commissioner Eric Strucko questioned the effects 500,000 new square feet of office space would have. “I work in the Fontaine Research Park and I get stuck in traffic now,” he said.
Jeanne Chase, a resident of the Fry’s Spring neighborhood in the city, made her way to the lectern. “Just on my way over here, I waited for 27 cars just to get out of my driveway on Old Lynchburg Road,” she said, adding that “the reality is we’re heading toward gridlock.”
After Bill Edgerton made a proposal for a spur to be built, creating additional access to the connector from Fontaine Research Park, focus shifted to whether the 500,000 square feet of office space is appropriate. Some commissioners suggested it was, considering the Granger tract is surrounded by a number of residential communities along Sunset Avenue and Old Lynchburg Road.
Commissioners likely will address the issue next in late December. As the 10pm hour neared, project planner Frank Cox punctuated the meeting: “We’ve spent six years trying to figure out how to make this project work, and we’re still not there.”