Albemarle Place is not dead yet. The Daily Progress reports that project developer Edens & Avant of Columbia, South Carolina, which bought the property in August 2007, has been in talks with the county and will file a site plan in the coming months.
Albemarle Place, which was originally conceived as Albemarle Station, has loomed on the horizon for eight years. In 2003, 62 acres at the corner of Route 29 and Hydraulic Road surrounding Sperry Marine were rezoned for a mixed-use center, and a preliminary site plan was approved in 2006. At that time, then-developer Landonomics told C-VILLE, “We’ll probably go vertical next year.”
But plans for the 700 residential units and 40 new stores stagnated when sewer issues arose, as C-VILLE first reported. In December 2007, representatives from Albemarle Place gathered with staff from the city and discovered that the Meadow Creek interceptor, the main hub for sewage all along Route 29 North, was already operating at full capacity. Whole Foods pulled out of the project, and little has been heard from Edens & Avant.
Yesterday, however, the county Board of Supervisors got an update on the status. According to the Progress, Gary Fern, executive director of the Albemarle County Service Authority, said that "The sewer will be ready when [the developer is] ready."
Perhaps of most note, however, is that the developers are trying to renegotiate the proffers for transportation improvements and construction phasing, according to the Progress.