It was a hub of renovation and development for a few months there, but now that the bricklayers have left, the Downtown Mall is conspicuously silent. Indeed, throughout Charlottesville and Albemarle County, many development projects in the approval pipeline have slowed or scaled back to adjust to the sluggish economy. But there is one area rich in development projects and seemingly impervious to the market. That place? UVA, of course.
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UVA’s Delta Upsilon chapter along with Beta Theta Pi will build the first new UVA fraternity house in more than 50 years. The groundbreaking for the 135 Madison Lane site is September 26 and the new house is slated to be completed in the fall of 2010. |
Walking the length of the JPA corridor, for example, entails sidestepping at least one major construction zone. Moving west, you encounter the Emily Couric Cancer Center, a $70 million treatment facility on schedule for completion by 2011. In June of the same year, UVA’s $105 million South Lawn project will conclude its first phase of construction.
Other ongoing University projects include the $40.7 million Claude Moore Medical Education Building, due for completion in May 2010, and Bavaro Hall, a $37.5 million complex of classrooms and offices on Emmet Street that will accommodate students and faculty in the School of Education after construction ends next April. Also, last month, the University began demolition work on Dobie, Balz and Watson dorms with the goal of installing two new freshman residence halls by 2011, at an estimated cost of between $66.4 and $72.4 million.
As UVA keeps growing, proximate private projects that cater specifically to students are also moving forward. UVA’s Delta Upsilon chapter, in conjunction with Beta Theta Pi, recently announced plans to build the University’s first new fraternity house in more than 50 years. The three-story, 7,000-square foot house will cost over $1 million to build on the 135 Madison Lane site, currently an apartment complex that the fraternities are spending another $700,000 to raze. Formal groundbreaking will occur on September 26, with completion scheduled for fall semester 2010.
Where state money is a spur for University development, Realtor Tim Carson says the very presence of students themselves drives housing development projects. Students are “a primary source for many investors who wanted to have a stable income stream,” he says. “[They] are typically from upper and middle class families, and the Honor Code provides an extra credit reference.”
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