The redevelopment of the former Martha Jefferson Hospital in North Downtown may be running behind schedule, but the anchor tenant is eager to show work is underway. The CFA Institute, currently headquartered just outside the city limits, held a “wall-breaking” ceremony yesterday with city officials and neighborhood association reps to mark the start of major construction on what it says will be its new home within a year.
Charlottesville developer Octagon Partners purchased the main Martha Jefferson campus for $6.5 million in September 2010, and when CFA was announced as an anchor tenant, the company said it would move in by spring 2013.
Sweetening the deal was a tax incentive agreement with the city that required Octagon to secure $40 million in investments and bring in 400 high-paying jobs with a minimum average salary of $75,000 in return for a 50 percent break in property taxes. CFA pledged to recruit 45 new positions in addition to its existing 400.
The international nonprofit—a professional organization for investors—got its start in Charlottesville more than 50 years ago. Today, the company has offices in New York, Brussels, Hong Kong, and London, and is the organization responsible for granting the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
In a press release, CFA addressed a big concern of its soon-to-be North Downtown neighbors: parking. The makeover at Martha Jefferson will include 526 parking spaces, the company said, “eliminating the potential for spillover parking in the surrounding residential neighborhood.” They hope to get LEED certification for the project, which will more than double their office space to 144,000 square feet.