What’s the CODE?
A new rendering and name have been given to local angel investor Jaffray Woodriff’s tech incubator scheduled to take out the Main Street Arena sometime this summer. The Center of Developing Entrepreneurs—or, aptly named CODE—will be situated at the west entrance of the Downtown Mall and will house between 15 and 25 businesses.
Woodriff aims to “bring together innovators in a multi-tenant building, stimulating economic activity and increasing employment,” according to a press release.
The ice park closes March 31, and construction on the new 170,000-square-foot building in its place is expected to be finished by 2020. It’ll feature an open-air, pedestrian walkway so Downtown Mallers can still access Water Street without obstruction. And the mall entryway to the entrepreneurial hot spot’s main lobby will lead to several new retail spaces.
The secondary Water Street entrance will serve as a co-work area and a 200-seat auditorium for tenants and community events.
And don’t forget the parking—CODE will include bicycle storage, electric vehicle charging stations and one level of underground parking that will easily be convertible to office space “in anticipation of evolving transportation trends.”
“I’d like to have the confidence and the trust that when my phone rings it’s not going to be a robocaller and it’s not going to be a political ad and it’s not going to be a spoofed phone number.”—Nest Realty agent Jim Duncan to “CBS This Morning,” in a segment about whether the government should interfere with increased robocalls
Adios, LOSers
The neo-Confederate League of the South has agreed not to return to Charlottesville should there be another Unite the Right rally. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the league and its officers, who are named in a suit brought by a Georgetown Law institute, admit no wrongdoing. Nearly two dozen defendants were named in the suit, and Jason Kessler tweeted that he won’t settle because he’d have to agree to not countersue.
A Ting thing
Most people in town are privy to the “crazy fast fiber internet” service, but not everyone can afford the $89 a month price tag. City Councilor Wes Bellamy is proposing a $150,400 city subsidy that would allow public-housing residents to pay only $10 a month for the service. Comcast has an affordable internet program at the same price.
Dewberry grows
The Board of Architectural Review okayed an extra floor and more mass last week for the Downtown Mall’s unwanted landmark, the skeletal structure that’s blighted the landscape since 2009. Now known as the Dewberry Charlottesville, the proposed hotel may add an 11th floor and 17 more rooms.
Manic motorists
Virginia State Police responded to 382 traffic crashes and assisted with 242 disabled or struck vehicles during the March 21 snowstorm, further proving that Virginians aren’t known for their ability to drive well in inclement weather.
False advertising
The 425 highway signs in the state that say, “Speed limit enforced by aircraft,” are all lying, according to the Bristol Herald Courier, which reports that Virginia State Police haven’t aerially enforced the speed limit for more than five years.