There has been a lot of building activity on Preston Avenue in the last 10 years, with the redevelopment of older structures into spaces for the 21st century.
The biggest of these has been the transformation of the Monticello Dairy into a mixed-use project with a 30,000 square-foot food hall, 50,000 square feet of office space, and 180 apartments built in two phases.
Now Stony Point Development Group has filed plans with the City of Charlottesville to expand the project to the east by building on the site of several one-story commercial buildings that house businesses such as Fifth Season Gardening, Twice is Nice, and Preston Suds.
“The project will maximize the potential of currently underutilized light industrial buildings and surface parking, bringing needed housing and economic development to a location that is walkable to downtown Charlottesville and the University of Virginia,” says Chris Henry, SPDG’s president.
The conceptual documents included in the announcement for a July 25 community meeting show seven stories along Preston Avenue and five stories along West Street.
Henry says his company will seek to expand the existing special use permit due to the uncertainty of when the draft zoning code will be approved. (A final draft of the code is expected to be released later this month.)
However, the project is raising concern among many in the 10th and Page neighborhood who say more affordable units are needed.
Sharon Jones’ family were among those displaced at Vinegar Hill in the 1960s. She says the process with the first two phases of Dairy Market was not transparent.
“With the affordable housing issue being at the forefront, the ‘affordable’ housing units available at 10th and Dairy are affordable only for the wealthy,” Jones said in an email. “The proposed buildings will hover over West Street and block the view that a neighborhood is there.”
Jones says she’s concerned about the loss of businesses that people in surrounding neighborhoods can walk to, such as the laundromat.
The existing two phases of Dairy Market are all on land currently zoned Central City Corridor, a category that dates back to the 2003 rezoning, which created the possibility for additional density within Charlottesville. City Council approved a special use permit in July 2018 to allow for additional height.
Since then, the assessed value of the two phases has increased nearly five times with a combined assessment. That means a property tax bill of nearly half a million in revenue for the city this year.
The three properties slated for development are all designated as Corridor Mixed-Use 5 in the draft zoning code. That allows for a minimum of five stories, but allows up to seven if the project meets affordability requirements that will be embedded under the code.
When asked, Jones says she was unaware there was work underway to change the zoning code.