Members of the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors who drive to Charlottesville along U.S. 29 from points north for this week’s meeting will pass the latest purchase made on behalf of the public institution.
The UVA Foundation has paid $3 million for nearly one and a half acres off of Earhart Street. That’s the first right on southbound Emmet Street after passing underneath the U.S. 29/250 bypass bridge. The property currently contains one of UVA’s child care centers as well as an industrial building that’s at least partially vacant.
The seller is a trust associated with the late Gloria Rennolds, who died in March. Her husband bought the property in 1973 and the trust still owns 1417 Emmet St. N, which is currently rented to several businesses, including the Super Amanecer Latino Market.
As of November 30, the UVA Foundation owned 24 parcels of land within city limits under its name, but it owns other properties across the community under different names. For instance, an associated entity called Ivy Square of Charlottesville LLC paid $20 million for the Ivy Square Shopping Center in December 2021.
The Earhart property is outside the scope of the draft master plan for UVA, as is the Oak Lawn estate in Fifeville that UVA itself purchased in late October for $3.5 million. The latter will be used in the short-term by the UVA Health System, but child care is one use suggested for the property near Buford Middle School.
While there’s no clear indication of what might happen in the long-term to Foods of All Nations and other Ivy Square businesses, the Grounds Plan does lay out a future for the Ivy Garden apartment complex on Old Ivy Road in Albemarle County. The Foundation bought that property in 2016 for nearly $22.4 million, and a master plan has been created for up to 718 units as well as academic and commercial space.
The BOV’s Buildings and Grounds Committee meets on December 7, and its consent agenda includes a resolution to demolish several structures on Ivy Road including 2025 and 2029, a parcel the UVA Foundation paid nearly $1.73 million for in April 2010.
On November 16, the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia transferred $1.836 million back to the Foundation for land upon which the Karsh Institute of Democracy will be constructed. That took the property off of Charlottesville’s property tax rolls.
One of the only properties on the north side of Ivy Road not owned by UVA is 2117 Ivy Rd., a one-acre property that is being developed by RMD Properties. At its December 4 meeting, City Council was expected to take up rezoning an eight-story building. The developer reduced the building by two stories following criticism from top officials at the University of Virginia.
The Buildings and Grounds Committee will also see the schematic design for the new Manning Biotechnology Institute and a new parking garage at Fontaine Research Park. The UVA Foundation owned that property for many years before UVA took possession in January 2018.
A request for comment from the UVA Foundation was not returned by publication time.