Break out your bedazzled jumpsuit, it’s time for Christmas with Elvis! Reigning King of Rock and Roll tribute artist Matt Lewis performs holiday hits and other classics from Elvis’ repertoire, including selections from his rockabilly era, the “’68 Comeback Special,” and the Viva Las Vegas years. Backed by the 12-piece Long Live the King Orchestra—aka Charlottesville’s own Big Ray and the Kool Kats—Lewis curls his lips and sways his hips, driving away any thought of a “Blue Christmas.”
Thursday 12/12. $24.75–34.75, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net
A rendering by the firm Diamond Schmitt shows the proposed Center for the Arts (right) fleshing out the Emmet/Ivy Corridor with the School of Data Science immediately to the south. Image via University of Virginia.
As the University of Virginia continues to expand onto Ivy Road, its new buildings are creating a new urban fabric for the public institution’s footprint in Charlottesville. On December 5, a committee of the Board of Visitors reviewed a preliminary design for the proposed Center for the Arts, and recommended a smaller building.
“You’re dealing here with a welcoming site to the university,” said John Nau, chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee.
The Center for the Arts would be located in the northeast corner of the Emmet/Ivy Corridor. As presented, the building would house the 1,200-seat Richard and Tessa Ader Performing Arts Center and serve as the new home of The Fralin Museum of Art and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. The Department of Music would also move to the site, freeing up space for other UVA uses at Old Cabell Hall.
“The Center for the Arts will have an internal promenade on the ground floor that builds on the design guidelines of the previous buildings developed in the Emmet Ivy District,” said Gary McCluskie, an architect with the Toronto-based firm Diamond Schmitt, which has been hired to design the arts center.
Those buildings are the School of Data Science, the Virginia Guesthouse hotel, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy. One rendering shown to the Buildings and Grounds Committee depicted the possibility of films being screened on media walls above the entrance to the theater.
Nau expressed concern that those media screens might distract people at the busy intersection of Emmet Street, Ivy Road, and University Avenue.
“I have seen traffic come to a halt around sporting venues around the country that use these screens,” Nau said.
The project has an internal budget of $315 million. Nau and others questioned the scale and asked whether the center is something UVA really needs to build. Another committee member asked for updated financial projections to see if the center would provide revenue by attracting shows that currently don’t have an appropriate venue in the greater community.
While part of the funding for the center comes from a $50 million donation by the Aders, the bulk of the project might depend on a $200 million capital funding request made to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the General Assembly. UVA’s Senior Vice President for Operations and State Government Relations Colette Sheehy said Richmond has already authorized pre-planning work as well as given the green light to proceed with design.
“That is normally a signal from them that they are going to support the construction,” Sheehy said.
UVA President Jim Ryan said the project has been in the works for a long time. The building’s large size is comparable to what’s being built nearby, he said, and the structure would hide the Lewis Mountain parking garage. Ryan also noted that moving The Fralin would allow that building to serve as a new entrance for the School of Architecture, which is currently tucked away from public sight.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to get to the architecture school but if we wanted to create a secret spot for architecture, we succeeded,” Ryan said.
Earlier in the meeting, the committee also approved amending UVA’s Major Capital Plan to add $160 million for the construction of three residential buildings at the western end of the Emmet Ivy District. BOV member Bert Ellis was the lone vote against doing so because he said UVA needs to cut spending.
Investigators at Monticello hope that by studying colonoware they will get a more complete picture of how early, Indigenous, and enslaved Americans lived. Supplied photo.
For 24 years, Monticello’s Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery has been studying and cataloging artifacts left behind by early and enslaved Americans, creating an online archive that enables intersite, comparative archaeological research on slavery. Now, thanks to $354,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation and The Conservation Fund, the DAACS and its collaborative researchers will launch the largest study ever conducted on a particular kind of artifact known as “colonoware,” a type of handmade, low-fired pottery crafted by mostly Indigenous and enslaved Americans.
Through studying colonoware, co-principal investigators Beth Bollwerk and Lindsay Bloch are attempting to paint a more complete picture of how early, Indigenous, and enslaved Americans lived their lives.
“One of the main questions we hope to answer with this project is, ‘Why were people making and using colonoware?’” Bloch says. “We know that it isn’t as simple as them not being able to afford other pottery. There are likely cultural reasons why people may have wanted to cook in these rather than iron pots.”
Seventeenth- and 18th-century Americans had access to imported and commercially made pottery and cookware. Thus, when archaeologists discover colonoware, they are able to glean certain facts from both its existence and the context in which it is discovered. Where was it found? What is it made of? How was it made? The answers to these questions are how researchers are able to learn more comprehensively how the first Americans—people who did not make it into the history books—lived their lives.
The first study examining the phenomenon of colonoware was conducted in 1962 by British archaeologist Ivor Noël Hume in Colonial Williamsburg. Initially thought unique to Virginia, further study revealed similar examples of colonoware in other parts of the Mid-Atlantic.
The DAACS colonoware study has brought in a “rock star team” of archaeologists and historians that includes Mary Beth Fitts from UNC-Chapel Hill, Karen Y. Smith from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and Brandi MacDonald from the University of Missouri’s Archaeometry Laboratory. The study will include approximately 180,000 artifacts and fragments, and more than 600 samples from 40 sites in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
“One of the key techniques we’ll be using is laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry,” Bloch says. “You can think about it sort of like an equivalent DNA analysis for pottery, because it’s based on the unique makeup of the sample. But instead of DNA, this technique tells us the different proportion of elements that make up the pottery. By testing the pottery in this way, we will be able to compare samples and identify which pots were made with the same clay sources, because they have the same fingerprint, and we can tie that to where that clay came from.”
Researchers will also seek the input of Indigenous tribes and descendants of enslaved people in the region for their insight on how these artifacts were created and used. The Catawba Nation of South Carolina, as well as descendant communities from Monticello and Mount Vernon, are being consulted to help inform the study’s research and analysis.
“We are forging new relationships with descendant communities who are known through ethnohistory and oral tradition to have been involved in colonoware production,” Bollwerk says. “In particular, the Rappahannock Indian tribe and Pamunkey Indian tribe … have a well-documented tradition of pottery production. The Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia and the Cheroenhaka [Nottoway] tribe do, as well. We have reached out and consulted with these tribal communities as the project moves forward.”
As part of Madison House’s Holiday Sharing program, volunteers wrap gifts for recipients. The program has been ongoing since its launch in the 1970s. Photo
courtesy of Madison House.
In addition to celebrating the season themselves, a number of local organizations are gathering donations for community members this December.
The median household income in Charlottesville is $67,177, but the poverty rate in the city is more than double the state average—23.6 percent, according to current census data. To ease the burden of holiday expenses, several area nonprofits and businesses are hosting donation drives for individuals, families, and animals experiencing hardship. C-VILLE spoke with five organizations via email about their merry-making efforts: The Salvation Army, Come As You Are Cville, Madison House, Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, and Jefferson Area Board for Aging.
Through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, 1,009 children and 191 teenagers across the Charlottesville area will receive gifts this year. Recipients qualified for the program through an application, interview, and verification process earlier in the fall, and will pick up their gifts at an assigned time.
“We are happy to be providing this service again to those who are struggling with making ends meet,” said Major Jennifer Van Meter, corps officer for the Salvation Army. “We want people to be able to celebrate Christmas without a financial burden.”
To adopt an Angel, visit one of the many trees at locations around town, including the YMCA, Walmart, and Dairy Market. The deadline for dropping off gifts is December 15.
Come As You Are Cville has partnered with several groups for its annual Christmas toys giveaway.
“By providing gifts, you are helping to level the playing field and provide opportunities for these children to experience the joy of Christmas,” said Stephane Kabesa, associate director of CAYAC. The nonprofit hopes to give gifts to 160 registered children in lower-income families in Charlottesville and Albemarle. Donations should be dropped off by December 12 at 4pm at the Jefferson School Foundation on Fourth Street, NW.
The Holiday Sharing program at the University of Virginia’s Madison House will support more than 40 families this year. Those referred to the program receive personalized gifts and need-based donations, and are welcomed by student volunteers at events throughout the season. Through a partnership with the Batten School, Madison House also provides families with food and grocery-store gift cards.
One highlight of Holiday Sharing for many students is distribution day, when children of participating families visit Madison House and decorate cookies, make gifts for parents, and play games.
Individual and business contributions to Holiday Sharing can be made year-round.
For furry friends, the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA is accepting donations to its Branches of Hope Giving Tree program through Christmas Day. There are currently six trees at businesses around town, with roughly 300 ornaments, according to Development Manager Lauren Krohn.
“Each ornament contains either a ‘wish list’ of items we use or provide [for] the animals regularly here at the shelter, food to stock our Pet Food Pantry, or a monetary donation amount that corresponds to an item or treatment (such as vaccines, microchipping, etc.) that we provide the animals,” said Krohn. “This donation drive will benefit our resident animals here at the SPCA, as well as the families who rely on our veterinary and pantry services.”
CASPCA is expected to surpass its 2023 total of 2,658 adoptions, and has served almost 500 families in its veterinary clinic this year. Pantry services are also popular, with more than 29,000 pounds of dog and cat food distributed.
While giving trees end after Christmas, CASPCA accepts donations year-round. Popular items include pet food, dog beds, and toys.
Across its service area of Charlottesville, Region 10, and five neighboring counties, Jefferson Area Board for Aging is working to bring merriment to older and disabled adults this December. More than 150 people will benefit from the holiday gift drive, which includes both practical and fun items.
“We hope that the gift bags will let our members know that they are loved, appreciated, and, most of all, seen,” said Teresa Cooper, a JABA volunteer service coordinator. “We were blown away by the donations and support from our community, and are so thankful. Our volunteer center is overflowing with gifts for our members.”
The donation window for JABA’s holiday gift drive has closed, but the organization always welcomes items such as arts and crafts supplies, puzzle books, and household items.
More information on donation drives and other ways to support community members can be found on the organizations’ websites.
A severe geomagnetic storm triggered the aurora borealis in early October, making it visible in many dark skies across North America. Photo: Tristan Williams
We’re in a dark field—a few hundred of us. There’s no moon. Voices rise and fall in the darkness; the Milky Way sweeps overhead; the land is black and the sky is navy, a forest of stars. It’s 8:30 or so at night. I put my eye to a telescope. In the floating circle, a planetary nebula looks like a tuft of cotton, gliding slowly upwards with the motion of the earth.
I wander away, passing dim outlines of people, toward a different scope. The operator here is a bit of a showman. “I’m taking requests,” he says to the small queue of people gathered in the grass. “The request line is open!” He points a laser into the sky, outlining the Summer Triangle. His scope is trained on the Andromeda Galaxy—“the haze of a trillion stars!”
We’re looking at the enormous universe with our feet planted on the ground at James River State Park, in southern Nelson County. This is a star party featuring the expertise and equipment of the Charlottesville Astronomical Society, and it’s happening here because James River is an official International Dark Sky Place, as listed by the advocacy group DarkSky International: a site far enough from any town to offer clear views of what’s out there, beyond our atmosphere.
In other words, we’re all here to get away from light.
Yet we’ve brought light with us. There are flashlights, headlights, and a video presentation under the pavilion. Of course there are cell phones. There are even digital displays on the bases of some of the telescopes. Our eyes adjust to the darkness, catch a flash of brightness, and adjust again. The stars stay steady.
Wherever there are humans, it seems, there is artificial light, and the amount of light we pour into the world has grown incredibly fast. According to a study published last year in Science, global sky brightness has increased 9.6 percent every year between 2011 and 2022. That is, light pollution doubled in less than eight years.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, president of the Charlottesville Astronomical Society, says that newer technologies make it possible to get stunning photos of the universe even in light-polluted skies, but dark skies are still key “if you just like laying out in the chair in the fall looking up at the night sky.” Photo: Tristan Williams
Seeing is believing
“I’ve only seen the Milky Way twice before,” I hear a man say at the star party. I feel lucky that I can see it from home, anytime the sky is clear—and I am lucky; 80 percent of the world’s population lives under sky glow, that pervasive, cumulative effect of house lights, store lights, billboards, tennis courts, streetlights. This is a loss for amateur astronomers and all humans—our species evolved under dark skies and has been enriched in countless ways by our view of the cosmos—but it’s more than an aesthetic problem.
Light pollution can disrupt bird migrations or lure birds to fly into tall, lit-up buildings. It can lead baby sea turtles astray and attract insects to lights, where predators gobble them up. The presence of nighttime lights fundamentally changes the rhythm of day and night that has given essential cues to animals and plants for millions of years: when to hunt, mate, sleep, and grow.
Artificial light affects human health, too. “When people are exposed to blue light in the evening, whether it’s a cell phone or a streetlight spilling into the bedroom, that’s a sleep disruptor,” says Christine Putnam with Piedmont Dark Skies.
Along with Peggy Cornett and Carol Carter, Putnam began the loosely affiliated group in 2022 after the three of them, already active in local environmental issues, realized they shared a concern about dark skies. They’ve been trying to raise public awareness and to urge local governments, especially the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, to make light pollution a priority.
“We’ve done a bunch of tabling events to see, does this have legs in the community?” says Carter. “There were a lot of people who responded yes. The more we learn, the more concerned we are about the subject.”
The group has encouraged local governments to sign proclamations in support of reducing light pollution, but they also want to see binding language in local municipal codes. Albemarle, for one, is currently updating its Comprehensive Plan, and Putnam, a member of Albemarle’s Natural Heritage Committee, has advocated for strong language in that plan to set the stage for an improved ordinance in the future.
“I think the political will is there and the planners want to see that language in there,” she says. “[When it’s time to write regulations], it’s going to be important for astronomers and dark sky advocates to be involved in those discussions, to get the best possible ordinance, one that is effective and enforceable.”
Something big has changed since the county’s last Comprehensive Plan update: the new prevalence of LED lights. “That’s been the biggest game changer,” says Putnam. While LEDs are a great way to meet climate action goals—they’re much more energy-efficient than traditional outdoor lights—the light they emit is also more blue. “This has big implications for our health and all living animals,” she warns. “A shorter wavelength impacts our hormonal systems. And it’s more powerful in terms of creating that dome of light we have over our cities. By 2035, practically all of our outdoor lighting will be LED. If we’re not careful about how we select it, we’re really going to be in trouble. We’ll have a dramatic increase in the brightness of the sky.”
Piedmont Dark Skies activists Peggy Cornett, Carol Carter, and Christine Putnam point to this lamp at Friendship Court as an example of good street lighting. Photo: Tristan Williams
The light side
The good news: As Putnam implies, not all LED lights are created equal. “There is still time to make choices,” she says.
In fact, the City of Charlottesville is currently navigating those very choices, as part of an initiative, just begun this fall, to replace all the streetlights in the city. The lights come in a range of color temperatures and brightness, and DarkSky International provides recommendations about which of those are least harmful. But surprisingly, the city is limited in its options by the inventory of energy giant Dominion.
“We lease all of our lights from Dominion,” explains Kirk Vizzier, the city’s energy management coordinator. “They are the ultimate owners of all of those lights. Their inventory is all we have to work with. We are trying to work with them to expand that, but they are being resistant.” Vizzier says that the city is specifying the lowest color-temperature lights Dominion offers. “If we can get them to go lower at some point we will start to go lower,” he says.
Pierce Harding, an urban planning grad student at UVA, has been documenting existing light pollution levels in Charlottesville. He echoes Vizzier’s comments about Dominion. “There’s not an extensive inventory of DarkSky-certified fixtures,” he says. “With more pressure from the public on Dominion, that could help.” Charlottesville is part of a group of Virginia municipalities, the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association, which negotiates collectively with Dominion and can also exert pressure on the company to make protecting dark skies easier for localities.
Dominion spokesman Craig Carper, in an email, says that Dominion offers “many dark-skies friendly options” and adds, “We have been in communication with a representative from the Virginia chapter of the Dark Sky organization and will continue to have discussions about light offerings.”
The public lighting initiative is expected to take around three years and cost $600,000. “It’s a big investment,” Putnam says, pointing out that the new lights could last a quarter-century.
Meanwhile, she says, municipalities need to enforce lighting ordinances already on the books. Putnam and her PDS co-founders can rattle off a list of sites that seem over-lit, from planter islands on the Downtown Mall to fast-food joints to sports fields. (Notice a too-bright spot? Read Brodhead with the city’s zoning office says you can complain through the MyCville app, phone, or email, and his department will investigate.)
Cornett also points out that individual choices matter—turning outdoor lights off when not in active use, opting for fixtures that point downward instead of out or up, choosing warmer-color and dimmer bulbs. Carter adds, “People think uplighting the façade of a house makes it look really nice. They just aren’t aware of the negative effects that is having on wildlife and on themselves.”
Before the dawn
Back at the star party, the showman aims his scope at Saturn. Someone looks and emits a guttural “wow,” and then a woman looks and says, “The crazy thing is, it looks fake!” Another person: “That’s cool…” Pause. “That’s really cool.” The showman enthuses: “That’s a crisp view right now! Isn’t that awesome?”
There’s a term for sadness over the loss of night sky views: noctalgia, or “sky grief.” It’s the other side of that joy and awe we feel in the dark field, looking at planets and comets.
Beyond Earth’s atmosphere, the cosmic wonders continue. This December 7, Jupiter and its moons are at their most visible all year. A week later, the “king of the meteor showers”—the Geminids—takes place. The stars stay steady. Whether we can see them or not, it seems, is our choice.
1799 at The Clifton showcases local ingredients and the talent of chef Matthew Bousquet. Photo by Stephen Barling.
Included in the 2024 Michelin Green Guide USA East, The Clifton was built in 1799 as a home for Thomas Jefferson’s daughter Martha and her husband. The property currently houses a boutique hotel and restaurant helmed by Executive Chef Matthew Bousquet. On a crisp November evening, I decided to see what all the excitement was about. The experience inspired me to put together a guide of my own—a few tips to make the most of your meal.
Do arrive early and get a drink at the bar.
Located in the heart of 1799, The Copper Bar—named for the copper piping supporting shelves of alluringly illuminated bottles—sets the tone for the evening.
Try one of bartender Chris Wellen’s handcrafted cocktails. Leaning into autumn flavors, I ordered the Maple Walnut Manhattan, scented with black walnut bitters, sweetened with maple syrup, and served old-fashioned style on a single, sizable ice cube. My husband opted for The Harvest, a blend of local Ragged Branch bourbon, cinnamon apple syrup, and rhubarb bitters.
Don’t fill up on the bread.
This might seem obvious to anyone who’s ever arrived pleasantly hungry to a restaurant and been tempted by a basket of rolls. But here, there are no baskets, and these are no ordinary rolls. Instead, a Staub cast-iron cocotte appeared, filled with steaming, buttered rolls studded with mustard seeds. Hearty wheat crackers ribboned with red onion offered a crisp contrast. A pat of softened butter completed the offering.
You may wonder what you’re meant to dip the crackers into. The answer? Nothing. And you’ll like it. This first offering stands entirely on its own.
Don’t order the bone marrow escargot.
Unless, of course, you’re ready for the rest of your meal to live in its shadow. This appetizer has officially joined my “last supper” list. From the moment the server set down the marrow spoon, I knew I was in for an experience.
This dish is a balancing act in every sense. Narrow slices of crisp toast teeter against halved bones, interiors shimmering with luscious marrow. The entire dish is drizzled with Pernod butter, greened with parsley, and dotted with a generous scattering of tender escargot. The dish invites a perfect bite: Tear off a piece of toast, spread on the creamy marrow, top with buttery escargot, and dip into one of the artful dollops of tangy lemon gel scattered across the plate.
For my husband, the star of the show was his entrée: the Kunz short rib. Naturally, I stole a forkful. Resting in a silky pool of celery root purée, the tender beef was unexpectedly paired with ginger and mango, alongside familiar accompaniments of spinach and horseradish-dijon cream.
Be prepared to learn.
Not from books, though you’ll see many filling the floor-to-ceiling shelves of the library room where we were seated. Instead, learn from the dishes, your server, and maybe even from your phone (hello, Google).
I don’t pretend to know every ingredient and cooking technique. That’s the beauty of dining out: It challenges you. It teaches you how to taste, layer by layer. There’s meant to be some mystery, some velvet curtain between us and the alchemy of the kitchen.
I couldn’t help but wonder: Who is Kunz, whose name graces the short rib dish? Not the 1799’s Michelin-starred Bousquet, but Gray Kunz, the celebrated chef behind Manhattan’s now-closed Lespinasse. The recipe lives on, skillfully adapted by Bousquet into a dish that feels very at home on 1799’s menu.
Do choose Virginia wine.
I opted for a glass of Lovingston’s 2022 Rotunda Red, vibrant with ripe red fruit, soft tannins, and a hint of black pepper on the finish. If that doesn’t suit your taste, the wine cellar features an array of award-winning Virginia vineyards alongside global vintages. Highlights were a viognier from Pollak Vineyards, and Barboursville Vineyards’ sauvignon blanc, Vermentino Reserve, and Octagon.
Ask about the ingredients.
Tucked among the grounds of The Clifton is a chef’s garden. The burrata, a first course that evolves throughout the year, showcases the garden’s ingredients. This version spotlighted Badger Flame beets, a unique variety tasting of honeyed sweet carrots. Nestled alongside burrata on a bed of tender lettuces, the salad was dressed with fennel pollen butter, a granola vanilla vinaigrette infused with Espelette pepper, and a white chocolate crumble. If a salad could flirt with being dessert, this one came deliciously close.
Let’s revisit the number four. I researched Espelette so you didn’t have to. It’s a pepper cultivated in the French town of the same name, with a flavor somewhere between sumac and Aleppo pepper. Sumac I know—its tart, lemony brightness grows wild in my backyard. But Espelette? It’s new to me, and I love that.
Do order dessert.
The rhum savarin looked like a simple puff pastry but delighted us with its moist, tres leches-like interior. The chocolate lava cake, served in yet another charming Staub cocotte, delivered ooey-gooey bitter chocolate goodness, balanced by poached pears and toasted almonds. It was decadent, warm, and the perfect note to end the evening.
Willie Watson, Americana singer-songwriter and founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show, brings more than 30 years of musical experience to the stage with songs exploring torment and redemption. Through stories of heartbreak, hurt, hope, and growth, Watson channels old-time American folk, weaving in contemporary reflections on loss, love, addiction, and burdens in a complex world. Expect tunes that function as testimonials to life’s tough times and resilience, and effectively pull on your heartstrings as Watson strums his guitar and banjo.
Saturday 12/7. $25–30, 8pm. The Southern Café & Music Hall, 103 First St. S. thesoutherncville.com
The scene is set for a sideshow spectacular at this year’s Gallery Rally. Showcasing an eclectic collection of local artists creating works live in the gallery, the event gives visitors an opportunity to meet creators, witness the artistic process, and purchase freshly made pieces on the spot. All artworks are priced at $100, and all proceeds support upcoming exhibitions and programming. This annual fundraiser also features raffle prizes, DJ sets, caricatures, an afterparty, and entertainment inspired by acts staged alongside the big top circus tents.
Saturday 12/7. Free, 5–9pm. Second Street Gallery, 115 Second St. SE. secondstreetgallery.org
Up to 1,400 units can be built at the North Fork Discovery Park, but this phase anticipates up to 600 new places to live. Image via UVA Foundation.
When the University of Virginia Foundation purchased hundreds of acres of land by the Charlottesville Regional Airport in 1986, the intent at the time was to create a research park to support business and commerce.
Decades later, the foundation is prepared to turn a section of the 562-acre site into a place where hundreds of people can live, and has issued a request for interested developers to submit their qualifications. Earlier this year, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning allowing for homes to be built there.
“The residential program’s updated Master Plan will create housing for those working in North Fork, adjacent properties, and the broader community,” reads the request for qualifications.
In all, up to 1,400 homes can be built at North Fork, but this particular phase would involve up to 600 units. The RFQ calls for a mixture of market-rate, workforce housing, and affordable units, with the latter defined as being at prices at 80 percent of the area median income.
“The goal is to offer mixed-income housing opportunities that support live/work/play environments at North Fork, while addressing the area’s housing needs,” says Fred Missel, the foundation’s director of development.
North Fork is one of three locations where both UVA and the Foundation seek to provide income-restricted housing as part of an initiative called for by a committee UVA President Jim Ryan formed soon after he took office in 2018.
An exact breakdown of income levels for the 600 units is not required in the RFQ, but the document does say “an optimal number of affordable units guided by best practices for successful mixed-income communities that support community and economic development initiatives.”
Missel says the Foundation hopes to identify a developer who would build something unique to Albemarle.
“Qualified development teams will be expected to present a vision that incorporates elements of sustainability, resilience, superior community design, economic development, and affordability, tailored to create a unique community that stands out in the area,” Missel says.
North Fork is in the Hollymead neighborhood as classified by Albemarle County, and the 1,400 units allowed under the recent rezoning are among the 5,221 approved but not yet built, according to the county’s development dashboard. Just over 1,000 units are under review in this area, including an additional 655 at North Pointe.
While there is no date for construction in the RFQ, UVA’s website on the affordable housing initiative estimates it will happen in the spring of 2027.
Missel says there is no specific date at this time, but the zoning is now in place and the Foundation has made investments to prepare for the additional residents. To support the county’s infrastructure, the Foundation spent $6 million in 2020 to connect Lewis and Clark Drive to Airport Road. Eventually, that roadway will connect with Berkmar Drive, creating a parallel road to U.S. 29. That’s a core principle of the Places29 Master Plan adopted by county supervisors in February 2011.
UVA has previously selected a nonprofit entity called Preservation of Affordable Housing to develop a two-acre site at 10th and Wertland streets, and that project is listed as going to construction in the summer of 2026. The Piedmont Housing Alliance was selected to develop a 12-acre Fontaine Avenue site, expected to move dirt sometime in 2027.
UVA’s loss to Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Cup means the team misses bowl eligibility for the third straight year. Photo via UVA Athletics Communications.
The University of Virginia football season came to an ignominious end November 30, when the team lost 17-37 in the Commonwealth Cup game against Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium. UVA has now ceded the cup to Virginia Tech in 19 of the last 20 matchups (UVA’s victory came in 2019 at home in Scott Stadium).
But the bigger storyline is that both teams entered the night in line to become bowl eligible. Over the last few years the NCAA has become more lax with bowl eligibility requirements in reaction to the growth and popularity of college football, meaning far more “bowl” games have come into existence. Still, the achievement of bowl eligibility is seen as a milestone.
Bowl eligibility not only means the obvious—a potential invitation to a postseason matchup—but also brings a higher expected standard of play and a new level of respect to a program as a whole. Recruits who may have previously been out of reach may now be a possibility, and a team also has a chance to show its stuff (so to speak) to the nation, helping to draw additional recruiting interest. Despite the disappointing end to their season, the Hoos have made strides from the previous two seasons under Head Coach Tony Elliott. However, without maintaining a winning (or at least even) record, and eventually achieving bowl eligibility, any progress the program has begun to enjoy may stagnate.
Speaking of stagnation (and not to be totally doom and gloom here), some important things are happening this off-season for the Hoos. First, second-year quarterback Anthony Colandrea has officially announced that he will enter the transfer portal on December 9, as many had already suspected. Additionally, Tony Muskett, who started at QB in 2023 before being replaced by Colandrea for much of the 2024 season, will become ineligible to play for the team after finishing the season as a fifth-year senior. His absence leaves UVA with no quarterback on the roster with many college snaps under his belt (backup QB Gavin Frakes started five games for New Mexico State in 2022 before transferring to UVA). That’s a big problem, one that will likely need to be addressed via the transfer portal in the offseason.
Another issue: A large number of current UVA football players are either seniors or grad students. This includes standouts like wide receiver Malachi Fields, who led the team in receptions and receiving yards, the excellent safety duo of Jonas Sanker (whose praises I’ve been singing all season long) and Corey Thomas Jr., as well as much of the current offensive and defensive lines. In addition to the losses from graduation, I also expect a handful of underclassmen to opt into the transfer portal in the coming week. This leaves Elliott with a potential turnover of 40 to 50 players going into the 2025-2026 season.
On the bright side, Fields, Sanker, Thomas Jr., and others made their way to UVA and improved it over the past few years. And they did it in a program that was in far worse shape than it is now. Who’s to say that there aren’t a few new gems coming the Hoos’ way this offseason? No matter what happens, Elliott, Offensive Coordinator Des Kitchings, and Defensive Coordinator John Rudzinski will need to put the new pieces together and keep things moving in the right direction.
