With the spring 2004 start of construction on Albemarle Place, the big box conquest of 29N marches on. The complex, slated for the northwest corner of Hydraulic Road and 29N, will be a 1.9 million-square-foot retail behemoth. Once it’s completed, shoppers will be able to literally live on the development’s grounds, which could include a hotel, a cinema and apartments, as well as high-end retailers like J. Crew and Pottery Barn.
But while development continues on 29N, many existing structures remain vacant in and around Charlottesville. A scan by C-VILLE of empty buildings in the area found 1,199,088 square feet of unused space—nearly equivalent to that aforementioned whopper of a space filler. With abundant real estate in locations like the former supermarket across from the Omni Hotel and the Boxer Learning building on the Downtown Mall, why are developers skipping the empty spaces and choosing to break new ground on 29N?
The answer, according to Ivo Romenesko, a professional real estate agent, president of the Appraisal Group, and chairman-elect of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, is population and job growth in Albemarle County.
“Over 80 percent of all major retailing is located along that 29 corridor,” Romenesko says. “We’re going to see a continuation of that trend.”
Additionally, the most practical means of development along roads like 29N is to merely knock down an existing Radio Shack or Home Depot and erect a new building, since strip mall and big box retail spaces are relatively cheap and simple to bulldoze and build.
Yet some developers are willing to roll the dice on what’s called “adaptive reuse” of existing buildings. A notable example is the 324,626 square feet of the Frank Ix building, which served as a textile mill for 70 years. Located just south of Garrett Square, the huge complex was purchased by local developer Bill Dittmar and partners for $5.3 million in 2000.
“It’s a unique location. It’s the largest tract of developable property near Downtown,” Dittmar says of the Ix building. “You couldn’t afford to build that core structure today.”
The historic facades of buildings such as the Ix factory and the Jefferson School—and the stories behind them—might even draw some local residents to future ventures. Romenesko says the vacant buildings near Downtown could house boutique hotels, restaurants, specialty retail shops and high-end office space. So while Target or Best Buy probably won’t be moving into the Ix building, Dittmar and other optimistic developers might have reason to hope that vacant buildings around town can one day find new tenants. Below is a list of some of the properties waiting for a second—or sometimes third or fourth—act.
Four corners
Wachovia buildings
Address: 101, 105, 107 and 111 E. Main St.
Area: 19,900 square feet (estimate)
Empty since: Various dates
Owner: Woodard Properties
Price: Not for sale
The story: The four buildings have housed numerous businesses and storefronts, including Gleason’s Bakery, which opened in 1953, became Dough Boy Bakery in 1976 and later Antojito’s. Also operating out of the buildings were Cato’s Dress Shop, Gitchell’s Studio, Daisy Shoe Center, Stacy’s Music Store and a bookstore. Beginning next year, Woodard Properties plans to renovate and rehabilitate the buildings, which sat empty the past four years while the former owners, D&R Development, battled City officials and each other. With that behind them, the buildings now house, on the ground-floor level, Mountain Air Gallery and the leasing office for Walker Square and Riverbend Apartment Homes.
Smart investment
Boxer Learning
Address: 200 E. Main St.
Area: 20,115 square feet
Empty since: June 2003
Owner: Lee Danielson
Price: Assessed at $1,650,000
The story: Citizens Bank built the original structure in 1931, on the site of an old bookstore. A 1966 renovation gave the building the marble and glass façade it has today. Recently, the building was home to an Internet company, Boxer Learning, and owned by the now-defunct D&R Development Company (see “Wachovia Buildings” above). When that company dissolved in a bitter lawsuit in 2000, a judge put 200 E. Main in the hands of receiver Gaylon Beights. In July 2002, the “D” of D&R, California developer Lee Danielson, purchased 200 E. Main and 108 Second St. SE from Beights for a combined $3.3 million. On December 4, The Daily Progress reported that Lee Danielson wants to build a nine-storey hotel on this site, and that on December 16 he will present plans to the Board of Architectural Review. Given the California developer’s tumultuous history with the BAR, the presentation promises to be spirited.
Class act
Jefferson School
Address: 201 Fourth St. NW
Area: 70,000 square feet
Empty since: Preschool program vacated in January 2002; still houses some classes
Owner: City of Charlottesville
Price: Assessed at $4.5 million. The City says Jefferson School will need a major overhaul, at an estimated cost of about $10 million, although State and Federal tax credits will cover 45 percent of the rehab cost.
The story: The 100-year-old Jefferson School building was the center of black education in the days of racial segregation, and one of the few structures to survive the “urban renewal” of Vinegar Hill. In January 2002, the Charlottesville School Board voted to move the City’s preschool program out of Jefferson School, and City Council prepared to sell the building to developers. A group of citizens fought the sale, so Council created the Jefferson School Task Force to decide the building’s fate. In December, the Task Force will likely recommend Jefferson School become the new home for the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library or a social service and education center.
Shaping up
Ivy Industries
Address: 111 Monticello Ave.
Area: 64,378 square feet of warehouse space currently available
Empty since: April 2003
Owner: 111 Monticello Avenue, LLC
Price: Previously listed at $6.2 million
The story: Built in 1983, the site was most recently home to picture frame-maker Ivy Industries, which went out of business after CEO John C. Reid was nabbed in a check-kiting scheme earlier this year. New owner Coran Capshaw is shopping for tenants, and the real estate rumor mill says the fitness club ACAC is likely to move in soon.
Money talks
SNL Building (and annex)
Address: 321 E. Main St.
Area: 53,643 square feet
Empty since: August 2003
Owner: SNL Financial
Price: $3,750,000
The story: The building was constructed in 1955 and originally housed a department store. Later, Jefferson National Bank & Trust Co. bought the space and used it as an operations center. Wachovia eventually acquired Jefferson National Bank. In 1998, SNL purchased the building and renovated it at a cost of about $2 million. It then became the SNL Financial headquarters. Around five years later, in August 2003, SNL fully vacated the building. It is currently assessed at $3,887,700.
Travel plans
Lakeland Tours
Address: 2000 Holiday Dr.
Area: 24,279 square feet
Owner: Holiday Drive, LLC (Andrew Dondero, CEO)
Price: For sale at $2,400,000, with an additional two acres of land for an extra $500,000. For lease at $13 per square foot.
The story: General Electric built this faux colonial building in 1966. Since then it has been owned by a now-bankrupt petroleum company from Mississippi and Lakeland Interstate Tours, Inc., hence the building’s nickname. The building was fully renovated in 1985, and sold to its current owners in 1998 for $2.6 million. The building now is owned by Keswick’s Andrew Dondero, and a portion of it is home to 1st American Mortgage and the Piedmont Housing Alliance.
Bargain shopping
Save-A-Lot grocery
Address: 243 Ridge-McIntire Rd.
Vinegar Hill Shopping Center
Area: 24,500 square feet
Empty since: 2000
Owner: Piedmont Land Trust
Price: Lease for $9 per square foot
The story: The original King’s Market grocery store was built in 1978. It was eventually purchased by the Richmond-based Richfood, and finally closed for good as Save-A-Lot in 2000. The building operated as a grocery store throughout its 22-year lifetime.
Deals loom large
Frank Ix building
Address: 601 E. Market St.
Area: 324,626 feet
Empty since: November 1999
Owners: William D. Dittmar, Gabe Silverman, Allan Cadgene and Ludwig Kuttner
Price: Lease for $7 per square foot
The story: Frank Ix & Sons was a textile company that produced dress fabric, as well as material used in sailing equipment, backpacks and bathing suits. Its Charlottesville plant, a 17-acre facility, was the largest of the company’s six mills, and the last to shut down (in 1999). Construction began on the textile mill in 1925, and it opened in 1929. In June of 1973, The Daily Progress reported that Ix & Sons added 60,000 square feet to the factory and hired 150 new employees, bringing the total number of workers to 650. But the company’s boom subsided, and it began a gradual decline that lasted throughout the ’90s. Ix eventually filed for Chapter 11, and the Charlottesville textile mill stopped production on October 29, 1999. The building has hosted several art events since closing. Developer Bill Dittmar and partners bought the site in 2000 for $5.3 million. Though the site is currently assessed at $4,589,700, the buildings appear dilapidated, and are missing many walls. Still, several tenants, including CK Courier, Stafford Insulation, Telephone Services, AIDS Service Group, and JADE (Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement) are already in one portion of the building—pioneering the landscape for the retailers, professionals and City dwellers that Dittmar and associates hope will follow.
Blue light special
K-Mart Plaza
Address: 1801 Hydraulic Rd.
Area: 41,414 square feet
Empty since: Food Lion closed in September 1999
Owner: Peyton Associates Partnership
Price: Vacant building sites recently assessed at $2,836,000
The story: A company called Charlottesville Plaza, Inc. built the K-Mart building in 1964 for $600,000. The building included the space later occupied by Food Lion and Brown’s Cleaners. The Terrace Theatres cinema was added in 1974. In 1997, the buildings’ owners, Peyton Associates Partnership, wrote the City assessor’s office in the hopes of getting a lower tax assessment. Willard N. Clayton, the city assessor, responded that the space was located in “the hot spot” for commercial development in Charlottesville, and the request for an eased tax rate was nixed. The Food Lion closed in September 1999 and the space remains empty. Brown’s Cleaners and the Terrace Theatres are also vacant.
Long-distance operator
Comdial
Address: 1180 Seminole Trail
Area: 454,900 square feet
Empty since: Late 2002
Owner: Seminole Trail Properties, LLC.
Price: Sold for $11.4 million in March 2001
The story: The facility was built in 1954 and originally housed the manufacturing operations of the United States Instrument Corporation, which produced telephone parts. Comdial Corporation, also a telecommunications company, purchased the site from military-industrial giant General Dynamics in 1982. In 2001, Comdial moved its corporate headquarters to Sarasota, Florida, and sold the manufacturing plant. Comdial leased some of the site to house a small numbers of engineers. Those straggling employees left the building about one year ago. The property is currently assessed at $11,820,100.
Material gains
Institute of Textile Technology
Address: 2551-2555 Ivy Rd.
Area: 28,033 square feet
Empty since: Late 2002
Owner: Ivy Road Properties, Inc.
Price: Sold for $6,600,000 in August 2003
The story: The Institute of Textile Technology (ITT) and the North Carolina State University College of Textiles formed an alliance in November 2002, and all of ITT’s operations were subsequently moved to the NC State’s Centennial campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Under Valued
Hollymead Professional Center
Address: 1522-1560 Insurance Ln.
Area: About 5,300 square feet
Empty since: Late 2000
Owner: Charles Hurt, Virginia Land Company
Price: Lease for $15 per square foot
The Story: The Hollymead Professional Center comprises five buildings, each about 6,000 square feet. It was built four years ago for notorious dot-bomb Value America, which all but vacated the premises two years later. A small portion of the site is currently home to a collection of offices for companies like Remax Properties, Dr. Wesley Haddix, Old Dominion Equine, Edward Jones and Associates and Larry Miller, attorney.
Off-campus campus
Town Center One in the UVA Research Park
Address: 1000 Research Park Blvd.
Area: About 18,000 square feet
Empty since: 2001
Owner: UVA Foundation Real Estate Foundation
Price: Full service lease for $19.25 per square foot
The story: UVA built Town Center One in September 2000 for Qual Choice, an insurance company now called Southern Health. When Southern Health downsized two years ago, it vacated 30,000 square feet, and new high-profile tenants, such as TIAA-Cref, Northrop Grumman IT and Angle Technology, moved in to some of the space.
Not too late
Earlysville Professional Center
Address: 395 Reas Ford Rd., Earlysville
Area: 50,000 square feet in warehouse, 15,000 in office
Empty since: Technicolor moved out in December 2002
Owner: 4F, LLC
Price: Lease for $4 per square foot for warehouse space, $7-10 per square foot for office
The story: The Earlysville Professional Center was built in stages between 1960 and 1985 by Murray Manufacturing Company. The building, currently home to Earlysville Medical Practice, Downtown Athletics, Crutchfield and National Linen, is three miles from the airport, and is wired for high-speed Internet.