Qroe Farms, the company developing Bundoran Farm just south of Charlottesville, positions itself as an agriculture- and environment-friendly developer—one that often sacrifices housing lots in order to preserve surrounding forests, fields, streams and views. Their tentative plan for the 2,301 acres they own in Albemarle County calls for a relatively restrained 88 lots (the property could, by law, be zoned for 163). Furthermore, all lots will be locked into easements with every other property owner, and only a small portion of each lot is open to building, with the remaining land preserved for cattle farming and other bucolic activities.
Sounds great, but how has Qroe lived up to its ideals previously?
Well, Qroe has done 10 other projects—all in New England, and all several times smaller than the Bundoran Farm development. Nearly all of them have preserved 80 percent of the land for farming or forest, with the remainder developed into housing, roads or other buildings.
“There are no other development companies, to my knowledge, that actively try to preserve agriculture as part of the development,” says Dr. Bud Smart, Audubon International’s director of environmental planning. The group is consulting with Qroe on issues of environmental sustainability. Still, Smart allows that Bundoran could present some challenges for Qroe—maintaining good water quality, for example, might prove difficult.
Randall Arendt, a land use and conservation consultant based in Rhode Island, says what Qroe does is unusual, but not unique. He likens the company’s developments to “county estates.”
“People are quite pleased with [Qroe’s] developments,” says Arendt, citing neighbors and government officials. “But whether people like it or not, there are a limited number of buyers out there who can afford it.” Two-acre Bundoran parcels will sell for $400,000 to $700,000.
At this stage, Qroe is talking about including so-called workforce housing in the Bundoran project, but CEO Robert Baldwin concedes that the affordable housing aspect of Qroe’s projects has not always worked out. He blames State legislatures for the company’s previous difficulties—but he’s confident that Virginia—and Albemarle County in particular—will be more accommodating to Qroe’s version of affordability.—Will Goldsmith