Renovations are underway to modernize the rooms at 200 South Street Inn while retaining the historic charm. Supplied photo.
A company that specializes in managing accommodations for area visitors is now overseeing two additional downtown properties.
Stay Charlottesville now operates a six-room inn at 400 W. High St. as well as the 200 South Street Inn.
“What’s happening is these really great properties need updating and they had huge amounts of cost associated with them over the last couple of years that drove them to be not successful, so the model needed to change,” says M. Travis Wilburn, one of Stay Charlottesville’s founders.
Wilburn started the company in 2010 when he built a guesthouse on his property that was originally intended for an aging relative. He began renting it out on a short-term basis and created the business to help others manage rental properties to earn extra income. Since then he’s created the Charlottesville Insider website to promote the area as a destination.
“Our group is able to oversee these hotels and be able to drive more direct traffic,” Wilburn says.
While reservations are being taken now at 400 West High, 200 South Street Inn is closed until the spring for renovations.
“Our revitalized vision will keep everything you love about 200 South Street Inn while enhancing it with modern amenities and fresh experiences, like an outdoor pool,” reads the website.
Charlottesville’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services staff are currently processing the application to build that pool.
An LLC called Renaissance Investment purchased the two properties that make up the South Street Inn for $3.46 million in December. A separate entity called 400 West High Street LLC bought the property with that address in June for $1.41 million.
The Inn at 400 West High was established in 2011, but closed last year. The South Street Inn has been in business since 1986 and had been operated by Brendan Clancy since 1991.
Area occupancy rates remain steady, according to data compiled by the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau. October of 2024 was the busiest in recent history, with nearly 80 percent of area rooms booked.
Wilburn says there’s been an increase in the volume of area lodging, and both of these inns will be marketed to groups that can take over the entire property for special events.
“I think they are one-of–a-kind unique opportunities to be able to stay as a family or as a group in these really awesome properties close to downtown and have it just be your own private party,” Wilburn says. “That is not an opportunity that is easy to find.”
The city collected $8.12 million from the lodging tax in FY2023, a rebound from the $3.8 million collected during the pandemic-constrained FY2021. Last spring, council raised the lodging tax rate from 8 percent to 9 percent and budget staff anticipate bringing in $9.56 million in the current fiscal year.
Wilburn says this is paid by people from outside the community, providing valuable revenue for the city.
Later this year, the Virginia Guesthouse will open in the University of Virginia’s Emmet-Ivy Corridor with 214 rooms and nine suites. Developer Jeffrey Levien continues work on building a Marriott hotel at 218 W. Market St. There’s still no sign of movement on what will happen with the skeleton of the unfinished Dewberry Hotel.
In 2024, Charlottesville City Council agreed to contribute $8.74 million to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville and the Piedmont Housing Alliance for the purchase of Carlton Mobile Home Park. Photo by Eze Amos.
One of the toughest issues facing the greater Charlottesville region is the ever-increasing cost of housing, a barrier to financial stability for many. The problem has been getting worse over the past few years due to rising property assessments, increasing income disparity, and a shortage of housing.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a household’s rent or mortgage is considered affordable if the cost of shelter is no more than 30 percent of its income.
“For a family of three at 30 percent of [area median income] (roughly $20,700), affordable rent would be $520 per month, including utilities,” reads the summary of a housing needs assessment conducted for the City of Charlottesville in 2018. “At 50 percent of AMI (roughly $34,500), the family could afford $860 per month.”
Under HUD guidelines, households that routinely spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs are considered stressed. This assessment was seven years ago and since then, the area median income had increased with both inflation and the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By 2021, the AMI for a family of three at 30 percent had increased to $25,300 and $42,200 for a family at 50 percent of AMI. By 2024, those figures had jumped to $33,000 and $54,900 respectively. In other words, more people are now eligible for subsidized places to live.
Since the pandemic, the cost to buy a house has increased. The latest figures from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors show that the median sales price in the region increased from $326,900 in the third quarter of 2020 to $455,000 in July through September of 2024.
The City of Charlottesville used its housing needs assessment to create an Affordable Housing Plan, which called for a series of reforms and a moral commitment from the city to spend $10 million a year on building, preserving, and maintaining units whose rents are within reach of those with lower incomes.
“To date, over $35 million has been identified,” said Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders in a briefing to council in early December, adding that the draft five-year capital improvement program has another $52 million for projects.
“If you add all that up, that’s $99 million in less than 10 years,” Sanders said.
The first phase of development at the Southwood Mobile Home Park will have 350 homes. Photo by Stephen Barling.
The City of Charlottesville in recent years has used some of its share of federal COVID funds (as well as its own cash) to buy existing units. This includes the $5 million given to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to purchase the 74 units known as Dogwood Housing from Woodard Properties. In late summer 2024, council agreed to contribute $8.74 million to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville and the Piedmont Housing Alliance for the purchase of 6.5-acre Carlton Mobile Home Park.
The city has also provided millions in matching funds for projects being pursued by the Piedmont Housing Alliance, including the ongoing redevelopment of Friendship Court into Kindlewood.
The Affordable Housing Plan also led to a new zoning code intended to make it easier to build new units by mostly eliminating single-family code. Areas that had been zoned for one unit per lot now allow for more units, depending on the district.
For instance, developer Nicole Scro filed plans in December that would replace a single-family house on St. Clair Avenue in the Locust Grove neighborhood with six units. To get that level of density, three of the units have to be rented at 60 percent of AMI.
For larger projects, the zoning code requires one out of every 10 units to be made available to households below 60 percent of AMI. So far, only one project has been submitted that would satisfy that requirement but the 180 units at 1000 Wertland St. will also be designated at some affordability level. One new apartment complex proposed at 1609 Gordon Ave. capped the number of units at nine to evade the affordability rules.
In response, the city is working on a tax abatement program to provide millions in incentives to developers who provide the units. Sanders told council that it will be expensive but he did not provide an estimate. Further details will be revealed this year.
Trump’s shadow as the new year begins
The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump will set the tone for a different four years than those under the nation’s 46th president. A key feature of the Biden administration was investment in infrastructure in order to stimulate the economy.
For instance, HUD recently awarded Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville $29.1 million to assist with redevelopment of the Southwood Mobile Home Park. The funding will pay for infrastructure during the second phase of work.
Dan Rosensweig, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville, expects big changes in the housing world this year, but “we just don’t quite know what those changes will be.” Supplied photo.
Sunshine Mathon, executive director of the Piedmont Housing Alliance, said he is watching for the impact of new administration policies locally as the federal government moves away from climate justice.
“[There is] a potential for huge cuts and/or a ‘burn it down and rebuild it’ strategy that could completely disrupt thousands of peoples’ lives locally and millions of lives nationally,” Mathon said in an email.
No one knows what Trump will do until it happens, but his nomination of Scott Turner to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development would shake up the way public housing operates across the nation. Turner is a former NFL player who operated the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council in the first Trump term.
“2025 will likely bring big changes in the housing world,” said Dan Rosensweig, Habitat’s executive director. “We just don’t quite know what those changes will be.”
Rosensweig said one aspect to watch is whether Trumpian policies such as tariffs and mass deportation of immigrants could increase the cost of construction. Full Republican control of the federal government will have implications.
“We will also likely see a federal budget that eliminates or reduces reliable subsidies for affordable housing programs and construction,” Rosensweig said.
Housing advocates will likely press local and state officials to make up some of the difference by expanding programs and devoting more money.
Local projects in 2025
Regardless of dark clouds on the federal horizon, the Piedmont Housing Alliance is charging ahead with existing plans. The second phase of Kindlewood construction is expected to start soon, with 104 units in five residential buildings. Of these, 54 will be created for existing Friendship Court residents and four will be reserved for home ownership.
When Kindlewood was Friendship Court, all 150 units were reserved for households making less than 30 percent of the area median income.
“With redevelopment, there will be new homes at two additional tiers of affordability, providing more options for current and future residents,” reads a detailed profile of this second phase on PHA’s website.
PHA’s Financial Opportunity Center and Housing Hub will be located on the ground floor of a multifamily building. The other four buildings will be townhouses with some units reserved for households making 80 percent of the area median income.
Mathon said he is also hopeful construction can move forward on a 71-unit project at 501 Cherry Ave. that is being developed with Woodard Properties. Council has committed at least $3 million in capital funds. The city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services wants to see a new site plan after going through three iterations so far.
Mathon is also hoping a partnership project with Habitat at the former Monticello Area Community Action Agency site on Park Street will break ground. The city’s capital budget for this year includes $1.86 million for that project. The city has approved a site plan with the Planning Commission signing off in mid-November of 2024.
Rosensweig said Habitat will finish the first phase of development at the Southwood Mobile Home Park with 350 homes, about two-third of which will be affordable. The second phase will get underway as well with 52 Habitat homes.
“This year, we were once again confirmed by Habitat International as the single most productive Habitat affiliate for our service area size in the U.S. and Canada,” said Rosensweig.
Habitat will also begin work on construction of 16 homes in Charlottesville’s Flint Hill development. In addition, planning will get underway with residents of the Carlton Mobile Home Park.
The city has also provided millions in matching funds for projects such as the redevelopment of Friendship Court into Kindlewood. Photo by Stephen Barling.
Looking ahead to policy changes
One of the biggest forces in affordable housing in the community is the Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition. During the Cville Plans Together initiative, advocates pushed for a new zoning code that would allow for density in areas of the city that had previously been reserved for single-family homes. Now one of them wants Albemarle County to follow suit.
“I hope Albemarle County passes a Comprehensive Plan that ambitiously addresses zoning reforms to allow more affordable housing,” said Emily Dreyfus, an organizer with the Legal Aid Justice Center. Albemarle has been reviewing its Comprehensive Plan for more than three years and the draft chapter on housing is not yet available for review. Supervisors adopted a plan called Housing Albemarle in July 2021 that identified housing production as the No. 1 goal.
Dreyfus also wants Albemarle County to commit to $10 million a year and CLICH will be making a big push in that direction as the year gets underway.
There are several apartment complexes in the area that have rents subsidized through low-income housing tax credits and some of these are set to expire in the future. The National Housing Preservation Database notes that the affordability requirement for 200 units at Hearthwood Apartments ends on January 1, 2027, and mandatory income restrictions at Mallside Forest expire two years later. In late November, Dreyfus notified the Planning Commission of the looming Hearthwood expiration.
“One thing that does worry me a little bit, gives me a little bit of heartburn, is in fact Hearthwood,” said Planning Commission Chair Hosea Mitchell at a November 26 work session. “It looms large and I just want us to be certain that we’re thinking about that because we don’t want to revisit the [Carlton] mobile home crisis that we faced a few months back.”
Dreyfus said CLICH also wants governments and nonprofits to be able to intervene in other situations. Last year, an investment firm called Bonaventure purchased the Cavalier Crossing apartment complex on Fifth Street Extended with an eye toward increasing revenue. While that property never had a rent subsidy, its relative age translated into affordability. That will change as units are renovated.
“Cavalier Crossing will undergo a comprehensive renovation to upgrade unit interiors, amenities, and curb appeal,” reads an announcement of the purchase. “Bonaventure will enhance the existing amenity package which already includes a swimming pool, fitness center, basketball court, and volleyball court, to deliver an upscale community in a market where demand significantly outpaces supply.”
In 2024, Dreyfus helped organizers to get enough residents of the Carlton Mobile Home Park to support an effort by Habitat and PHA to purchase the site. They relied on a requirement that the owner issue a public notice when a legitimate offer is made. Dreyfus and others want that sort of notice extended to other types of properties.
Regional and state efforts
The high cost of housing is felt across the entire commonwealth, and policy outcomes are influenced by what comes out of the General Assembly each year.
Supplied photo.
Isabel McLain, the director of policy and advocacy with the Virginia Housing Alliance, said one of the group’s legislative campaigns in 2025 will be to increase the Virginia Housing Trust Fund, a program created in 2013.
“Currently it is funded at $87.5 million, which is the highest it’s ever been funded,” McLain recently told the Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership. “We have been asking for the past couple years to reach $150 million a year.”
The trust fund contributes to many projects across the state, including the first phase of Kindlewood. McLain said another legislative request will be to extend the life of Virginia’s Housing Opportunity Tax Credit Act. The program is currently scheduled to end on December 31.
There’s also an effort to establish a Virginia-based rental assistance program to fill in gaps not covered by the federal housing voucher program.
“We’re seeing increased housing cost burden as rents continue to increase, so there’s all the more reason and all the more urgency for the state to take responsibility and try to do more to fill that gap,” McLain said.
Regionally, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is working on gathering data on the current housing needs in the area. They will work with the Virginia Center for Housing Research at Virginia Tech to update information with a hope of providing better real-time metrics about housing needs.
For anyone looking for more information on the overall topic, mark your calendar for March 12 and March 13. That’s when the Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership will hold its next affordable housing summit.
A proposed six-story building at the corner of Wertland and 10th streets feels monolithic, says the city’s Board of Architectural Review. Image via Grimm+Parker.
The developers of a proposed six-story building at the corner of Wertland and 10th streets returned to the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review in December to get additional feedback.
“A development team consisting of Preservation of Affordable Housing, National Housing Trust, and Wickliffe Development Consulting was chosen by the UVA Foundation to be the developer of affordable housing on this two-acre site,” said J.T. Engelhardt of the National Housing Trust.
This is one of three affordable housing projects proposed for land donated by the University of Virginia and the only one in Charlottesville. The others are in Albemarle County on 12 acres off of Fontaine Avenue and at the North Fork Discovery Park near Charlottesville Albemarle Airport.
The project is within an architectural design control district, thus the BAR has to grant a certificate of appropriateness before the project can proceed.
The city also has to approve a site plan by March 20 in order for the project to be eligible to apply for the low-income housing tax credits required to subsidize the rent for 180 units. Neighborhood Development Services staff denied approval in December, but that is a routine step in the application process. Site plans must be granted if all of the technical requirements have been met.
The Wertland building will include a range of affordability levels from 30 percent of the area median income to 80 percent, but the exact mix is not yet known. Under the new zoning, the project could be as high as 11 stories, but Liz Chapman, an architect with Grimm + Parker, said that would require steel construction, which is much more expensive.
“We’re trying to stick with wood construction because that’s what the tax credits will bear,” said Chapman.
The square building would include an interior courtyard built above an 83-space parking garage. One BAR member likened the design to a donut.
“The donut feels very, you know, monolithic, very fortress-like,” said David Timmerman. He suggested finding a way to allow people to be able to see inside the courtyard.
Another member of the panel said the long stretches of buildings on 10th and Wertland streets were repetitive and looked too much like a nearby structure on West Main Street.
“I think we all can recognize that [student housing center The Standard at Charlottesville] is pretty unsuccessful as a streetscape experience,” said Carl Schwarz, a planning commissioner who also sits on the BAR. “I’m traumatized from the Standard. It’s done so badly.”
Other BAR members had specific comments about what kinds of street trees they wanted to see.
Engelhardt said he would incorporate the feedback and return with an updated design, but pointed out there are a lot of requirements that present many challenges.
“We’re struggling with trying to manage the constraints and really try[ing] to design a building that we can all be proud of and that you guys would approve, and it is a struggle,” Engelhardt said.
Another struggle may be securing the low-income housing tax credits from a state agency called Virginia Housing. There will be several other applications this year and the process is competitive.
If the project proceeds, the hotel at 218 W. Market St. would replace a shopping center that includes The Artful Lodger, The Livery Stable, and several other businesses. Photo by Eze Amos.
There has not been an uneventful year in Charlottesville real estate for a long time, and no amount of column inches can capture all that happened in 2024. Here’s one way to take the pulse of this year.
0: The number of places there will be to live at 218 W. Market St. The developer opted to build a hotel.
184 feet: The height of a structure developer Jeffrey Levien seeks to build on the Downtown Mall where Violet Crown Theater currently sits.
1: The number of new City Council members, as Natalie Oschrin began serving a four-year term in January.
2: The number of names for an 80-unit Seminole Trail housing project that finally broke ground this year after construction pricing caused delays. What started this year as Premier Circle ended as Vista29. The principal nonprofit involved also changed its name from Virginia Supportive Housing to Support Works Virginia.
11: The number of “Major Development Plans” filed with the City of Charlottesville after a new zoning code went into effect in late February, though one is actually a duplicate. Two of these have been approved, one of which was for the BEACON commercial kitchen project at 221 Carlton Rd., and the other was for a deck expansion at ABC Preschool.
6: The number of units that will be built at 303 Alderman Rd., currently a single-family home slated for demolition. City staff have to sign off on a major development plan for this by-right development and none of the units are required to be income-restricted.
12: One major plan for undeveloped land on Hillcrest Road calls for 12 units to be constructed along the U.S. 250 Bypass. None are required to be affordable.
24: Another major plan seeks to build 24 units at 2030 Barracks Rd., directly to the east of the Meadowbrook Shopping Center. Half of these would be income restricted.
51: The number of residential properties in Charlottesville that sold for more than $1 million by the first week of December.
$2,575,000: The highest price paid in the City of Charlottesville in 2024 for a single-family home at 1824 Winston Rd. on October 29.
$8.7 million: Charlottesville City Council agreed to a five-year, $8.7 million loan to Habitat for Humanity and the Piedmont Housing Alliance to purchase the Carlton Mobile Home Park for eventual redevelopment. The terms of the agreement prohibit construction until mid-2027, though planning can get started.
$10.5 million: The University of Virginia Foundation purchased three commercial buildings on Arlington Boulevard for this price, possibly for a future road connection between Copeley Road and Millmont Street.
$24 million: The amount paid by Blue Suede Charlottesville LLC to buy the Quirk Hotel on West Main Street. The relatively new building is now known as The Doyle Hotel.
5 percent: The average assessment increase for all property in the City of Charlottesville. It’s a lower figure than 12.33 percent in 2023 and 10.77 percent in 2022. The higher assessments means more tax revenue. City Council intends to spend any surplus.
4.07 percent: Albemarle County’s average assessment also went up by a smaller amount in 2024 than in previous years.
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.
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.
Heirloom Development is seeking BAR approval for demolition of a Downtown Mall movie theater so design can proceed for a 184-foot-tall building under the city’s new zoning code. Image via Kahler Slater Inc.
Crowds rarely attend meetings of the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review, but quite a few people showed up for a November 19 preliminary review of a potential 184-foot-tall building at the Downtown Mall site of the Violet Crown movie theater.
“I completely understand the magnitude of the importance of this property cannot be overstated,” said Jeffrey Levien of the firm Heirloom Development.
Levien has a contract to purchase the site, so he was allowed to ask the BAR for its initial thoughts on the height and massing of the proposed structure. He said the current building underutilizes a location that would be used to support the new Comprehensive Plan goal of providing more housing.
“It’s a very important first test of our code,” Levien said.
The BAR will eventually be asked to approve a certificate of appropriateness to demolish the building because it is a contributing structure to the Downtown Architectural Design Control District. It would also have to approve plans for a new building.
Jeff Werner, the city’s historic preservation planner, said little remains of the original building constructed on the site in the late 1800s. He said the BAR has approved projects with height before, such as the CODE Building, which rises to nine stories in some locations. What matters is context.
“BAR’s review is not just the building, but its relationship to the historic district as well,” Werner said.
Under the city’s new development code, the building can be up to 10 stories or 142 feet by-right. There is also a bonus provision if additional affordable units are added above the 10 percent required by the code’s inclusionary zoning provision. If the city is satisfied, the building could be 184 feet or 13 stories.
So far, Levien has not demonstrated how he would fulfill those requirements. The Office of Community Solutions would be responsible for ensuring compliance.
“The Violet Crown is a jewel,” Levien said. “But it’s a jewel that’s just become outdated as far as a business model in the world of theaters. That’s my opinion based on a lot of fact.”
In a statement released after The Daily Progress reported that closure was imminent, the company that operates Violet Crown said it is still in business and plans to continue operations as long as it has a lease.
The president of the group Preservation Piedmont reminded those in attendance that the Downtown Mall is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“As the members of the BAR, in effect, you’re the curators of the Mall, which is our city’s special space,” said Genevieve Keller.
Keller said any demolition of a property on the Downtown Mall must be considered very carefully. She said this location, as well as a proposed hotel at 218 W. Market Street, are in what used to be the Vinegar Hill neighborhood. Levien is the principal owner of that project, which he was previously planning to develop as a nine-story residential building.
‘When an application comes in for a demo there, just down from McGuffey School, that would be taking out the last fabric left of Vinegar Hill,” Keller said.
The BAR took no action because the discussion was a pre-application conference.
Judge Worrell, who has been on the bench since July 2013, issued the three-page ruling nearly five months after hearing arguments in the case. Supplied photo.
One month after City Council approved a new zoning code that allows more residential density across Charlottesville, a group of property owners filed a lawsuit arguing they would be harmed by the changes.
Last week, Charlottesville Circuit Judge Claude Worrell dismissed two of the four counts in White v. Charlottesville but left room for further hearings on the other two.
“Plaintiffs have provided a sufficient question of fact for the Court to hear evidence regarding the promulgation of the new zoning ordinance,” Worrell wrote in a three-page ruling dated November 12.
One of the open questions under Virginia law is whether the new development code was “drawn and applied with reasonable consideration for the existing use and character of property,” including a review of transportation requirements and other public services.
So far, all of the legal proceedings have dealt with a motion from the city that states the plaintiffs have no merit and no standing to sue. Each owns a lot that now allows six or eight units rather than the one permitted under the old zoning.
Worrell concluded the plaintiffs have the right to bring the case, and his invitation for evidence relates to the question of whether Charlottesville followed state regulations.
In his ruling, Worrell also said if both parties are prepared to proceed without submitting new evidence, he would be ready to “rule as to the sufficiency of the suit as a matter of fact and law.”
The property owners want their day in court.
“The plaintiffs expect to present evidence regarding the promulgation of the new zoning ordinance at a trial on this matter,” said Mike Derdeyn, the plaintiffs’ attorney.
When asked if it would submit anything new, Afton Schneider, Charlottesville’s director of communications and public engagement, said the city does not comment on pending litigation.
In late September, Fairfax Circuit Court Judge David Schell ruled against a provision added to Arlington County’s land use regulations that had the same intent as Charlottesville’s development code—to increase the number of places people can live. Schell, a retired judge, was assigned to the case after Arlington judges recused themselves because they are homeowners. Worrell, a property owner in Charlottesville, did not recuse himself.
Part of Schell’s ruling against Arlington’s Expanded Housing Option program hinges on the same section of state code that has kept the Charlottesville case alive. Arlington County has indicated it will appeal the ruling.
According to the website ARLNow.com, Schell’s ruling will permit several dozen units being built under the EHO program to proceed, but he warned they may one day need to be torn down depending on how the appeals process works out.
A handful of “major development plans” have been filed with the City of Charlottesville, including the conversion of 303 Alderman Rd. from a single-family house to six townhomes and a by-right request to build 24 units at 2030 Barracks Rd.
One of the arguments made by the Dudley Mountain Road Neighbors in the petition is that the proposed Forest School is too close to the roadway. Another is that the roadway can’t handle additional traffic. Image via Line and Grade.
The Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia projects that Albemarle’s population will grow from around 116,000 now to more than 155,000 people in 2050, generating the need for services in a county where growth and development is only allowed on 5 percent of the land mass.
One service is day care, a function often provided by private schools. Congregation Beth Israel Forest School has recently filed an application for a special use permit to build a 25,000-square-foot facility on Dudley Mountain Road in Albemarle’s rural area.
“The Forest School helps to serve a huge need for children in the Charlottesville and Albemarle area, especially for the 18-month to kindergarten age range,” reads a narrative written by Kendra Moon of the firm Line and Grade Civil Engineering. “The location of this property so close to the center of Albemarle is critical to its accessibility.”
The undeveloped property, owned by Julie and Jeffrey Morrill since August 2023, is about a mile and a half away from the edge of Albemarle’s growth area.
CBI started the Forest School in the spring of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools as a way of allowing children to continue gathering in an outdoor environment. Now it wants a permanent home.
The overall property is 156 acres and the permit proposes using 15 of them for the school, and putting the remaining land under conservation easement. The plans call for space for 140 students in what is described as a basecamp. This would include an 11,100-square-foot multipurpose building and three cabins no larger than 3,000 square feet each.
However, an online petition has been created by a group called the Dudley Mountain Road Neighbors calling on the Planning Commission to recommend against the special use permit.
“This would be the first non-residential/agricultural use along this scenic roadway, setting a precedent for future development,” reads the petition. “The narrow, winding roadway would be subject to twice-daily traffic surges—causing further decay of the already worn roadway and making it unsafe for existing residential traffic and bikes.”
Albemarle’s Comprehensive Plan sets aside 5 percent of the county’s 726 square miles for development, but allows for new uses that support the rural area. One criteria is that a proposed use should “relate directly to the rural area and need a rural area location in order to be successful.” However, another requirement is that they “be suitable for existing rural roads and result in little discernible difference in traffic patterns.”
The application states that there will be 109 vehicle trips to the location during peak periods. An engineer with the Virginia Department of Transportation has looked at the plans and found them “generally acceptable.”
Scott Clark, a rural area planner for Albemarle, has reviewed the application and offered this interpretation in an October 31 letter: “While limiting the extent of development on the property is helpful, the creation of a school use in the Rural Area is not directly supportive of the Rural Area goals established in the 2015 plan,” Clark wrote.
The final decision will be made by the Board of Supervisors after a recommendation from the Planning Commission. There’s no date yet for public hearings, but the first opportunity to hear about the development from the applicant will come at a November 19 community meeting at Walton Middle School at 6pm.
Albemarle is continuing work on a Comprehensive Plan update and soon the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors will take up sections of the AC44 draft that may revisit those criteria.
On November 12, the Albemarle Planning Commission was scheduled to hold a public hearing on whether to grant a special use permit for an automotive repair facility on Route 20 in Keene. While there’s no petition, dozens of people provided written comments in advance.
“There are only 149 residents of Keene and only another 591 in close by Esmont,” wrote Paula and Jerome Beazley. “These residents are not in need of these services.”
A company is renovating 917 W. Main St. to be a franchise called Mochinut, which sells Japanese and Korean food. Photo by Sean Tubbs.
While the city may have recently abandoned an expensive plan to upgrade West Main Street to be more of a destination, those who want to take a risk on business continue to make investments.
At least that’s what a Chesterfield-based firm did when it purchased 917 W. Main St. for $1.3 million in August 2022.
The city’s Neighborhood Development Services office issued a commercial building permit on July 30 for a tenant upfit. The cost of construction is at least $400,000, according to various permits. Los Angeles-based company Mochinut is listed as one of the contacts.
According to Mochinut’s website, it offers a unique product.
“Mochi donut is a donut that originated from Hawaii which is a combination of American doughnuts and Japanese mochi,” reads a description.
Mochi is a Japanese sweet rice cake; a mochi donut appears to be eight balls of this substance arranged in a circle.
So far, the company has no outlets in Virginia where one can buy the donuts. It also serves Korean-style hot dogs, which are breaded with a variety of different materials.
A request for confirmation and a timeline for opening was not answered at press time. At the moment, the site is still under construction and the sidewalk is blocked.
Such a store could benefit from the foot traffic of University of Virginia students who live in the apartment buildings in the neighborhood.
That’s also a reason there is now a 7 Day Junior franchise right across 10th Street on the lower floor of 1001 W. Main St. In the last 15 years, that entire building has been transformed from an auto repair shop into one that has served as multiple restaurants.
The building at 917 W. Main St. was constructed in 1950, and the current renovation of the facade unveiled an old sign for Charlottesville Office Machine Company. At one point, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville had an office at the location but it has been vacant for at least three years since the nonprofit relocated in 2021.
Both buildings, as well as five others, are within the West Main Architectural Design Control District and any future demolition would have to be approved by the Board of Architectural Review. City Council added that protection in December 2013, when the construction of several large buildings in the neighborhood were proposed.
In the years that followed, council approved The Flats at West Village, The Standard, and Lark on Main. Special use permits for those mixed-use projects came with conditions that retail space be included on the ground floor, but all three of them have spaces that have never been utilized.
At the same time, the city had begun work on a project to widen sidewalks, add bike lanes, and add other amenities to West Main Street to improve the urban fabric of what was planned as one of the city’s most dense corridors. In 2022, council agreed to transfer the millions that had been committed to the project to instead expand Buford Middle School.
While the overall streetscape is desolate, the city is aware of the need to make improvements at a cost much lower than the defunct project’s $50 million estimate.
“The city does not presently have plans developed for this intersection, but will be kicking off a project looking at the West Main Street corridor [next year] and opportunities to improve safety through low-cost interventions and restriping,” says Afton Schneider, the city’s director of communications and public engagement.
