Author: Sean Tubbs

A nonprofit group that provides a place to stay for families of young patients at the University of Virginia Medical Center has made a significant property purchase in Fifeville.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charlottesville purchased a one-time auto repair garage at 316 Ninth St. SW for $700,000. The March 15 acquisition of the former Ronnie’s Auto Service means the charity now owns the entire 300 block of Ninth Street, blocks away from UVA Children’s hospital.

“RMHC-C’ville continues to be at full capacity and turn families away daily due to no available rooms,” says Alisa Powell, the organization’s recently named chief executive officer. “The purchase of this property will enable us to one day provide additional services to families whose children receive critical medical care from UVA Health.”

The local Ronald McDonald House provides between 800 and 1,000 family stays each year for those who need just one night, or those who will be in town for many months.

The four area properties now owned by Ronald McDonald House are within the scope of the Cherry Avenue Small Area Plan adopted in March 2021, which describes all but the main house at the top of the hill as “susceptible for redevelopment.”

The new purchase signals the nonprofit is willing to invest to guarantee it can provide services well into the future. The sales price is over double the 2024 assessment of $319,400 for the 0.11 acre parcel that is now zoned Commercial Mixed Use 3. As of now, the city’s assessor classifies this as a valid sale, meaning it will count toward reassessment in 2025.

The purchase comes just months after the University of Virginia bought the Oak Lawn estate for $3.5 million. Earlier this year, UVA sent out a request for firms interested in helping plan the transition of the existing building and site into a child-care facility.

UVA is also a close neighbor of the Ronald McDonald House. In August 2016, the university paid $8.73 million for 2.63 acres on Grove and King streets on the other side of Roosevelt Brown Boulevard. A March 2023 draft of the UVA master plan anticipates the land as a “redevelopment zone” that could one day include housing.

Another close neighbor is a 0.56 acre undeveloped property between UVA’s land and the Ronald McDonald House. A previous development had received site plan approval in 2015 for a mixed-use building, but the project never found enough tenants to proceed. The site plan is valid through June 24, 2026, but anyone developing the site must post bonds related to public improvements and erosion and sediment control.

So far, there are no plans filed for the Ronald McDonald House properties.

Charlottesville’s new Development Code has been in effect for a month, and most of the players involved say not enough time has passed to determine any effects so far.

“It’s early in the experience for staff and developers and they are still learning the day-to-day implications of the new code,” says James Freas, the city’s director of Neighborhood Development Services.

Ashley Davies, the chair of the Charlottesville Area Development Roundtable, also says it is too soon to make any conclusions.

The city’s new development portal allows anyone to track what is happening. As of Friday, March 15, there have been no new applications for critical slope waivers, Comprehensive Plan amendments, rezonings, or special uses. There have also been no submissions of the new major “development plan” that is the first review step for staff in the Department of Neighborhood Development Services. Two minor developments have been filed with one at 816 Hinton Ave. and one at 133 Stribling Ave.

“It is very interesting to me that we had a rush of over 1,000 housing units trying to get special use permits under the old zoning at the last minute, and no rush of new applications,” says Ben Heller, a vocal critic of the new zoning, referring to student housing projects like Verve Charlottesville and 2117 Ivy Rd. Those projects were approved under the old zoning, which did not have a requirement that one in every 10 units be designated as affordable.

The Piedmont Housing Alliance has filed for a final site plan for the third phase of the redevelopment of Friendship Court into Kindlewood. That will see 13 existing buildings demolished to make way for at least 88 units across four new buildings.

That site plan has a fee of $3,560, and triggered what may be the city’s first tree removal permit with a request to take down 26 trees. That permit will cost $1,300 to process. There’s also a “public infrastructure plan,” but the development portal doesn’t have any details.

In February, the Board of Architectural Review reviewed its first project under the new zoning for a new apartment complex proposed for 1609 Gordon Ave. The 0.172 acre property is now zoned Residential Mixed Use 5, but within a design control district. Because the cost of construction would be above $350,000, both the old rules and the new rules require a preliminary discussion with the BAR. The developer had submitted a plan that assumed the project was RX-3, which allows less buildable space.
Freas said NDS staff are talking with developers and answering questions about projects that will soon be submitted.

“There are a number of projects being prepared for submission, and we are talking through the questions associated with these projects,” Freas says. “The code is a new approach, and it requires more thought on design to figure out what one can do with a piece of property.”

Meanwhile, the city has responded to a lawsuit by several property owners seeking voidance of the new zoning code based on a claim that it was adopted without sufficient scrutiny from the Virginia Department of Transportation.

“In the city’s view, plaintiff’s efforts to secure a judicial veto of the Zoning Ordinance, which was the product of a very thoughtful legislative process, are not well-taken,” says City Attorney Jacob Stroman.

As Charlottesville considers an ordinance to create a land bank to generate more affordable housing, one government entity is already providing much of that function.

In addition to owning and operating hundreds of public and voucher-based units across the city, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority has been buying more property to guarantee lower rents for tenants.

“The portfolio was developed to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing units that were at risk of being lost due to natural real estate transactions,” says John Sales, CRHA’s executive director.

Using funding that had originally been approved by City Council for rental vouchers, CRHA bought two duplexes on Coleman Street in August 2022, and a house on Montrose Street that October. Last June, it closed on the $10 million purchase of 74 units known as Dogwood Housing after council agreed to contribute half the funds.

“We then acquired 100 Harris Rd., which is a three-bedroom single-family home, on July 14, 2023,” Sales says.

According to Sales, that transaction kept a long-term tenant, who had been at risk of displacement, in the house. Overall, 68 percent of tenants have incomes less than 30 percent of the Area Median Income. Seventy percent of the units do not have a subsidy associated with them.

“We want to continue serving those families,” Sales says. “What we have been doing for this portfolio is using the voucher problems in [Albemarle County] and the city. We are also assisting families that reach out to us that are unable to get served on the public housing program and the voucher program.”

Having both public housing units, as well as the additional units, gives an economy of scale that has allowed CRHA to hire two full-time exterminators to deal with known pest-control issues.

Sales says the agency is considering selling a duplex located on Harris Street on land zoned for industrial mixed-use.

“It is not in the best place for residential,” he says. “I’ve been talking to my board and they are in support of disposing of it.”

The property has an assessment of $295,300, but Sales says the property could go for between $350,000 and $500,000, and all of that funding would go back into the organization’s portfolio.

When City Councilor Michael Payne asked if the prospective owner could be identified, Sales said CRHA has to put the property on the open market.

“But, they were going to preserve it to expand their business operations and move their headquarters to that location,” Sales says.

To make up the additional residential, CRHA purchased a property in Belmont on Meridian Street last November, which, he says, will be added to the portfolio.

A majority of City Council members say they’ll support the sale of the Harris Street property if it comes back to them for a vote.

“Harris Street ought to be a place where we are encouraging other industrial and commercial kinds of uses,” Councilor Lloyd Snook says.

There are plenty of expenses associated with maintaining so many homes, and Sales says three properties totaling 18 residential units on Ridge Street need new roofs. The CRHA is seeking grants to cover the cost of $50,000 per building, including an application through the city’s share of Community Development Block Grant funds.

Councilor Brian Pinkston told Sales he was glad the city helped make the Dogwood purchase.

“I think this just shows creativity on your part and I am very grateful for the work that you’ve done,” Pinkston said.

Pinkston and the rest of council also agreed in February to purchase 405 Avon St. from CRHA for $4 million. In addition, CRHA has closed on its $2.5 million purchase of the Milgraum building on the Downtown Mall.

The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank served nearly 118,000 people in the last fiscal year, all while relying on aging equipment at the space it rents at 1207 Harris St. The City of Charlottesville is planning to invest $215,000 in unspent federal funds to help the organization solve a crisis.

“BRAFB’s current refrigerator unit was installed a little over 14 years ago and is, consequently, rapidly approaching the end of its rated service life of 15 years,” wrote the city’s Office of Community Solutions staff in a memo to City Council.

The source of the funding is Charlottesville’s allocation from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant funds. Projects at 10th and Page and Ridge Street that were allocated funding have not been completed, and the federal government wants its money back if it’s not spent.

“BRAFB has to turn away deliveries of significant amounts of fresh produce because they lack the space needed to safely store it until it can be distributed to those in need,” the report continues.

A freezer was installed last year, but the refrigerator is experiencing issues with decaying seals that require constant repair to keep things cool. Funding would also be used to cover the loading dock to provide protection from the elements during delivery.

According to Feeding America, the food insecurity rate in Charlottesville for 2023 was 11.2 percent, compared to a statewide average of 8.1 percent. The food bank’s annual report for that year describes a “quiet crisis,” due to both the pandemic and ongoing macro­-economic conditions.

“Inflation created high hurdles for families with low incomes,” writes BRAFB CEO Michael McKee in the report. “For single mothers, that bad news is compounded by expensive child care, which can now exceed the cost of tuition at Virginia state universities.”

One concern could be making a large investment in space not owned by the organization. In response, the landlord sent a letter to the city stating an intention to renew the lease for at least another seven years.

“Eagle Corporation values the food bank as a tenant and, most importantly, as a vital organization in the communities we both serve,” wrote the organization’s David Paulson.

If another reading is approved by City Council in March, this would be the second recent capital investment council has made in a food-related nonprofit. Last March, it allocated $500,000 to New Hill Development Corporation’s BEACON, a $2.3 million food entrepreneurship program that will be located in Kathy’s Shopping Center, which is currently under renovation.

City Council also allocated $155,000 toward food equity in both of the last two fiscal years. The group Cultivate Charlottesville is hoping council will help create a community garden in Washington Park.