Author: Sean Tubbs

Categories
News Real Estate

For a price

Area realtor Jim Duncan says that while people always look at assessed values, “they are a backwards-looking valuation, rather than a value that reflects today’s market.” Supplied photo.

There’s a long way to go until the end of 2023, but key metrics are coming in on how the real estate market fared in the last 12 months. But what impact will this new information have on transactions between now and December?  

“Assessed values are a number that people look at, and while by law they are supposed to be 100 percent of market value, they are a backwards-looking valuation, rather than a value that reflects today’s market,” says local realtor Jim Duncan. 

But those numbers will have an effect on property taxes for this year, and local governments will have to decide what they’ll do with the millions of dollars in additional revenue. 

Albemarle County set a record this year with average assessments up 13.64 percent over 2022. Last year’s assessments in Albemarle were up 8.4 percent. 

In Fluvanna, property values are up 13 percent for 2023. Figures for Louisa County will come out later this spring, as will assessments for Nelson and Greene. 

Charlottesville’s assessor has not released the figures for the city. The average increase in 2022 was 11.67 percent. Currently Charlottesville is expecting a $5 million surplus in the current fiscal year, but that figure will increase if the trend extends to the city. 

But even if the numbers are backward looking, they still inform understanding about how things have worked. Perhaps the large increase in Albemarle will fuel more appeals, but County Assessor Peter Lynch told the Board of Supervisors on January 11 that there were not many challenges in Albemarle last year. 

“They understood what was going on with the market,” Lynch said. “They knew people were bidding up the sales on houses and that the assessments would be higher.” 

Lynch also said he is aware that the increase may not be easily understood, given a general sense that recession is on the horizon. Yet, the assessment increases can be explained by a closer look at last year. 

The number of home sales was down in 2022, but sales prices continued to increase. Data compiled by the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors shows that sales volume decreased 19.9 percent from November 2021 to November 2022 for the whole region, but the median sales price increased 9.6 percent over the same period to $399,000. 

If the bubble does burst this year, assessments in future years could be lower. In 2009, the average assessment was down in Albemarle 2.59 percent, beginning a decline that lasted several years until property values began to increase. 

There’s also the potential impact on rents. Lynch told Albemarle Supervisors that the assessments of apartment buildings went up 28.2 percent.

“Apartments are a hot commodity in the real estate market and its really the difference between that’s an income stream that is sought after,” Lynch said.

While every property’s case is unique, the more expensive the house, the larger the assessment increase is likely to be. Homes over $2 million have an average increase of 15.29 percent compared to 9.13 percent for properties under $150,000.

Categories
News

Building up the city

The first phase of the Friendship Court redevelopment is underway, with new units coming out of the ground in 2022. Photo: Eze Amos.

It’s often said at land use public hearings that there should be more places to live in Albemarle and Charlottesville. Both communities have adopted policies that seek to build thousands of units, and they’re challenged by housing advocates to spend millions a year to help keep them within financial reach of those with lower incomes. 

What actually gets built is a combination of what the private sector is willing to risk building and what nonprofit housing developers are able to cobble together. A lot happened in 2022 to help measure progress that may or may not be happening.

This year, Charlottesville City Council successfully fought off a legal challenge against the November 2021 adoption of the Comprehensive Plan, but it will begin in 2023 looking for a new city attorney. There are at least two pending land use lawsuits, and there will likely be others. 

Meanwhile, the zoning code is being rewritten to allow every property to have at least three units without further approval from City Council.

Albemarle County is reviewing its land-use rules and regulations now, but most of the conversations on zoning and growth have been in smaller meetings out of the spotlight. At the same time, the school board and parents are warning that classrooms are getting more crowded and new buildings are needed soon. 

Toward a denser Charlottesville

Charlottesville’s future zoning code is intended to eliminate the role that public hearings play in the land use process. In 2022, there were several high-profile rezonings and other land use decisions that will add more residential density across the city. 

Council approved a special use permit in September that will bring 119 units to 2005 Jefferson Park Ave. A month later, several neighborhoods filed suit. Council also approved a rezoning on around 12 acres in Fry’s Spring off of Stribling Avenue that hinged on Southern Development loaning the money to build a sidewalk on the rural-like urban street. That is the subject of another lawsuit. Will the sidewalk be ready in time?

Council will not likely be directly involved in another development that could end up in court as well because it’s a by-right project. Seven Development filed a plan to build 245 units off of East High Street in three buildings constructed on imported dirt to raise them out of the flood plain. An opposition group has retained counsel to challenge the developer’s contention that the project must be approved if it meets the letter of the city’s technical requirements. 

But, for those with means, that may be another avenue to stop development. 

One of the plaintiffs in the JPA lawsuit is Jimmy Wright, the CEO of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation. Wright owns a house on Observatory Avenue, but the foundation’s headquarters are located on Maury Avenue. This year, council approved a special use permit for Southern Development to build 64 units. The foundation bought the land for $4.3 million, killing the project. 

In the future, all projects could be more like the East High project. A major goal of the zoning rewrite is to eliminate the role City Council plays in deciding these issues. A major question in the 2023 election will be whether that’s really what Charlottesville voters want. 

The Affordable Housing Plan adopted in March 2021 calls for council to invest at least $10 million a year in construction of new units. Both the Piedmont Housing Authority and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority made progress this year toward projects they’ve had funded by the city. 

Prep work for the first phase of Friendship Court’s redevelopment transitioned into the first units coming out of the ground. There have been delays in the renovation of CRHA’s Crescent Halls as well as the first new public housing units in a generation. New tenants are expected to move in soon. The public housing agency also tapped into money set aside for rental vouchers to buy three properties that will remain deeply affordable units. 

Piedmont Housing Alliance also anticipates public funding for two projects on Park Street for which council made approvals despite arguments from nearby residents that the roadway can’t handle the traffic. Currently no bus routes travel that way. Transit is often seen as a solution to congestion, but route changes that were approved in the summer of 2021 will not go into effect until at least the end of 2023. 

No matter how the zoning rewrite ends up, the city has struggled this year to process building permits. There was a two-week pause in accepting new ones in late May. A building official was in place by early September, and this will continue to be an area to watch. 

Albemarle County prepares for growth

Since 1980, Albemarle has had a growth management policy that directs growth into the 5 percent of its land mass designated for density. The idea is to conserve the rural area and to try to ensure infrastructure in a locality that has grown from 83,532 people in 2000 to an estimated 113,535 in 2021. This policy is getting its first major scrutiny in the first phase of the county’s Comprehensive Plan review that is currently underway. 

Since 1980, the build-out for many rezonings has come in below the maximum size allowed. That provides fuel for those who would like to expand the growth area, but others argue the existing areas just need to be bigger. In October, the Planning Commission encouraged the potential developer of one property on U.S. 29 to go higher than five stories. The land is currently the home of C’ville Oriental. 

However, the Planning Commission recommended denial in late November of a plan to build 525 units on Old Ivy Road out of a concern that the additional development will overwhelm the two-lane road. The developer will take its chances early next year before the Board of Supervisors. Nearby, the University of Virginia has plans to redevelop Ivy Gardens for over 700 units, but there is no timetable for when that might actually happen. 

In November, the Albemarle supervisors approved the second phase of a rezoning for the conversion of Southwood Mobile Home Park to a mixed-income community. The first phase has been under construction on land just outside the original park, and will feature a mix of market-rate and subsidized units. The second phase will add between 557 and 1,000 units, and 227 of them must be below market. The final negotiations hinged on how much Albemarle will have to pay for a potential site for a future school.  

University of Virginia continues to acquire properties

This year the first buildings began to come out of the ground at the University of Virginia’s new Emmet-Ivy corridor. The school’s foundation has spent years consolidating properties for a future precinct that will include the School of Data Science, a new hotel and conference center, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy. 

But UVA’s appetite for land continues. The property that currently houses Moe’s Original BBQ sold for $2.25 million in late October to an LLC associated with the UVA Foundation. This land across from Davenport Field is next to Foods of All Nations, which the foundation bought for $20 million in late 2021. There are currently no long-term plans for what might happen there. 

Another refrain from housing advocates is that the University of Virginia should house more of its students. Darden may do just that with a future master plan. 

There was also some progress this year toward UVA’s pledge to work with a development partner to build between 1,000 and 1,500 affordable units in the community. Two out of three sites identified are moving forward, and the next milestone is to send out a formal bid for firms to build the projects on land owned by UVA or the foundation. 

UVA effectively increased its influence over land use decisions in Albemarle when two top officials were appointed to the Planning Commission. Luis Carrazana is the associate architect for the University of Virginia and Fred Missel is the director of design and development for the UVA Foundation. 

Meanwhile, UVA prepares for the future by agreeing to demolish some of the past. The Board of Visitors approved a plan to take down University Gardens on Emmet Street, citing the high expense of refitting the existing buildings for the 21st century. 

Categories
News Real Estate

A denser city

A company associated with Woodward Properties bought the former IGA building on Cherry Avenue for $3.5 million in August. Staff photo.

Of all the streets in a changing Charlottesville, Cherry Avenue may be one to watch closely to see how the new Comprehensive Plan might translate into a denser Charlottesville.  

While the stretch from Ridge Street to Roosevelt Brown has always seemed ripe for eventual redevelopment, all of the properties from the 1000 block to the Cherry Avenue Christian Church are now colored light brown in the Future Land Use Map for “Middle-Intensity Residential.” 

The map’s legend says the idea is to “increase opportunities for housing development including affordable housing along neighborhood corridors, near community amenities, employment centers, and in neighborhoods that are traditionally less affordable.” 

Under current rules, most of those lots are restricted to one or two units at most, but that number will increase to eight or more depending on how the new zoning code is written. That process is expected to be completed in the summer, but Neighborhood Development Services Director James Freas said he reserved the right for delay if there are any legal issues.  

So far, there has not been a land rush to pick up the properties, but it is worth taking a look at real estate activity in 2022. 

On May 4, a company called Copper Fox REI LLC purchased 1210 Cherry Ave. for $185,000, and sold the property to Tribe Property Solutions LLC the same day for $217,000. 

On October 5, 2022, Benco LLC purchased 1505 Cherry Ave. for $250,000. Two months later, on December 13, the property was sold to Meade Construction LLC for $250,000. Benco LLC purchased it again the same day for $280,000 before selling it the next day to Laurel Oak Properties LLC for the same price. 

In 2022, there were two sales on this part of Cherry Avenue that were not to corporate entities. A property at 1526 Cherry sold on March 10 for $350,000, about 17.71 percent below the assessed value. Another at 1514 Cherry Ave. was purchased for $251,000, which is 12.11 percent below assessment.

The commercial section of Cherry Avenue also had two notable purchases, both to Woodard Properties. With the exception of some properties at the intersection of 7 ½ Street, these lots are all in the Neighborhood Mixed Use Corridor, which calls for “neighborhood-scaled mixed-use areas arranged along corridors that support existing residential districts.” 

In August, a company associated with Woodard Properties paid $3.5 million for the former IGA building across from Tonsler Park. In November, another Woodard LLC bought an undeveloped 0.25 acre lot at 716 Cherry Ave. for $150,000. 

That continues the company’s significant investment in Fifeville’s commercial strip. In 2021, Woodard purchased both the Cherry Avenue Shopping Center and a nearby vacant lot. In addition, the company has significant holdings between 7 ½ Street and Fifth Street. 

The zoning rewrite will also dictate how those lots can be redeveloped when and if Woodard Properties opt to redevelop that land. Last year, the company invested in a new facade for the Cherry Avenue Shopping Center, and installed new lights at the vacant lot. It also recently allowed a public trail to cross its land from Tonsler Park to the Blue Ridge Commons housing development. 

Anthony Woodard of Woodard Properties said his company’s goal is to bring “thoughtful development” to Fifeville. 

“For over 40 years, we have worked in Fifeville, where 75 percent of our housing portfolio is affordable, and where we also provide land and community support for efforts like the IRC New Roots garden program and the Fifeville Trail,” Woodard said.

Categories
News Real Estate

New Reality

The new Comprehensive Plan encourages more density in the city, which means that some area homes, like this property on Piedmont Avenue South, are priced over their assessments. Staff photo.

With interest rates much higher than they were a year ago, you might think that residential properties in the area would be selling at lower prices. However in Charlottesville, many realtors are marketing their properties to reflect the new realities created by the Comprehensive Plan, which both allows and encourages more density throughout the entire city.  

Here’s the listing for two properties on Piedmont Avenue South between Fontaine Avenue and the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks near the University of Virginia: “The future land use map has this land designated as ‘high density residential’ land,” reads the posting on Zillow. “This up-zoning would allow for a significant development project with potential for 26+ units.” 

The actual term used in the Future Land Use Map is “higher-intensity residential,” and the language in the plan specifically states this category is to “incentivize affordability and increased intensity to meet Affordable Housing Plan goals.” One of those goals is to eliminate single-family neighborhoods by updating the zoning code. 

The previous designation had been “Low Density Residential” in the 2013 Comprehensive Plan. Denser would change the character of the street, which includes four homes in two duplexes built this year by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville. Each unit sold for $279,900. 

A home located on Piedmont Avenue South. Staff photo.

If purchased by an entity that wants to build an apartment complex, the exact unit count and their affordability requirements will be determined by a variety of factors including the shape of the parcel. The details will become better known this winter as the new zoning rules go through the public adoption process. A draft map should be released in January, but materials released in December show that higher-intensity residential calls for three- to five-story buildings, and limited commercial uses will be allowed.  

The suggested sales price is $1.2 million, well over the combined assessment of $685,100 for 0.694 acres. The property is owned by a LLC that traces back to a family that purchased the land in 1979. 

Planning work has occurred to prepare for density at this location. This year, the Commonwealth Transportation Board agreed to fund the cost overruns for a long-planned project to add bike lanes and sidewalks to Fontaine Avenue. Charlottesville Area Transit does not serve this property, but the public at large can use the University Transit Service routes. 

The project is also about a tenth of a mile from where the University of Virginia plans to redevelop the Piedmont family housing site as part of its initiative to build between 1,000 and 1,500 affordable units. The next step is for UVA to select a nonprofit partner that will build and manage the new homes. 

How realistic is the higher density, or an investor picking up these two parcels on Piedmont at that price? This property was originally listed in May for $1.3 million and reduced by $100,000 in the summer. It was taken off the market in October and relisted on December 22. Stay tuned. 

At least one company believes there’s value in student housing. On December 20, Crossroads of Charlottesville paid $20.7 million for an apartment complex at 2111 Jefferson Park Ave. That’s almost twice the 2022 assessment of nearly $10.06 million for the complex at the intersection of Maury Avenue and JPA. The structure was built in 1994 and sits on 1.575 acres. 

Last September, City Council approved a special use permit for 119 units and seven stories at 2005 Jefferson Park Ave. for land that is currently much less dense. A month later, a lawsuit was filed against the city by residents of Observatory Avenue and Washington Avenue who argue that the special use permit process “short circuits” the ongoing rezoning process. 

Other property transactions nearby signal a willingness to invest. Another key parcel nearby changed hands in 2022. The building that housed the former Anna’s Pizza on Maury Avenue sold for $3.05 million on April 20. 

Units in the apartment complex built in 1966 at 1800 Jefferson Park Ave. continue to increase in value. A two-bedroom unit with 854 square feet sold for $255,000, which is 27.82 percent over the 2022 assessment of $199,500. A one bedroom with 564 square feet sold in mid-November for $155,000 or 23.02 percent over the 2022 assessment. Another one bedroom with 536 square feet sold for $165,000 in late September. 

Categories
News

Money for nothing?

Years before the Sacajawea, Lewis, and Clark statue was removed, consultants envisioned a West Main Street streetscape that never happened. Photo: City of Charlottesville.

It’s a process that happens over and over again in Charlottesville and other localities. A big project is proposed, but before any money is spent on construction, the city hires a consulting firm, often to the tune of six or seven figures. Projects like the Belmont Bridge, the West Main Streetscape, and Cville Plans Together have already cost the city millions, even though work has been delayed and may never even begin. Are these outsiders worth the big bucks? 

“Consultants often have specialized knowledge, skills, or resources that allow them to take care of work that might be daunting to locality planners whose knowledge is necessarily more broad and generalized,” says Mike MacKenzie, the director of the Land Use Education Program at Virginia Commonwealth University.

After several years of turnover at the highest levels of government, even Charlottesville’s top official is currently a consultant paid through a firm the city hired. 

Last December, the city issued a request for proposals for a firm to provide the service of city manager after a candidate hired in November turned down the job. The Robert Bobb Group of Washington, D.C., got the nod, and council selected Michael C. Rogers from a list of candidates. The initial six-month term carried a price tag of $155,000, and the firm just got a six-month contract extension for Rogers at the same price. 

There’s no line item in the budget that lists all of the consultants working at any given time. In fact, the word “consultant” only appears once in the entire Charlottesville budget for FY23. Yet the work of various firms has played a significant role in city government long after their contracts are over. 

In the past 10 years, Charlottesville has spent millions on firms to produce plans to guide city decisions. The Toole Design Group was hired in 2014 to develop a “multimodal plan for the City of Charlottesville” called Streets That Work for an initial payment of $50,000. At the time, at least one city councilor felt existing planning staff were not up to the task. 

That summer, Toole got an additional $85,000 to update the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. In August 2017, it was hired again on a $199,987 contract to update a Standards and Design Manual. These three documents are frequently used by planning staff as it reviews plans. 

In 2016, The Novak Consulting Group was paid $101,250 to study how Charlottesville government worked, followed by an additional $42,200 for a review of the city’s planning department. Many of these recommendations were not implemented, in part because of turmoil that began in the summer of 2017. 

Other projects crafted by consultants have also not come to fruition. Earlier this month, council put the West Main Streetscape design overseen by Rhodeside & Harwell back on the shelf after agreeing to reprioritze capital spending for school renovation. 

School systems hire consultants to do work, too. The Charlottesville School Board hired VMDO Architects for $1.47 million in April 2021 to develop the plans to renovate and expand Buford Middle School. 

Consultants aren’t always hired to plan for infrastructure projects. Governments also hire consultants to get a fresh look on long-term planning, and last week, the city hired Venable LLP to help write a collective bargaining ordinance. 

The practice continues under the current council. Vice-Mayor Juandiego Wade says hiring outside parties can help with staff shortages. 

“I think the work could be very good if the consultants are appropriately chosen,” he says. 

Councilor Sena Magill says she would prefer that more work be conducted in-house, but sometimes groups will have the right kind of expertise required. 

“I have worked with some consultants who I feel really brought a lot to the table, and I have worked with some I felt really did not listen to what our community was asking for,” Magill says. 

Active bids at the moment include an engineering firm to craft a plan for city buildings to become compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and a company to lead an executive search for the city’s next police chief. 

A bit of advice

Kimley-Horn This Richmond-based firm was hired by the city in November 2016 for nearly $2 million to finalize a Belmont Bridge design built on the work of the previous consultant. Construction is now underway. This firm was also hired by the city to oversee the East High Streetscape, one of several Smart Scale transportation projects that have not yet gone to construction. 

Rhodeside & Harwell RHI got the $340,000 contract for a design study of West Main Street approved by City Council in 2013. By October 2018, the firm had been paid $1.8 million to oversee technical drawings for a street improvement project whose cost estimates climbed as high as $55 million and which was recently sidelined. RHI was hired again in 2020 for nearly $1 million to oversee creation of an affordable housing plan, finish the Comprehensive Plan, and rewrite the city’s zoning code. Council has been authorized at least $165,000 more for additional studies to complete the work. As of the end of April, the city has paid out $766,316.78.

Timmons Group The Timmons Group is overseeing design work for two Smart Scale projects (Emmet Street Streetscape and Barracks Emmet Improvements), but is working closely with the city to develop new software for the city to track land-use applications such as rezonings and site plans. The firm will get more than $900K over five years to replace software from 2008. Such software has been recommended by previous consultants. 

New Hill Development In late 2018, council directed $500,000 to the New Hill Development Company to create a master plan for the Starr Hill neighborhood, but the final work product ended up being converted to a vision plan. 

Categories
News

One brick at a time

The CODE Building opened on the Downtown Mall this year. Photo: Stephen Barling

The charlottesville region continued to grow in 2021, and both Albemarle County and Charlottesville took several steps forward this year to increase the number of housing units and to improve the certainty of getting infrastructure in place to accommodate a bigger population. 

“We continue to see robust building activity, with many projects in varying stages of development throughout the city, and including new residential and commercial buildings,” says Jim Freas, Charlottesville’s new director of neighborhood development services. “Of note has been the completion of a number of new buildings downtown, contributing to the ongoing vitality in this area of the city.”

Perhaps the biggest development story of the year wasn’t a single new construction, however, but rather the city’s preparation for the next chapter of development. On November 15, Freas presided over the final public hearing for a new Comprehensive Plan. The plan, which City Council passed unanimously, aims “to address the injustice in distribution of housing opportunities and access to affordable housing options” in the area. One key element of the plan is the Future Land Use Map, which builds on an affordable housing policy adopted in March to encourage construction of more, denser residential units in single-family neighborhoods across the city.  

In 2022, those aspirational ideas will be turned into official zoning regulations. Some in those single-family neighborhoods remain concerned the process will not yield the affordability levels that supporters claim will happen by allowing more units per residential lot.  

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted a new housing policy in July, which also encourages building new dwelling units across the county. The Housing Albemarle framework increases the desired number of designated affordable units in new developments to 20 percent, up from the current 15 percent. In February, supervisors will consider an incentives package to induce developers to build more affordable units. 

Albemarle too has begun a review of its growth management policy, as the first step in its own Comprehensive Plan review. Supervisors also updated the Crozet Master Plan, which included provisions that would allow for “missing middle housing” in certain areas. 

But what specifically happened this year? 

In the county 

In march, the Piedmont Housing Alliance was awarded low-income housing tax credits to build apartments as part of Habitat for Humanity’s redevelopment of the Southwood Mobile Home Park. Construction is underway, and the first phase will consist of 207 total affordable units and 128 market rate units. In October, Habitat submitted an application for the second phase, which will include between 531 and 1,000 additional homes. Of those, 231 housing units would be affordable.

A plan to convert a different mobile home park near Hollymead Town Center into over 330 permanent units was met with initial resistance from neighbors in the Forest Lakes community. However, the out-of-town firm RST was approved by supervisors on a 5-1 vote in September after the developers agreed to 190 of the units being affordable for a period of 30 years. 

This year, locally owned Stony Point Development purchased a 27-acre property near the intersection of the John Warner Parkway and East Rio Road, including the plans a previous developer had put forward for a 328-unit apartment complex. That project stalled after a deferral from the county government in July 2020, but Stony Point was ultimately able to get a green light this December. 

Some neighbors continue to resist additional residential density in Albemarle’s designated growth areas. In October, supervisors approved a rezoning for a development near Glenmore for 80 units, down from an initial request for 200 units. Members of the Village of Rivanna Community Advisory Committee argue that even 80 units is out of scale with the Comprehensive Plan. 

Meanwhile, at Stonefield, the number of total residential units will soon reach 700, with a 112-unit tower currently under review on a site that is now a surface parking lot. In 2022, there will be a rezoning for 490 units off of Old Ivy Road on currently undeveloped land. Work is underway to secure funding for transportation projects for both. 

Other new development projects were conceived with more philanthropic aims. In late March, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation awarded the Piedmont Housing Alliance $4.5 million for a project to work with Virginia Supportive Housing and the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless to redevelop the Red Carpet Inn as a 140-unit apartment complex for people with extremely low incomes. 

UVA also announced three sites where it plans to collaborate with a private developer to construct 1,500 affordable housing units. “We are committed to working with community partners to create more housing intended for local workforce and community members who have been priced out of the local housing market,” Jim Ryan wrote in an announcement about the project.  Two of the sites are in the county, on Fontaine Avenue and at North Fork Research Park, and one is in the city, at the corner of Wertland and 10th streets.

In the city

While we wait to see how exactly  Charlottesville’s Future Land Use Map will shape the city, there’s plenty that already happened in 2021. 

One major residential development that could be coming down the pipe is a 170-unit rezoning on 12 acres in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood off of Stribling Avenue. After multiple rounds of negotiation, the Planning Commission, city staff, and Southern Development appear to have reached an agreement to move forward: Southern Development will front $2.9 million to upgrade the Stribling Avenue sidewalk, and will be paid back by the city through the increased property tax that will be generated by the development. Council will vote on that rezoning in 2022. 

Redevelopment of the city’s public housing sites finally got to the construction phase after years of planning. Construction is underway for the first phase of South First Street, which will see 62 new apartments built on a former athletic field. However, renovation of the 105-unit Crescent Halls building hit a major setback in June, when a waterline break forced the evacuation of many residents who had anticipated staying during renovation. Planning work continues for a second phase at South First Street, at the expense of some green space: a four-story, 50-unit building at Sixth Street will displace a community garden. 

The new affordable housing plan calls for the city to spend $10 million a year on housing, with a large portion of that intended for construction of new units. The five-year Capital Improvement Plan shows $13.5 million for public housing redevelopment and $15.8 million to support the Piedmont Housing Alliance’s redevelopment of Friendship Court. Ground hasn’t yet been broken on that project.

In the commercial sector, major office buildings that were skeletons in January have now been fleshed. The Three-Twenty-Three building on Fourth and Garrett streets and the CODE Building on the site of the former Charlottesville Ice Park are now occupied and open for business. 

Categories
News

To build or not to build

The proposed Stribling Avenue development project has gone back to the developer for additional review. Supplied photo.

After a public hearing last week, the Charlottesville Planning Commission sent a proposal for 170 new housing units back to the developer for updates. 

Southern Development is asking the city to rezone 12 acres of land in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood to allow the construction of a new complex of townhomes and apartments. Fifteen percent of those units would have to be designated affordable housing.

“The Planning Commission told us very clearly [they] wanted to see something more dense and less suburban,” said Charlie Armstrong, vice president at Southern Development. 

The development’s fate could depend on whether or not the city and the developers can scrounge up enough cash to fund sidewalk upgrades and other safety improvements around the area. 

Last year, the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association expressed support for the development on the condition that such updates went through. Armstrong then negotiated an agreement with the Office of Economic Development, promising that Southern Development would give a $2 million loan to the city to build those improvements. The city would then pay Southern Development back over a period of years out of the increased property taxes that it’s set to receive. 

At the meeting, the city and the developer clashed over the specifics of the deal: Southern Development estimates the infrastructure upgrades will cost around $1.6 million. City Engineer Jack Dawson said he’d only seen the proposal two days before the meeting, but that it could cost as much as $2.9 million in his estimation. “It isn’t just a sidewalk. It’s essentially a streetscape, because when you touch a road you need to bring it up to code,” he said.

Armstrong expressed frustration at the discrepancy between the estimates. “That’s not a number that I’ve ever seen published, or have ever heard,” Armstrong said, even though the company has “been talking with the city, and been in this review process with the city, for months and years.”

The city doesn’t have much to spare by way of capital improvement funding: Last week, council opted to transfer funding allocated for the West Main Streetscape to the $75 million reconfiguration of Buford Middle School. Budget staff said that could require as much as a 15-cent tax increase next year.

“Right now, every penny we are going to have in capital funds is going to get allocated for school reconfiguration,” said City Councilor Lloyd Snook. 

The co-president of the FSNA appreciated the work that went into the agreement, but said it was not yet enough to satisfy his concerns. 

“There is a potential to find a solution here, but there is a big but,” said Jason Halbert. “It’s about safety on that street and the JPA intersection.”

Halbert said the agreement had not been fully reviewed by the appropriate staff. He asked for the project to be delayed while the details of the agreement are worked out. 

Planning Commissioner Hosea Mitchell said he liked the project overall but agreed it might not be ready.

“I think it could use a little more baking,” Mitchell said. “There would be value in sitting with the engineers and the economic development people and working out the details and logistics.”

Another commissioner suggested the city has to do a better job of communicating internally on matters like this, especially given that the current draft of the city’s new comprehensive plan encourages the creation of more dense housing across the city.

“It’s endlessly frustrating to me, the degree of dysfunction within the city,” said Commissioner Rory Stolzenburg, “that the economic development office is negotiating this agreement and isn’t even telling [the city engineer] about it until literally two days ago.”

Southern Development requested an infinite deferral to see if the details can be worked out. 

County approves 254 units near Forest Lakes

Also last week, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors approved a development that will see 254 apartments—190 of which will be set aside as affordable housing—constructed just off Route 29. The project was approved in a 5-1 vote. The county’s comprehensive plan had highlighted the area as a good spot for potential growth. 

“I personally live in an area where many apartment units have gone up,” said Ned Gallaway, chair of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. “And they fill quickly. The question is whether the infrastructure is there to support the density.” 

Throughout the approval process, the community association of the nearby Forest Lakes neighborhood argued against the project, saying it was out of scale with their existing neighborhoods. 

“We talk a lot about how we are an inclusive and welcoming place to live. This is an opportunity to create a place for people to live that have not been able to live in our community,” said Supervisor Diantha McKeel. 

In her support for the project, McKeel noted that VDOT has invested nearly $230 million in road improvements in Albemarle within recent years, and is currently studying how to further expand transit to the area. 

Categories
News

Map quest

The Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition is handing out yard signs that express support for reforming the zoning code. Supplied photo.

The latest version of the Future Land Use Map, a much-debated document that will guide Charlottesville’s development as the city begins to rewrite its zoning code, is out for review. The map is intended to steer Charlottesville toward a future with more affordable places to live. 

“We believe this draft continues to support the goal of increasing housing options and affordability throughout the city, by supporting multifamily residential at a variety of scales, on all residential parcels,” said Jennifer Koch of the firm Rhodeside & Harwell (RHI). 

Others aren’t so sure, including at least one member of the Planning Commission. 

“We were promised a process that would be intentional about centering the voices of those who haven’t historically been considered in land use decision making,” said Rory Stolzenberg in a comment on Twitter this past Sunday. “Now it appears that [Cville Plans Together] is specifically prioritizing our wealthiest landowners.”

In late 2019, the city hired RHI to restart a review of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The first step of that process was to enact an affordable housing plan, which City Council did in March. One high-level priority in the plan is “to address the legacy of exclusionary zoning and constrained housing supply in Charlottesville.”

In order to meet that goal, RHI drafted a land use map, showing where zoning could change in the city to allow more density. In late March, the Planning Commission saw the first version of the map, and a majority of commissioners asked for higher by-right density across the city, particularly in neighborhoods that are currently predominated by single family homes. 

RHI took those comments into consideration and released a second map in late April. At that point, some residents of singe-family neighborhoods expressed concerns that their land was being designated for “medium-intensity residential” with as many as 12 units allowed per lot.  Several “neighborhood mixed-use nodes,” spots where commercial buildings could be added to residential neighborhoods, were spread around the city, which also drew the ire of some homeowners.

Here are some of the changes in the latest version of the city’s proposed Future Land Use Map. In the circled areas, the previous version of the map included mixed-use nodes, meaning commercial and residential buildings of up to five stories would have been allowed. Those areas are once again designated for residential-only construction. Supplied image.

A group called Citizens for Responsible Planning formed to oppose the changes. At the same time, the Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition led a campaign to push for higher densities. 

The latest map scales back many of the more ambitious proposals in from the April version. In the April map, the Lewis Mountain neighborhood had been designated as medium-intensity. In the newest iteration, that has mostly changed back to general residential. Similar scope reductions were made in the Barracks/Rugby and North Downtown neighborhoods. 

The text definition for “general residential” has changed as well, reducing theoretical building height from 3.5 stories to 2.5. However, four units would be allowed on each lot if the fourth one was kept below market value. The first two maps limited that to three. 

A person speaking for Citizens for Responsible Planning said in an email that the latest version is an improvement over the May version. The spokesperson did not want to be identified, but the group’s physical address is the law firm Flora Pettit. 

“We are happy to see some of the more obviously inappropriate Mixed-Use Nodes have been nixed, a few Medium Intensity Residential zones have been pared back, emphasis on actual affordable housing production has been increased, and verbiage has been added to suggest multifamily buildings should be ‘house-sized,’ consider the context of surrounding neighborhoods and respect more reasonable height limits,” reads the email. 

Another group, Livable Cville, has formed to advocate for increased density across the city. Its letter to the Planning Commission asks for the restoration of the second map so that more triplexes and quadplexes can be built across the city. 

“It appears the revised [map] you are considering this week will likely significantly limit Charlottesville’s ability to meet its goal of providing additional multifamily housing without furthering displacement,” reads the letter. “In some cases, the latest draft makes it harder to build new homes than the status quo.” 

Other changes in the map reflect rezoning applications that are making their way through the process. Piedmont Housing Alliance is seeking to build 145 units on a section of Park Street, north of the U.S. 250 bypass. That land is currently designated as low-intensity residential but the new map has increased that to “high-intensity residential.”

The latest draft also includes a proposed overlay for “sensitive communities” in areas with households believed to be prone to displacement. The city’s Housing Advisory Committee argues that the new plan should limit new high-density developments in communities like 10th and Page and Fifeville.

“Retaining existing homes and residents, and supporting homeownership and generational wealth-building, is important throughout the city, but there are sensitive areas that may require additional affordability requirements, incentives, or other tools to support these goals,” reads a portion of RHI’s presentation to the Planning Commission. 

The Planning Commission discussed the land use map at a meeting on Tuesday night that took place too late for this edition. Cville Plans Together will host a public steering committee meeting over Zoom on Wednesday, September 1. Watch this space for updates on the Comprehensive Plan process in the coming weeks.

Categories
News

Our backyards

The proposed Future Land Use Map shows were planners believe the city could benefit from zoning that allows increased density.

Lots of people want to live in Charlottesville. To help meet the demand for housing throughout the city, leaders have hired Arlington-based consulting firm Rhodeside & Harwell to rewrite Charlottesville’s Comprehensive Plan, a document that guides land-use policy in the city. As part of that process, the consultants are now taking public comment through June 13 on a colorful document known as the Future Land Use Map.   

The map “sets the stage for the city’s long-term vision of how it’s going to grow,” says Ron Sessoms of Rhodeside & Harwell. “You can think of this as the 10,000-foot view of the city, defining where there are opportunities for growth.” 

Some residents feel the process was rushed and that the proposed map would allow for too much new density. Others say the map doesn’t go far enough, and the proposed plans aren’t proactive enough.

“We’re really looking to increase the availability of housing in neighborhoods that have had what we’re calling more exclusionary zoning, that’s really limited to single-family uses,” says project manager Jennifer Koch. “At the same time, we do not want to increase pressure on neighborhoods that may be at risk for displacement, including lower-income neighborhoods and neighborhoods where people were displaced previously.”

It’s important to note that this land-use map is created to recommend policies for a subsequent zoning rewrite. This is not a final zoning map. Once the land-use map is adopted—currently expected to happen later this summer—the more granular zoning evaluation will begin. For now, the conversation is about the map, a purely advisory document.  

There are over 15,600 separate parcels of property, and each is represented on the map by a color. That color tells planners, builders, and the general public what level of development is desired in the state-mandated Comprehensive Plan. 

Right now, more than half of the city is rated  “low-density residential.” Under the draft map, many of those areas would remain low density, though the map recommends zoning changes to allow up to three units per lot on the large swathes of the city that are currently zoned R-1, allowing only single families. The name of this category would change to General Residential. 

The draft plan also creates a new category called Medium-Intensity Residential, that recommends zoning to allow multi-unit buildings with between four to 12 units. This would allow construction of row houses, townhouses, and other housing types known colloquially as “the missing middle.” 

Under the draft map, General Residential would make up 39.4 percent and Medium-Intensity Residential would be 14.4 percent. Many of the areas designated under the new category are along main thoroughfares such as Cherry Avenue, Rugby Road, and Grove Road. Other neighborhoods, like 10th and Page, remain essentially untouched by the new map.

Diana Dale, a resident of the Martha Jefferson neighborhood and member of a steering committee overseeing the Cville Plans Together Initiative, says her neighborhood association supports upzoning but isn’t sure why some neighborhoods were chosen for the possibility of increased density.

“The entire board is totally in agreement with the strategy of eliminating R-1 across the city and allowing for this soft density approach where you’re allowing for flexibility in in-fill,” Dale says. “When you look at this map, it’s clear that certain areas have been selected to carry the higher medium densities. When people look at this map, there isn’t any narrative about why these areas were selected.” 

Emily Dreyfus, an organizer with the Legal Aid Justice Center, says the map needs to be refined to further demonstrate the city’s commitment to adding density to wealthy  single-family neighborhoods.

“This does not go far enough in terms of integrating neighborhoods that have been historically exclusive,” Dreyfus says. “We all knew it would come down to this kind of debate—people who live in those neighborhoods not wanting to see change.” 

Though the current engagement period is only for the land-use map and draft text, a subcontractor called Code Studio has been hired to work on the subsequent zoning rewrite. One consultant says one single color on the draft Future Land Use Map will not result in one single type of zoning.

“There would be two, three, four implementing zoning districts that might all have appropriate strategies for different types of the community, but those can’t quite be figured out until we can understand where they are likely to be applied,” says Lee Einsweiler. 

Einsweiler says he is hopeful to have a first draft of a land-use map to work off in the near future, and that there will be other opportunities for feedback. The current schedule shows adoption of the plan by the end of the summer, followed by work on the zoning rewrite. The next City Council will vote on that plan, which is currently scheduled to be adopted in the summer of 2022.

Planning Commissioner Lyle Solla-Yates says the goal of the plan is to figure out how much the city can build in the future.

“The way I think that the Planning Commission is thinking about the Future Land Use Map, which may be different from anyone else, is that it’s the outer envelope of what is possible,” says Solla-Yates. “It isn’t destiny. It isn’t what the city is forcing. It’s just the maximum we are imagining.” 

Dale says she and many others would like a delay in the process, to make up for a year where the pandemic distracted people from local issues.

An online petition from Barracks/Rugby residents to “slow down the vote” has garnered 210 signatures, though it’s not clear from the petition exactly what vote the signers are concerned about. They say they are specifically worried about the inclusion of two mixed-use nodes in their neighborhood.

Koch says a delay is being considered, but notes that the next important date on the project’s timeline is a June 29 work session with the Planning Commission. If you’re interested in commenting, email engage@cvilleplanstogether.com.

Updated 5/26: On May 25, Rhodeside & Harwell extended the deadline for the public comment period from May 31 to June 13.

Categories
News

Red tape

The Breezy Hill development, shown above, would have seen 130 new units constructed off Route 250, but a necessary rezoning didn’t pass the County Board of Supervisors. Courtesy Albemarle County.

As the greater Charlottesville-Albemarle area continues to feel the effects of a housing shortage, a panel of developers argued last week that localities in the area can incentivize new construction through land use reform. 

“We intentionally, through our comprehensive plans and our zoning ordinances, limit the supply of land for new homes,” said Charlie Armstrong, vice president of land development at Southern Development, during a panel discussion held by the central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership, a program of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. 

Additionally, Armstrong noted that the land set aside for new construction has limits on how many people are allowed per plot: “We intentionally, as a community, limit the density of new homes that is allowed on any one piece of land.” 

That’s especially troubling given that a 2019 housing needs study commissioned by the RHP found that housing prices and rents have increased steadily over the years, while wages have not. Since 1980, Albemarle’s Comprehensive Plan has set aside roughly 5 percent of the county’s 726 square miles for residential development. However, much of that land also has to be rezoned for dense development. Since rezoning approvals are no sure thing, the zoning code adds to the cost of each unit. 

Fellow panelist Chris Henry of Stony Point Development Group pointed out several recent projects in Albemarle that would have seen denser housing constructed, but which have been stopped or stalled due to opposition from neighbors. That includes Southern Development’s 130-unit Breezy Hill project near Glenmore, which failed to get a necessary rezoning from the Board of Supervisors in January. 

“At some point we have to have some tough conversations as a community about how we want to solve that problem,” Henry said. “Where are we going to designate areas that we want to develop in a way that allows the price of housing to come down and more supply to come on line?” 

A housing plan under development in Albemarle County calls for reforming the zoning code to allow thousands more units on designated land in the form of triplexes, bungalow courts, and other structures that require more residential density. Albemarle County planners have also added language in the Crozet Master Plan to try to make it easier to build this so-called “missing middle” housing, though some members of the Crozet Community Advisory Council have panned the idea. 

“Southern Development would love to be able to produce those kinds of things, but there just aren’t places to produce them,” Armstrong said. “We need to put that missing middle into our zoning ordinances and remove the barriers that exist.” 

Henry said another external factor is that many people who end up purchasing homes are moving to the area for the first time, and can outbid those who are seeking to move up the property ladder in a place with limited supply.

“A retiree moving from northern Virginia, for example, has a lot larger budget for a home than a young professional trying to find a job in Charlottesville,” Henry said. “Some of those folks are pushed out to areas like Staunton, Waynesboro, Palmyra, Richmond.” 

Henry also said housing is more expensive to build now than when many existing neighborhoods were first developed. Back then, developers did not have to comply with regulations to reduce stormwater runoff or meet requirements to build sidewalks and other public infrastructure. 

“Municipalities used to be in the business of building roads,” Henry said. “A lot of that has been pushed off to the private sector for various reasons, a lot of them are reasonable. But it’s added to the cost of homes.” 

Another factor in the increasing cost of development is the increasing complexity required to get a bank to finance a project, especially if the proposal includes both commercial and residential elements, noted Andrew Clark, vice president of government affairs for the Home Builders Association of Virginia.

Clark works as a lobbyist to pass legislation in the General Assembly, and this past session focused on a bill to create a housing opportunity tax credit. Such a credit would help fill the financing gap, but opportunities for credits are limited. Various nonprofits and other entities compete for limited low-income housing tax credits provided by the Virginia Housing Development Authority. 

Clark said other solutions include making it easier for localities to create tax abatement programs and to waive fees for development. Albemarle County is considering doing the opposite, and increasing fees developers pay in order to cover the cost of processing land use applications. The Board of Supervisors will take that up at a public hearing on April 21. Armstrong also hopes that Governor Ralph Northam will sign a bill directing the state to study how accessory dwelling units might help increase the supply of homes. 

Armstrong said if people want change, they have to speak up at local meetings to support additional housing. 

“That’s not just at the comprehensive planning level or in the zoning ordinance level,” Armstrong said. “That has to go all the way down to the very small technical policies, standards, and specifications that cities and counties publish that everyone has to follow because that’s where the cost comes in.”