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Another mixed-use project hopes to build more homes, less space for business 

The area highlighted in purple is where the additional 300 units would be built in Albemarle County’s Brookhill development. Photo via Riverbend Development.

When Albemarle supervisors approved a rezoning of 277 acres north of Polo Grounds Road in November 2016, Riverbend Development got the green light to build up to 1,550 residential units and develop 130,000 square feet of commercial space.  

Eight years later, Riverbend has asked Albemarle for permission to build 300 more homes as part of a plan that will likely result in significantly less non-residential space. 

“This request is made in recognition of the ongoing housing crisis in our region and the need to construct more units at a variety of price points and especially more units that are affordable to households in the area,” reads a narrative filed earlier this month. 

This application follows another one made last year by Great Eastern Management Company to allow for an increase in the number of units there from 893 to 1,548. Public hearings for that change have not yet been scheduled. The developers of the Albemarle Business Campus on Fifth Street Extended are also seeking to trade out commercial space for more residential. 

All are responses to a housing policy Albemarle supervisors approved in July 2021 that calls for ways to “increase the supply of housing to meet the diverse housing needs of current and future Albemarle County residents.” 

The amendment to Brookhill’s previous rezoning requires a new traffic study, which describes the changes to the commercial space. According to that document, the new plan halves the proposed amount of retail to 50,000 square feet and office space is no longer proposed. 

So far, Riverbend has completed 595 of the 1,550 units allowed according to Abbey Stumpf, the county’s director of communications and public engagement. 

The new units will be built in what had been billed as a town center during the rezoning. At one point there was a proposal to build an ice rink but that project never materialized, despite an active fundraising effort. 

The binding “code of development” for the project requires a minimum of 50,000 square feet of non-residential to be constructed in the town center. The new study indicates a 20,000 square feet brewery tap room is planned. 

The study indicates the mix of residential units will be changing as well. The original rezoning anticipated 550 single family homes but the new study only anticipates 120. There would be 700 townhomes instead of 200 and 960 apartments instead of 600. The new study reflects that a congregate care facility has already been built.  

At some point, Riverbend will be required to hold a community meeting for the public to learn about the plan before it goes to the Planning Commission. That has not yet been scheduled. 

The amendments also come at a time when work has resumed on a Comprehensive Plan that is being updated to guide the county to accommodate projections from the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service that Albemarle will have over 155,000 people living there by 2050. 

Many residents of the Village of Rivanna growth area have protested the idea that residential density be more than one acre per unit, prompting some members of the Board of Supervisors to explore swapping out the land with other places in the county.

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Albemarle supes resume Comprehensive Plan review with discussion of growth area 

Many residents of the Village of Rivanna growth area have protested the idea that residential density be more than one acre per unit, prompting some members of the Board of Supervisors to explore swapping out the land with other places in the county. Supplied photo.

A delay in the completion of a new comprehensive plan for Albemarle County means adoption won’t happen until at least summer 2025, a time when half of the Board of Supervisors may be up for re-election. 

Among other things, the update, known as AC44, will reaffirm rules about what can be built in Albemarle and where. 

“Currently, the development areas are approximately 37 square miles, or 5 percent of county land, and the rural area is 95 percent of county land,” says Tonya Swartzendruber, a planning manager in Albemarle. 

Virginia code requires localities to update their comp plans every five years and Albemarle’s document was adopted in the summer of 2015. The county began what was to have been a two-year review in late 2021, but staff put the project on hold earlier this year to make the document easier to read. 

The Board of Supervisors has decided the current boundaries will remain in place for now, but staff inquired earlier this month as to whether the update should direct them to review conditions every two years to see if there’s enough land to support additional people expected to move here over the next 20 years. 

Supervisor Mike Pruitt of the Scottsville District, the youngest and newest member of the board, said he supports monitoring land use trends but is open to expanding the growth area. He was elected last year with no opposition. 

“At some point, if our growth patterns do not change, I think the whole board recognizes that the development area will have to change,” Pruitt said at the October 16 BOS meeting. He suggested the county identify a new place where dense development could occur rather than “nibbling at the edges.” 

Supervisor Ned Gallaway’s Rio District seat is one of the three up for election next year. He pointed out that the county’s growth area around Glenmore in eastern Albemarle is developing at about one unit per acre because of opposition from people who live in the area.

“If we’re not getting the density out of a Village of Rivanna, can we get that density back somewhere else that’s reasonable without necessarily changing the 5 percent?” Gallaway asked. 

First elected in 2017, Gallaway has never faced an opponent on the ballot. 

Diantha McKeel’s third term as supervisor for the Jack Jouett District expires at the end of 2025. She supports Gallaway’s idea. 

“If we can look at somehow … trading land without expanding but looking at where there are possibilities to do some trade where it’s actually going to happen,” McKeel said. 

The final seat up for election is that of Jim Andrews, who was unopposed in his 2021 race for the Samuel Miller District. He cautioned anyone against thinking expansion is inevitable. 

“It may be that a shift of development areas may be the more appropriate way in which we handle this initially,” Andrews said. 

Supervisors Ann Mallek and Bea LaPisto-Kirtley were both re-elected in 2023 and both faced opposition. LaPisto-Kirtley said she doesn’t think the boundaries need to be adjusted for decades.

“I think we need to make use of what we have,” she told her colleagues. 

Mallek said she was willing to have as many meetings as possible to complete the Comprehensive Plan. 

“We’re going to have to keep stirring the pot until we get it just right,” Mallek said. 

The county’s growth advisory committees will get the new information on AC44 at a joint meeting on October 30 in Lane Auditorium.

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Five-unit Venable apartment building to be replaced with nine-dwelling structure 

The proposed apartment building at 1609 Gordon Ave. will include nine units. Image via Design Develop.

The future of land use in Charlottesville will be determined parcel by parcel as property owners make decisions about whether they will build units that are required to be sold or rented at levels below the market value. 

The relatively new owners of 1609 Gordon Ave., an LLC who bought the property in December 2021 for $600,000, have decided not to pursue affordability when replacing a two-story 1963 apartment building with a three-story structure with nine units. 

That is one unit less than would trigger the city’s mandate that 10 percent of units in non-residential neighborhoods comply with affordability requirements. This is known as inclusionary zoning. 

“Rents for affordable homes are set relative to the Area Median Income (AMI), the household income for the median household in a region,” reads a portion of the Affordable Housing Plan adopted by Charlottesville City Council in March 2021. 

The maximum monthly rents are established in the city’s affordable dwelling unit manual and must be reserved for households with incomes below 60 percent of AMI. At that level, the current monthly caps are $1,416 for a two-bedroom, $1,582 for a three-bedroom, and $1,732 for a four-bedroom. Developers must submit a form showing how they will comply with the rules, but the Gordon Avenue project is exempt and does not have to provide any information about projected rents. 

Located in the Venable neighborhood, 1609 Gordon Ave. has the RX-5 designation that allows for as much density as can fit within a seven-story structure, as long as 10 percent of units are affordable or the developer contributes to a city fund. The new rules increased these amounts substantially to $368,303 for a two-bedroom unit and $547,339 for a three-bedroom unit. 

The new zoning eliminates the role City Council plays in such developments, but the Board of Architectural Review still has to sign off on the design. It had an initial review on Tuesday, October 15, a discussion that had nothing to do with affordability but everything to do with how the new structure will fit in with the surrounding architectural design control district.  

That district has been changing with certificates of appropriateness, having recently been approved for a new four-story apartment building at 1532 Virginia Ave., a three-story sorority house at 503 Rugby Rd., and a three-story apartment building at 605 Preston Ave.

But one remaining question is whether anyone will take advantage of the higher densities allowed and submit to the inclusionary zoning. Charlottesville’s Housing Advisory Committee will discuss potential proposals on Wednesday, October 16. These include measures to provide tax rebates to subsidize the cost to the developer. 

Meanwhile, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority continues to proceed with a plan to purchase more units across the city and use federal housing vouchers to subsidize their cost. In September, the CRHA Board agreed to spend $2.8 million to purchase three more properties, comprising more than a dozen units, around the city. 

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Albemarle County biotech company to add 200 jobs at expanded facility

The conceptual rendering above is of Afton Scientific’s expanded manufacturing operations in Albemarle County. Founded in 1991, the company makes technology that can safely create small batches of pharmaceuticals for clinical trials. Image via Scott Collins, Collins Engineering.

Albemarle County’s campaign to grow the biotechnology industry showed a major sign of progress earlier this month when one company announced plans to invest $200 million into an expansion project.  

“We want to expand our manufacturing to make sterile medicines, put in clean rooms, and create really, really great jobs,” said Afton Scientific’s Tom Thorpe during an announcement at the county’s headquarters off Avon Street Extended.

Thorpe founded Afton Scientific in 1991 to make technology that can safely create small batches of pharmaceuticals for clinical trials. In late August, Afton Scientific paid $4.25 million to a subsidiary of Coran Capshaw’s Riverbend Development for the 6.78 acres in the same industrial park for the expansion. The property is just to the south of the Charlottesville border and overlooks Moores Creek. 

According to the trade organization Cville­BioHub, there are at least 75 companies in the area related to the biotech industry, with more than 1,950 employees. Afton Scientific is pledging to add 200 more jobs and will use resources from the Virginia Partnership for Economic Development to find skilled workers.

Albemarle first identified the biotechnology field as one of its targeted sectors in a 2012 study that also prioritized defense, information technology, and financial services. 

“Afton Scientific started in our community 30 years ago and we couldn’t be more proud of this business, of this industry being in our community today,” said County Executive Jeff Richardson. 

One of Afton Scientific’s neighbors is Lighthouse Instruments, another industry representative. Its website describes the company as “the leading global provider of optical-based, non-destructive headspace analysis systems and analytical services.” That means they’re also involved in the pursuit of making medicines safer. 

Virginia’s secretary of commerce and trade was on hand for the announcement and said the Charlottesville area is becoming known as a hub for the industry.

“In Charlottesville, just in the last year, we had more than $400 million of federal research grants,” said Caren Merrick. “We’ve also had more than 90 million in equity investments in our startups.”

But are there enough people in the area who can provide the labor? To answer that question and prepare for the future, CvilleBioHub is seeking state funding for a study of what workforce programs are needed. In addition to private sector jobs, there will be a need for people who can work in the many laboratories that will serve the Manning Institute of Biotechnology that’s currently under construction at the University of Virginia’s Fontaine Research Park. 

“What do we need to be preparing our workforce for now so that we can serve the growth that’s anticipated as a result of the things that are happening?” said Nikki Hastings, CEO of CvilleBioHub at a recent meeting of the Albemarle Economic Development Authority.

The EDA helped negotiate some of the details of the Afton Scientific expansion, including access to the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund. The secret deal went by the code name Project Olympian. 

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A hotel seems more likely at Artful Lodger shopping center

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.

A New York-based developer who had planned to build a nine-story apartment tower on the site of a downtown Charlottesville shopping center has sold the property for $5.75 million. 

Jeffrey Levien’s company Heirloom Development bought 218 W. Market St. in June 2020 for $4 million, but sold the property in mid-September to Cavalier Hospitality LLC. That entity is based out of Glen Allen, Virginia, and has not yet filed new plans for the property. 

However, Levien says he will still be involved in the development of a hotel as a partner. 

“I just couldn’t make the economics work for residential under the new zoning code,” Levien says. 

Under the inclusionary zoning rules in the city’s new Development Code, one of every 10 units in any new development in non-residential areas must be guaranteed to be rented or sold to households below specific incomes. No such requirement would be necessary for a hotel, something that is an allowed use under the zoning that went into effect this past February. 

Levien pursued the residential project at 218 W. Market under the older rules, which required a special use permit for additional height and density. City Council approved a permit in September 2020 despite concerns from former mayor Nikuyah Walker that the project did not address the need for affordable housing. 

In August 2023, council agreed to a permit amendment to allow for a modification of the building’s massing. As part of that approval, Levien agreed to build a minimum of eight affordable units on-site or off-site with two units to be reserved for households making less than 50 percent of the area median income. That was above the minimum requirement but not enough to satisfy the concerns of City Councilor Michael Payne. 

This spring, Levien brought a preliminary design to the Board of Architectural Review for a hotel with a design from Richmond-based NBJ Architecture. That body looked favorably on the concept, but it did not receive an official submission. No plans have been filed since. 

So far there have only been a handful of new projects filed under the new zoning, which is intended to make it easier to build more housing units across the city and to eliminate the role of City Council in making decisions about what gets built. 

One of these new projects, at 1609 Gordon Ave., would see an existing house razed to build a new structure with nine units. A 10th unit would need to be affordable.

Another new development at 2030 Barracks Rd. would see 12 affordable units built alongside 12 market-rate units. 

Levien’s first development in Charlottesville was a luxury 56-unit apartment building that also redeveloped the buildings that contain Blue Moon Diner and a former convenience store. That project broke ground in 2018, nearly two years after council granted approval. 

Another project that has not yet moved forward is the replacement of the University Tire building next door, at 612 W. Main, with another apartment building. Levien says he still plans to proceed with that project, which was approved by council on a 4-1 vote in October 2019. A final site plan has been approved but no building permit has been authorized. 

If it proceeds, the new hotel would replace a shopping center that includes The Artful Lodger, The Livery Stable, and several other businesses. The BAR has approved a permit for demolition pending the issuance of a building permit.

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Major real estate transactions taking place this month in Fifeville

Neighborhood Investments purchased this half acre lot in Fifeville for $2.24 million, the latest high-profile purchase in the Cherry Avenue area. Photo by Sean Tubbs.

As planning and negotiations continue over a grocery story at 501 Cherry Ave., major transactions continue to take place in the Fifeville neighborhood. 

On September 9, the firm Neighborhood Investments paid $2.24 million for an undeveloped property between Roosevelt Brown Boulevard and Ninth Street SW. There have been several development projects associated with the land, owned by the Piedmont Housing Alliance, on two occasions. 

The Piedmont Housing Alliance sold the 0.56-acre property in March 2016 for $1.19 million. The previous owner filed a site plan amendment in 2020 for 24 residential units and about 11,000 square feet of commercial space, which was never approved. Since then, Charlottesville City Council has adopted a small area plan for Cherry Avenue that discouraged tall buildings in order to preserve the character of surrounding neighborhoods. 

As a result, the city’s new zoning code classified the undeveloped Ninth Street lot as Commercial Mixed Use 3, which sets a base height limit of three stories but an additional two stories are allowed if the project has affordable units that qualify it for bonus space. That is different from other corridors in Charlottesville, such as Barracks Road and Fifth Street Extended, which allow up to 10 stories to encourage shopping centers to redevelop at maximum density. 

Richard Spurzem of Neighborhood Properties said in an email he was not sure if he would proceed with the existing site plan or start fresh. 

This past March, Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville bought a former auto repair business at 316 Ninth St. SW for $700,000. The nonprofit owns two nearby lots and has not yet decided how it will use its new property. 

The city’s public housing agency is planning to purchase two properties several blocks away on Fifth Street SW to preserve them for affordable housing. There are multiple buildings at both locations, and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority wants to buy them for $2.2 million.

“The acquisition of this portfolio will allow CRHA to preserve the naturally occurring affordable housing units while giving CRHA the ability to redevelop the property to provide additional housing units soon,” reads a resolution adopted by the CRHA Board of Commissioners on September 23. 

The acquisition continues a trend of CRHA purchasing property, including several Fifeville properties that were part of a $10 million purchase from Woodard Properties in August 2023, to expand its portfolio.

Meanwhile, single-family homes still sell at a premium in Fifeville. On September 4, 2024, a two-bedroom house at 223 Fourth St. SW sold for $585,000, well above the 2024 assessment of $376,000. There’s also an accessory dwelling on the property. 

On September 18, a single-family attached home in the Orangedale subdivision at 705 Prospect Ave. sold for $296,500. That’s over 39 percent above the 2024 assessment of $212,900.

No matter the development, the leadership of the Fifeville Neighborhood Association want all projects to align with the values enshrined in the Cherry Avenue Small Area Plan. 

“We encourage developers to come talk with residents directly at our monthly meetings so that we can work together on upcoming projects and make sure residents are informed,” read a statement sent in response to a question from C-VILLE.

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Albemarle County to seek federal funding to jump-start initiatives

Albemarle County has made at least $4.5 million in investments to help hundreds of units in Southwood remain affordable to households with income below 60 percent of the area median. Image: Atlantic Builders.

The recent purchase of the Cavalier Crossings apartment complex on Fifth Street Extended by an Alexandria-based investment company prompted one member of the Albemarle Planning Commission to tell his colleagues the county should be investing in “social” housing. 

“If we can think about how we can put county resources toward public goods, which to me includes UVA Health wage workers being able to afford to live here, then that’s progress,” said Nathan Moore, representative of the county’s Rio District, at the August 27 commission meeting.

In 2021, both Albemarle and Charlottesville adopted new housing strategies to increase the number of affordable units. While the city’s plan for affordability calls for spending $10 million a year on construction or maintenance of housing, the Housing Albemarle plan does not set a specific target. Still, county supervisors have authorized several investments. 

“Since 2020, the county has invested $17.7 million into projects which have served around 3,000 households in one form or another,” says Stacy Pethia, Albemarle’s assistant director of housing. 

Last week, Pethia told a citizen advisory panel that while the county prioritizes housing funds for those on the lower end of the income spectrum, there’s a need for housing for all levels in a community where the federally defined annual median income is $124,000.

“There’s a range of people that qualify for affordable housing and most of those people are the ones [whom] we rely on every day,” Pethia says. 

In fiscal year 2024, Albemarle contributed $3 million toward the construction of Southwood Apartments by Piedmont Housing Alliance, $1.5 million to Habitat for Humanity for their Cardinal Hill apartments at Southwood, and $700,000 to the Premier Circle project underway by Virginia Supportive Housing. Another $311,655 went to the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program to help rehabilitate existing homes. 

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors agreed to contribute another $2 million to the housing investment fund in the current fiscal year. A decision about where that money should go will be made in the future. 

On Wednesday, September 18, the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the county’s intention to apply for $6.5 million in federal funds, including $5 million to establish a revolving fund for loans to developers who build affordable housing units. The supervisors will also ask for $1 million for a fund to entice property owners to rent out units to people with housing vouchers to overcome any stigma that a tenant receiving assistance might face. 

Albemarle administers 345 federal housing vouchers. 

“It can be difficult sometimes for families to find a landlord that will accept their voucher,” Pethia says. 

Albemarle is also seeking $435,000 in funds for construction of a future multifamily development, but it is currently unclear where that project might be. 

As for Cavalier Crossings, The Bonaventure Multifamily Trust paid $20.5 million for the 144-unit complex and plans to renovate units to charge higher rents at market rate. Some leases have not been renewed as work gets underway. 

The purchase did not require any legal notice, as none of the units were built with public money and no public funds are being requested by the new owner.

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UVA Board of Visitors to meet this week over two private development projects

The 12-story Verve is one of two large student apartment buildings planned for construction within close proximity to the University of Virginia. Photo via ESG Architecture and Design.

The governing body of the area’s largest landowner will meet this week with five new members, at least one of whom has significant experience in real estate. Governor Glenn Youngkin’s latest appointees to the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors begin their terms at a time when two private, recently approved student developments are moving toward construction and while UVA seeks to provide more housing for students.  

“UVA has committed to expanding its current first-year residency requirement to require all first- and second-year students to live on-Grounds while enrolled at UVA to better support students in their transition to University life, and as residents of the broader Charlottesville community,” reads a May 2024 solicitation for firms to partner to build the housing. 

At the same time, two large private developments near UVA continue to make their way through the finer details of the city’s permitting process. 

On Tuesday, the Charlottesville Planning Commission formally approved a site plan for the Verve, a 12-story student apartment building to be constructed in the heart of central Grounds. Several dozen apartments at the intersection of Jefferson Park Avenue and Emmet Street will soon be demolished to make way for the new building, which will have 442 units, according to the site plan.

City Council approved a rezoning in January for the Verve despite opposition from UVA officials, who argued the tall building would diminish UVA’s architectural character. The plans were submitted in time to qualify under the city’s old zoning rules, which required significantly fewer units to be designated as affordable. In this case, the developer will contribute $6.8 million to the city’s affordable housing fund rather than build units that are price-controlled. 

Earlier this month, the Charlottesville City Council granted approval of another technical step for a 10-story student apartment building at 2117 Ivy Rd. that was approved under the old rules. That project comes with a $3.25 million contribution to the city’s affordable housing fund and required council action to waive a requirement to build sidewalks on all road fronts.

“The waiver request is only for the easternmost portion of the property’s frontage on Copeley Road,” said Dannan O’Connell, a city planner. He added that they will build sidewalks on Ivy Road and a portion of Copeley Road. 

Meanwhile, UVA is planning to build up to 2,000 bedrooms for undergraduate students at both the former University Gardens as well as on Ivy Road. The Afghan Kabob restaurant will be demolished to make way for what UVA calls the Emmet North site. 

Because UVA owns those parcels of land, the city will not collect property tax revenue but they will for both the Verve and 2117 Ivy Rd. UVA officials want the first units to come online for the fall of 2027. 

One of the new members of the Board of Visitors is David F. Webb of Virginia Beach, whose day job is vice chair of development firm CBRE’s Capital Markets Group. Webb is now a member of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, which will meet on Thursday. One item on their agenda is a discussion of student housing. 

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Closing arguments filed in challenge to city’s new zoning code

The developer of 303 Alderman Rd. will be among the first to take advantage of the new zoning, if and when this single family house is demolished to make way for six townhomes. Photo by Sean Tubbs.

The waiting game continues for a lawsuit filed earlier this year that seeks to nullify Charlottesville’s new zoning code. 

A group of residents filed suit against Charlottesville in January alleging that city officials failed to follow state guidelines to study the impacts higher residential density allowed in the Development Code would have on transportation infrastructure. The land-use rules were rewritten shortly after City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan on November 21 that called for more housing across the entire city. 

“A comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance must be submitted to [the Virginia Department of Transportation] for review when [they] will ‘substantially affect’ transportation on state-controlled highways,” wrote attorneys with the firm Flora Pettit in a filing with Charlottesville Circuit Court in late August. 

This spring, Charlottesville responded with a motion seeking to dismiss the case arguing that the plaintiffs do not have the right to sue, and added they cannot prove they will be harmed by the new rules. 

After a 90-minute hearing in late June, both sides filed written closing statements to inform Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell’s eventual opinion. Lawyers with the firm Gentry Locke argue the suit should not proceed to trial.

“Plaintiffs do not like the policy choices in the new zoning ordinance,” the Gentry Locke attorneys wrote in their recent filing. “The City followed the process in enacting the NZO. The Plaintiffs, therefore, rely on strained legal theories and ignore facts in their effort.” 

Attorneys for the city also argue that Charlottesville followed the rules when submitting the mobility chapter of the Comprehensive Plan to VDOT, a key claim made by the defendants. 

“Plaintiffs cannot now—more than two years after the fact—fault the City for failing to double-check VDOT’s work product,” the closing argument continues. 

Flora Pettit attorney Michael Derdeyn represents those plaintiffs, as well an anonymous group that previously sought to overturn the Comprehensive Plan based on many of the same arguments. He argues that VDOT review should have been based on the theoretical maximum of new housing units that could be built under the new code. 

“There can be no question that the City failed to comply with its obligation,” Derdeyn wrote.

That will be up to Judge Worrell to decide, and a ruling will be issued at some point in the near future. 

Meanwhile, developers have slowly begun taking advantage of the provisions in the new code that allow more density without asking City Council for permission. That includes six units planned to be built at 303 Alderman Rd., a property that had been zoned for single-family residential but is now in the Residential B district. 

Another plan, submitted for land behind the Meadowbrook Shopping Center, will be the first to take advantage of bonus rules if units meet the city’s affordability guidelines. 

A firm called Greenshire Holdings has filed a major development plan to build 24 units on what is now an 0.83-acre lot at 2030 Barracks Rd. The materials sent to the city include a request to subdivide the property into two lots with 12 units to be built on each. 

No traffic management plan would be required because the total amount of construction is under the 50,000 square-foot threshold that would trigger one. 

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Project Julius to help Home Depot’s redevelopment of Fashion Square Mall

Albemarle County entered into a public-private partnership with Home Depot in 2022. The home improvement hub plans to turn the former Sears at Fashion Square Mall into a new store and garden center. Image via MG2.

Shortly after the signalized intersection at Rio Road and U.S. 29 was converted to an underpass in July 2016, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors adopted a small area plan to encourage redevelopment of the immediate area to be more dense to meet the needs of the 21st century. 

“The plan identifies the Rio Road/29 intersection as the heart of urban Albemarle County and it designated the four quadrants as critical for the commercial corridor’s future,” says Emily Kilroy, Albemarle’s interim economic development director. “It envisions a dense, walkable, bikeable transit-connected environment.” 

Nearly six years later, the county entered into a public-private partnership with Home Depot to redevelop the former Sears at Fashion Square Mall into a new store and garden center. The Atlanta-based retailer purchased the site, as well as dozens of individual retail spaces inside the mall, in September 2022. 

County officials have approved plans for the new store, but Home Depot’s development costs have increased. 

“It was primarily associated with the demolition of the former Sears and the Sears Auto Center, which had a requirement for asbestos abatement as well as brownfield remediation,” said J.T. Newberry, deputy director of the Albemarle Office of Economic Development. 

Newberry told the board of supervisors on August 21 that the higher costs may have been a barrier to Home Depot proceeding. The county and its Economic Development Authority negotiated terms for a tax increment financing agreement under the codename Project Julius to grant up to $750,000 in real property tax rebates over 10 years. 

In exchange, Home Depot has to be open by December 24, 2025. The company will also dedicate land for a future realignment of Hillsdale Drive, called for in the Rio Road plan.  

“They will help actively market the former Red Lobster site, which is currently vacant,” Newberry said. 

In addition to more property taxes to be generated from the site, Newberry said Albemarle expects the new store to produce between $400,000 and $500,000 a year in local sales taxes. He said the store is expected to create 100 jobs.     

Kilroy says Fashion Square Mall is ripe for a public-private partnership to try to implement that vision. She presented the Board of Supervisors with a slide depicting the decline in value from around $70 million in 2014 to just below $20 million this year. 

“Redevelopment of this parcel will correct what has been a stark decline in property value for this area,” Kilroy says, adding that the county’s investment will support the first major private reinvestment since the Rio Road plan was adopted. 

Belk Stores of Virginia continues to own its store, and developer Richard Hewitt owns the former JCPenney. Albemarle County now rents a portion of that property for a public safety fleet operations center. 

Other investments in the area have not had a public component. Earlier this year, the Carter Machinery Company purchased a 4.67-acre property to the east of the Northside Library for $3.53 million. It has since opened a rental store for construction and lawn equipment, eliminating parking spaces that had been rented for library patrons.