Tag: Planning & Development

C-VILLE Weekly’s planning and development coverage features regular stories on Charlottesville and Albemarle County real estate and local government actions.

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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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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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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. 

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The city’s first large student apartment complex on West Main turns 10 

Completion of The Flats at West Village 10 years ago marked a new era for the West Main Street corridor—one that included students and paved the way for more residential units in the area. Staff photo.

With the University of Virginia back in session next week, students are returning to Charlottesville—including the several hundred who live at 852 W. Main St. The first residents of the building known as The Flats at West Village moved in 10 years ago, beginning a trend of students moving into an area where they had not previously lived. 

Riverbend Development and an out-of-town group took the project through the approval process in December 2012, during which City Council voted 4-1 on a special use permit to allow the building to be eight stories high and to have up to 595 bedrooms. Councilor Dede Smith voted against the permit that night, arguing that the project would have negative impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. 

“Charlottesville was told that a large student complex on West Main would moderate rents across town, stimulate a vibrant mixed-use community, and reintegrate Westhaven and Fifeville into Main Street,” Smith says. “Unfortunately, few, if any, of these benefits have occurred.”

The current owner is an entity called Madison Loft LLC that purchased the property in November 2016 for $77.5 million. Previous structures on the property were automotive in nature, reflecting the role West Main Street played in the 20th century. 

Since people began living at the Flats, the city has collected $6.35 million in taxes, with a bill this year of $821,143.96. The property is now managed by Asset Living, one of the largest property maintenance firms in the United States. 

The Flats was followed by what’s now called The Lark on West Main and The Standard at Charlottesville, adding more students and millions more in tax revenue. 

Previous zoning on the property required the ground floors to be commercial, but that has not been a total success. The Flats opened with a restaurant called World of Beer that folded before the pandemic, and the space was vacant for many years until Mejicali recently opened. The convenience store next door has been the only permanent fixture, but another retail space on the ground floor has never had an occupant. 

The same is true across the street at the Standard, where two retail spaces sit vacant. The retail space at the Lark is currently occupied by Devil’s Backbone Backyard after two similar businesses failed at the location. 

Other buildings constructed to the east include the former Quirk Hotel (now The Doyle Hotel), the Marriott Residence Inn, and the apartment complex at 600 W. Main St. that preserved Blue Moon Diner. That project also has a retail space that has proved difficult to keep rented.

More buildings constructed on West Main will not need approval from the city council because the new zoning code allows taller heights without special permission. Residential density is unlimited, but the new rules require 10 percent of units to be affordable to households or individuals whose incomes are 60 percent below the area median income. 

Meanwhile, UVA is moving ahead with plans to build new residence halls for second-year students as part of an initiative to house more people on Grounds. This spring, the Office of Facilities Management asked firms to submit qualifications to build up to 2,000 new bedrooms either on Ivy Road or Emmet Street. The bid documents state that UVA would like those units to be in place by the fall of 2027.

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A dangerous Charlottesville intersection could become more crowded

The entrance to Willoughby Place would be 350' from the intersection of Fifth Street SW and Harris Road along a winding road. Image via Shimp Engineering.

If implemented as planners hope, Charlottesville’s new development rules will provide more places for people to live by making it easier for builders to navigate the process. Less certain is what will happen when more of those homes are constructed on a road network with known areas of concern. 

Perhaps one of the most dangerous intersections in Charlottesville is at Fifth Street SW and Harris Road, which has seen at least three fatalities since 2016 and many more just to the north on a stretch of roadway designed to be a highway. Thousands of vehicles pass through this junction every weekday. 

To the west is the city’s Fry’s Spring neighborhood and the Willoughby Shopping Center and to the east and up a hill is the Willoughby neighborhood, which has several dozen homes with city addresses until the roadway passes into Albemarle County. 

Moores Creek LLC, a company associated with Woodard Properties, has plans pending before the city to build a development called Willoughby Place with 84 two-bedroom apartments in two buildings on 4.8 acres. The driveway to this by-right development would be 350′ from the Harris Road intersection. That’s one reason the Willoughby Property Owners Association is opposed to the development. 

“Line of sight expressed by [Moores Creek LLC’s] plans from Harris Road to [the Willoughby Place] entrance is two-dimensional and doesn’t take into account the hill,” reads an August 7 letter from the association to the city requesting a denial of a preliminary site plan. 

The Willoughby Place plans also show a connection to a parcel in Albemarle County, but correspondence between the city and the firm Shimp Engineering indicates there are no efforts to develop that land at this time. There was an effort to do so in 2014 that did not meet with the favor of the county’s planning commission. 

The plans for 610 Harris Rd. were filed under the city’s previous rules, which means that none of the units have to be rented at below-market rates to satisfy affordability requirements, known in the new code as “inclusionary zoning.” Plans filed now require 10 percent of the units to be affordable. 

The northwest quadrant of the Fifth and Harris intersection is a 46-unit townhouse community built by Southern Development in the mid-2000s. The future of the southwest quadrant is wide open with a new owner.

On August 5, an entity based in Staunton called TAP Investments LLC purchased 1113 Fifth St. SW for $1.375 million, slightly above the 2024 assessment. The new zoning code is Commercial Mixed Use 8, which would allow for an eight-story building with unlimited residential density as well as many commercial possibilities. 

A bank operated on the 0.9-acre property for many years and in the fall of 2022, City Council denied a special use permit allowing for Green Clean Albemarle LLC to operate a car wash on the property. 

So far, there are no applications to develop the property.

No matter what gets built, the city is working to make the roadway safer with plans for a “road diet” between Harris Road and Cherry Avenue. 

“We’re expecting to bring those conceptual plans to the public for review this fall,” says Afton Schneider, the city’s director of communications and public engagement. 

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Chamber of Commerce to relocate after downtown building is sold 

The building at the corner of East Market Street and Fifth Street NW, which for more than 40 years has housed the Chamber of Commerce, is for sale. Photo via Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer.

For more than four decades, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce has operated at the corner of East Market Street and Fifth Street NW just down the hill from the former Monticello Hotel. 

Now that property is on the market as the chamber continues a search for a new place to advance its mission in a community where economic growth is happening across many geographic locations. 

“They are still in the building but will be planning to move after the sale to something that better accommodates their current staff and allows them to serve the community more flexibly,” says Jenny Stoner, a senior vice president with Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, the listing agent that was awarded an exclusive sales assignment. 

The chamber held an open house in July, and the open house invitation stated that putting the building on the market reflects a strategic direction as the second quarter of the century approaches. 

“This decision reflects a common practice amongst Chambers nationwide to reposition assets in response to the evolving needs of members and the broader business community,” reads the invitation. 

The organization doesn’t plan to go very far as it seeks new office space. 

“We haven’t selected a new location yet, but we plan to continue operating near downtown Charlottesville,” says Ann Marie Hohenberger, the chamber’s director of community engagement. “It is the geographic center of our service area.” 

Hohenberger says the chamber’s Board of Directors is still working on the development of a strategic vision for the future. 

The building at 415 E. Market St. was constructed in 1911 and offers 3,000 square feet on two floors. The Market Street Parking Garage is a block away. The footprint is 0.3 acres and the land is now zoned Downtown Mixed Use. Any demolitions or alterations would have to go through the Board of Architectural Review. 

The chamber itself dates back to 1913 and now has more than 675 members in business across the region. They bought the property in 1981 for $128,500, and the 2024 assessment is $885,400. The asking price is listed as negotiable. 

In recent years, the chamber has put a focus on the role the defense sector plays. They commissioned a study that in May 2023 estimated the industry has an annual economic impact of $1.2 billion. That same month, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors agreed to spend $58 million to purchase 462 acres around the Rivanna Station military base. 

In 2018, the chamber sought real estate expertise in finding a new headquarters in a place that could be seen as the “center of activities” in the region. Their request for proposals wanted double the space in a location with cheaper parking, but the initiative to move didn’t happen on the watch of Elizabeth Cromwell, who served as president from August 2018 to February 2023. 

The chamber is currently without a permanent president following the brief tenure of Natalie Masri, who served for seven months. Since January, former Board Chair Rebecca Ivins has been serving as interim president while a search is conducted. Chief Operating Officer Andrea Copeland served as interim president immediately after Cromwell’s departure and continues to run day-to-day operations. Realtor Sasha Tripp became the new chair of the Board. 

Hohenberger says the chamber is planning to launch a new search for a chief executive officer and a public announcement will be made when the time comes.