Tag: Real Estate Weekly

With a new zoning code on the horizon, Charlottesville’s built environment is poised to continue its transformation into a slightly larger urban community. There are many corners that could change in the near future due to the possibility of new ownership, as well as public investment.  

Consider the intersection of Ridge and West Main streets, where two high-profile buildings are up for sale and where the Virginia Department of Transportation has funded future infrastructure improvements that could make it safer to walk or bicycle. 

For many years, the former Mount Zion Baptist Church at 105 Ridge Rd. has been home to the Music Resource Center. The building is on the market with an asking price of $1.875 million. A flier put together by sales agent Cushman & Wakefield / Thalhimer describes it as a “charming and beautiful historic” building that’s “prime for restaurant, event space, or office space” and “highly accessible and visible.” 

The cost to renovate the late 19th-century structure could be partially covered by the use of historic tax credits. 

The president of Preservation Piedmont says she could envision many potential adaptive reuses of the structure, and pointed out that the former church is an important part of the cultural heritage of the Black community.

“Those adaptive uses could  complement continued regeneration of Ridge/West Main,” says Genevieve Keller. “It is an important visual point of identity that warrants a use that continues to honor and respect its historic role in local history and generations of local African American families.”

Potential buyers might also want to take a look at what’s slated nearby.  

In January, a national firm called Twenty Lakes Management LLC purchased the former Greyhound station on West Main St. for $2.42 million. The property is now on the market again with the price listed as negotiable. 

Around 22,000 vehicles a day travel past this corner, according to city traffic engineer Brennen Duncan. 

To the south, city transportation officials are combining two separate projects to make both Ridge Street and the Fifth Street corridor safer for cyclists and pedestrians. 

The now-canceled West Main Streetscape included plans to alter the intersection at Ridge Street. There are also no plans to remove the plinth where the Lewis & Clark statue stood until two years ago. 

There are no major placemaking initiatives for that corner. The property is on the southern edge of the Starr Hill Vision Plan, an initiative of the New Hill Development Corporation. However, that project suggests more focus on City Yard, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, and the residential neighborhoods tucked off of West Main Street. 

Potential buyers should also note that the future zoning code will be different from what was revealed in February. The initial map designated this property as something called CX-8, which would have allowed buildings between eight and 10 stories. But the new zoning map that comes out this week will reportedly reduce that to CX-5, which allows between five and seven stories. 

There’s likely to be one new building nearby—City Council will consider a request from the Salvation Army for a special use permit to expand its building at 205 Ridge St. The Planning Commission recommended approval last month. 

It has been more than three years since the University of Virginia launched an initiative to help build between a thousand and 1,500 affordable housing units. Three sites have been selected, and the next step is to announce the nonprofit developers that will design and build new homes for households below certain income levels. 

“We are really close but we’re not quite at the finish line yet,” says Colette Sheehy, UVA’s senior vice president for operations and state government relations. 

The project is an outcome of President Jim Ryan’s Council on UVA-Community Partnerships, and will first see development on two sites owned by either UVA or its real estate foundation. These are at 10th and Wertland streets in the heart of Charlottesville, and the Piedmont housing site on Fontaine Avenue.

The North Fork Discovery Park has been identified as the third site, but planning there will not begin until after the UVA Foundation goes through the rezoning process in Albemarle County. That request is on hold. 

The Piedmont Housing Alliance has been invited to submit proposals to develop each site. The nonprofits Community Housing Partners and Enterprise Community Partners are also in the running for Piedmont, and AHC Inc. and Preservation of Affordable Housing are hopeful to be the developers of Wertland and 10th. 

UVA will only contribute land to the project, leaving financing to the selected developer. 

“The partnership terms and the agreements will hold the developer accountable for creating high-quality developments that will be affordable and well maintained,” reads the initiative’s website. 

Meanwhile, the university is also hoping to build more residences for second-year students, and has set aside $7 million for planning and design. 

Where will the new student housing go? Exact locations haven’t been determined, but the draft of UVA’s next master plan designates six “residential mixed-use redevelopment zones,” including Ivy Gardens, Midmont, and south of Scott Stadium. 

Another of these zones is south of the Buckingham Branch railroad that divides Charlottesville. UVA paid $8.73 million in August 2016 for 2.63 acres of land at the intersection of Grove Street and Roosevelt Brown Boulevard. 

A matrix in the draft Grounds Framework Plan states that housing is the primary use at that location. Anything built there would not be subject to Charlottesville’s zoning code.  

Stacey Hall on West Main is adjacent to the 10th and Wertland site, but is not included in the affordable housing initiative. The draft framework plan designates this as an Academic Mixed-Use Redevelopment zone, with housing listed as a potential primary use.  

Both Albemarle and Charlottesville have pledged to be fossil fuel free by 2050. But how will the county balance a need to allow for more electricity through solar fields with a long tradition of preserving rural land? 

“A good rule of thumb is … generally seven to 10 acres per megawatt, in terms of a site development standard,” says Michael Zehner of the Berkley Group, a firm hired by Albemarle County to develop standards to regulate future solar projects. 

In April, county supervisors approved the 138-megawatt Woodridge Solar project in southern Albemarle, which came with buffers and other conditions to limit the impact on the land. The panels will be installed on about 650 acres.  

The prospect of new applications for utility-scale solar fields prompted supervisors to want more precise rules in place. Legislation that passed the Virginia General Assembly in 2020 mandates that Dominion Energy and American Electric Power produce all of their power from renewable sources by the middle of the century. Zehner says that will require 16,100 megawatts to come from either solar or off-shore wind. 

“National interests and state policies manifest themselves locally,” he says. 

Zehner says solar sites don’t compete with residential development, but they do come with the intense impacts of an industrial use. They can reduce the ability for wildlife to move around, can change the topography, affect soil conditions, and remove forests. 

Solar projects also have a finite lifespan, and “there is the presence of toxic materials in panels,” Zehner says. “We do suggest that there be management of damaged panels and the end of life of materials, and that there be practices for storage of damaged panels and removal of damaged panels.” 

Localities typically receive higher real property taxes on land under solar panels, and there is also the option of revenue-sharing through something called a “siting agreement.” Zehner says some localities are also setting maximum total coverage for their entire geographic jurisdiction. 

“Ultimately, it is really the energy that’s coming off of these that matters, and we need to sort of focus on what we’re trying to get,” says Albemarle Supervisor Jim Andrews. 

Supervisor Donna Price says she needs to better know where existing high-power transmission lines are in the county to understand where siting of utility-scale solar projects might work best. Price says she supported the Woodridge Solar project for a few reasons: the buffers involved, the preservation of undeveloped land, and because it would generate enough electricity to power half of the county’s homes. She added that she would support at least one more site as large as Woodridge Solar, but not many more. 

“I’m much more interested in putting solar on tops of buildings and things like that to avoid the deterioration of our rural area,” Price says. 

Nancy Koenig of Scottsville has recently learned of a commercial solar project that may soon be built on 500 acres next to her sheep farm. “These 500 acres are currently under agricultural use for rye and corn,” she says. “Solar farming is an inefficient use of prime farmland. We don’t want to degrade [the production of] our own food in our own country.”  

A divisive battle continues over Charlottesville’s next set of rules for where buildings can go, and how many housing units are allowed within them.  

City Council and the Planning Commission are expected to hold public hearings later this year to conclude a public process to increase both the number of homes and the number of affordable units allowed. A stated point is to make amends for the use of zoning as a tool to reinforce racial segregation. 

A key feature is that owners of lots zoned for single-family residential would be allowed—but not required—to build more than one unit. 

Before then, public conversations on social media and the internet continue to rage. 

“The proposed Charlottesville zoning is too extreme and would be destructive to our beautiful city without the promised additional affordable housing so many residents need,” wrote city resident Martha Smythe. 

An online petition, filed by an anonymous resident, has over 1,250 signatures, and was delivered to City Council. 

“Slow down and dial back the Planning Commission’s current zoning proposal so that it reduces the likelihood of doing serious and irreversible harm to the City, increases the likelihood of achieving positive outcomes, and delivers the far more moderate plan that citizens want,” reads the petition. 

However, the petition contains information that is factually incorrect, such as overstating the number of units that would be allowed under the new zoning. It also does not reflect some of the changes that are expected to be made following a series of work sessions this spring. 

The petition prompted the group Livable Cville to write a response: “As detailed in the Fact-Checking section below, six of the seven claims are misleading and contain at least some degree of falsehood,” reads a statement on its website. “The spread of disinformation and misinformation by anonymous interests hinders progress and sows distrust.”  

Livable Cville’s statement was unsigned at press time. The “about” section in its website does not list whether it has a board of directors or a staff, though the names of some volunteers were posted in response to this reporter’s questions. 

According to co-chair Matthew Gillkin, the group is informal, and is registered with the State Corporation Commission. 

“We advocate for politics to build an inclusive community in the Charlottesville area with affordable housing, sustainable transportation, and healthy neighborhoods that are welcome to all,” reads the about section of Livable Cville’s website. 

In the meantime, city staff are working with consultants to complete a final draft of the zoning ordinance.

“At the end of July, you can anticipate a consolidated draft document with a complete set of comments that we’ve received on everything to date,” said James Freas, the city’s director of neighborhood development services. 

There will be a couple of work sessions in July related to changes to the maps, as well as final tweaks on what can be built in the new Residential-A and Residential-B zones that replace the R-1 zoning that currently makes up half the city. 

The current draft would allow three market-rate units to be built on R-A lots, and six market-rate units to be built on R-B lots. The draft allows provisions for those to double if all the units are affordable, but that will likely change in the new draft.  

Meanwhile, properties continue to sell in the city under the current zoning. In late April, an entity called JLM Homes bought a duplex on Bailey Road that had belonged to Charles L. Barbour, Charlottesville’s first Black mayor. The company paid $152,000, which is about 14 percent below the 2023 assessment. 

At the recent Rivanna River Fest held on privately owned open space that meanders with the waterway, several organizations staffed booths to promote their activities to passersby.  

However, two affiliated groups seeking to prevent the development of a 245-unit apartment complex on that property had their own table set up just outside the boundary line. 

“We’re standing down the footpath that we as a neighborhood really like to use off of Caroline Avenue that leads down to the Rivanna River path,” said Rebecca Reilly, president of the recently formed Circus Grounds Preservation Corporation and the less formal No Floodplain Buildings. 

The project known as 0 East High Street will require placement of 15 feet of fill dirt to elevate the building foundations project out of the floodplain. Until recently, much of the property had been designated as “floodway,” which would have prevented any development, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently agreed to a revision of the map. 

Reilly and others are hoping City Council will find a way to purchase the land.

“This is happening on a piece of land that people really enjoy using,” Reilly says. “The Rivanna River Company is on this same piece of property, and the community really loves the events that they put on and the access to the river, and if this proposal goes through, it is likely that would all be heavily impacted.” 

Reilly says her group is concerned that changing the contours of the floodplain will cause flooding downstream. She points out that the new draft zoning map would dramatically reduce the number of units that could be built on the land. 

“It appears there is an attempt at shoving in as much development in this piece of land as possible before the zoning is enacted,” Reilly says. 

City staff have issued a preliminary denial three times, but under state law must approve a site plan if it meets all of the technical details. Reilly is pushing for the plan to be reviewed by the Planning Commission. In particular, she wants them to review whether public roads in this location are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. 

“Our Comprehensive Plan is very clear that we’re trying to protect our riverfront,” Reilly says. 

The property is owned by an entity associated with developer Wendell Wood, but under contract for Seven Development to purchase it. The main 20-acre parcel has an assessed value of $732,100. In February, City Council agreed to get an appraisal of the land to find out what the market rate would be. 

“We are hopeful that the city would be interested in purchasing it as well or that our group could help fundraise to make it a public space,” Reilly says. 

The appraisal is complete and the city is so far being quiet. 

“The appraisal is [Freedom of Information Act] exempt as a working document of the city manager,” says Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders. “Details will be released as City Council eventually considers any action that might include a possible purchase.”

Sanders says the city is studying the issue carefully before proceeding. 

Bo Carrington of Seven Development says he would be willing to have a conversation about the city or another entity purchasing the land, but believes the development his company is proposing would be the best for the community. 

“Our most recent submission for the 23-acre property proposes a by-right development with 7.5 acres of residential development, four acres of dedicated park land, a trailhead parking lot, and a public access easement for the public to enjoy the trail and river,” Carrington says. 

City staff are now reviewing that fourth submission and will provide comments by July 14.

Should Albemarle County supervisors pay a single landowner $58 million for 462 acres of land to help preserve the future of the area’s growing intelligence community? That’s the question for a June 21 public hearing.  

“We know this project is a generational investment in our community’s vibrancy,” says J.T. Newberry, Albemarle’s interim director of economic development. 

Rivanna Station makes up half of the estimated $1.2 billion economic impact the defense sector has in the region,
according to a recent report from the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce. 

Tenants include the National Ground Intelligence Center and the Defense Intelligence Agency. The military base dates back to 1997, when the U.S. Army bought land to move NGIC out of downtown Charlottesville. NGIC is currently spending $90 million on an expansion for additional space and parking. 

Jeff Richardson, a member of the county’s executive staff, says the question of whether NGIC might move to Missouri came up in 2018 when Albemarle met with Army officials about their future needs. At the time, new headquarters for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency were being planned in St. Louis.

Planning got underway for what the Army might want in order for Rivanna Station to expand. Richardson says the county used a real estate broker to enter into anonymous negotiations with developer Wendell Wood to purchase some of the land he owns under the firm Next Generation LLC. (At press time, officials with the Department of the Army had not returned a request for comment.)

“The Department of Defense had a strong preference to have as large a buffer from neighbors as possible, because it enhances base security,” Richardson says. 

The future expansion of Rivanna Station would be about 100 acres, and Richardson says additional land could be developed for defense sector businesses that would be compatible. 

With that in mind, they have also put forth a vision for something called the Intelligence Community Innovation Acceleration Campus, which is modeled in part after the future NGA facility in St. Louis. 

“Based on the discussions that we’ve had with our partners at the state and their consultants, which are well connected with the intelligence community, we believe there is a strong desire to replicate this model on the East Coast,” says Deputy County Executive Trevor Henry. “Albemarle County sits in an ideal spot.” 

Newberry says other partners would be needed to make this intelligence campus a reality, adding that Albemarle will work with state economic development officials and others.

“Not only do we need the land to be acquired but we also need to ensure the appropriate zoning is in place, due diligence has been completed, and that necessary infrastructure is in place,” Newberry says. 

Five years ago, Albemarle purchased the former Readings by Catherine property on U.S. 29 North for $250,000, in order to preserve it for a future road connection.    

Supervisors will get more financing details at their June 7 meeting. 

Voting in this year’s Democratic primary has already begun, but the five candidates seeking three nominations for Charlottesville City Council will continue to answer questions at forums between now and primary day, June 20.  

That was the case at a May 17 forum put on by the Greenbrier Neighborhood Association, which featured many questions about the proposed zoning code that’s intended to increase residential density across the city. 

“What do you think about large apartment buildings near Charlottesville High School and Greenbrier Elementary School?” asked moderator Ned Michie. 

For instance, Grove Road is north of CHS and is currently slated to be zoned Residential-B, which would allow 12 units on each lot, provided they were guaranteed as affordable units. The intersection of Grove and Melbourne Road would be R-C, allowing up to 16 units if all are affordable. 

Among the five candidates, former City Councilor Bob Fenwick seems to be the biggest critic of the new zoning plan. 

“For the last 10 years I’ve been in public life, the development community has gotten just about everything they wanted,” Fenwick said. 

He added that Greenbrier works well as is, and residents should be able to decide for themselves what’s on their land without having new rules imposed by the city. 

Newcomer Natalie Oschrin said the R-B zones would mean additional density, but that fears are overblown.

“That doesn’t mean that skyscraper apartments are going to be immediately popped up,” Oschrin said. “That type of apartment complex is not actually allowed. These are sixplexes.” 

Oschrin said she felt developers of subsidized housing would opt to build in other neighborhoods with fewer topographical challenges. 

Incumbent Michael Payne was under the impression that the additional density in the zoning code for affordability was no longer being considered. As such, he said the R-B and R-C lots would only produce between six and eight units per lot. 

“I primarily just see houses that will be of the scale and height size of existing homes, but would have more affordable duplexes and triplexes in them,” Payne said. “I don’t think that’s a  negative thing, and I think it does avoid these issues of a towering apartment complex next to a smaller single-family home.” 

Incumbent Lloyd Snook said even if the “double density” bonus moves forward, there will be very few such projects across the city because they will be built by nonprofit groups that are able to get tax credits and other subsidies. 

“There are a lot of scary thoughts going on out there that simply aren’t going to come to pass,” Snook said. 

Newcomer Dashad Cooper said he supports the zoning rewrite because he has been unable to find an affordable place to live, but he does want the city to take a cautious approach.

“I have some concerns that I want to make sure we’re taking our time when they start building,” Cooper said. “It is always going to be a risk that we go into, so we just have to make sure that we are keeping the community involved and listening to them.” 

The future zoning is not set in stone and a full draft is expected to be ready for review by the end of July, followed by public hearings in late summer and early fall, barring any delay. 

The June 20 Democratic primary will certainly not be delayed.

Editor’s note: This story has had an instance of “Greenbrier” corrected to “Grove.” C-VILLE regrets the error.

The City of Charlottesville is in the process of purchasing property to build a 1,700-foot shared-use path on Barracks Road from Emmet Street to Buckingham Road. That’s about halfway up the hill, and drew questions from one long-time observer of local government.  

“What are we thinking?” says Rugby Road resident John Pfaltz. “It’s too steep for bicycles to go up the path from CVS. And it’s impossible to go downhill without breaking the law.”

Pfaltz says he commuted by bicycle to his job at the University of Virginia for decades, and that he used Rugby Road rather than Emmet Street on his return journey to avoid the hill. 

“I would never use this so-called multi-use path,” Pfaltz told City Council on May 1. “The city wants more bike paths and there are better places to put [them]. Why don’t we use the money to create a really interconnected network?” 

But that’s not how funding for specific improvements works in Virginia. This fully funded project began life nearly seven years ago after council agreed in 2016 to pursue money through the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale process. The Commonwealth Transportation Board awarded $8.6 million to a project that also adds additional turn lanes at the Barracks/Emmet intersection as well as improvements for pedestrian safety. 

The Planning Commission found the plan to be in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan in February 2020. Council gave final approval of the plans in the fall of 2021 after the final design public hearing was held that summer. 

Pfaltz’s question comes at a time when the city is still wrestling with how to rebuild its ability to deliver on promises to build a robust multimodal network. In 2015, the city was awarded funding for streetscapes on Emmet Street, East High Street, and Fontaine Avenue and none of those projects have moved forward. In fact, none of the city’s Smart Scale projects have made it to construction. 

Last year, council canceled the West Main Streetscape and returned over $10.8 million in Smart Scale funds to VDOT. They also canceled a project to alter the intersection of Preston and Grady avenues.

Earlier this month in a written report, interim City Manager Michael Rogers hinted other projects may also be on the chopping block. 

“There will be additional considerations of canceling projects that will help to right-size the portfolio so the team can remain focused on results-oriented management of the portfolio of projects,” Rogers wrote. 

If this project moves forward, the right of way phase will continue through the end of year with construction expected some time in 2024. 

An organization that seeks to foster appreciation for older buildings in the hopes of preserving them for the future now owns a significant Woolen Mills landmark.    

“The 1887 Woolen Mills chapel is one of the earliest still surviving historic houses of worship in the city,” says Genevieve Keller, president of Preservation Piedmont, which will fundraise to pay for chapel repairs, and develop a plan for the building. 

In the meantime, the Rivanna Baptist Church will continue to use the space for Sunday services, and “from time to time the chapel will be available for events and functions, as the church and building rehabilitation schedules allow,” Keller says. 

According to a March 2020 C-VILLE article, neighbors had been making minor repairs to the street’s “signature building” until about eight years ago, when a group of volunteers created a nonprofit to take control of the building and raise money for restorations. Now, however, Preservation Piedmont has stepped in.

“Preservation Piedmont has never owned or sought to own property previously, but with the dissolution of the Woolen Mills Chapel Foundation, [we] accepted the chapel because it is a nonprofit 501(c) group and closely aligned in a preservation mission,” says Keller.  

 The chapel is one of 104 contributing structures in the Woolen Mills Village Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. “Founded as a mill village in the early 19th century to take advantage of the water power generated by Moore’s Creek and the Rivanna River, the Woolen Mills Village Historic District is now almost exclusively residential,” reads the nomination form for historic designation. 

Preservation Piedmont’s acquisition could signal a more secure path for a 19th-century structure in a location that’s seen significant investment in the 21st century. The chapel is just a quarter mile down East Market from the recently redeveloped Woolen Mills, which for many years stood mostly vacant and was prone to ruins. 

In late 2017, developer Brian Roy began transforming the site into what is now the mixed-use Wool Factory, home to an event venue and “culinary experiences,” among other things. This area is a major anchor, but it’s within Albemarle, and Roy agreed to limit vehicular access from East Market. 

“Having a group like Preservation Piedmont dedicated to historic preservation should allow for best practices and more creative solutions to ensure that the chapel lasts and stays useful well into the future,” Roy says.  

Roger Voisenet lives just down the street, and says he was caught off guard by the transfer, but that Preservation Piedmont has access to resources to maintain the structure and prepare it for the future. 

“In talking to neighbors, we think there is potential to expand the use of the chapel to include past uses such as theater presentations and possibly even a store in the basement, where vintage clothing could be exchanged or sold,” Voisenet says.