Tag: Real Estate Weekly

Our spring of zoning continues this month with more rollout of new rules that will determine what Charlottesville’s future looks like.   

“At this point, we are proposing no minimum parking requirement in order to support reuse and redevelopment of sites within the city,” said James Freas, Charlottesville’s director of Neighborhood Development Services. “We fully anticipate there will be a great deal of conversation on this topic.” 

Currently about 8 percent of the city, or 524 acres, is used for parking, according to the Comprehensive Plan adopted in November 2021. That doesn’t include residential driveways. The document also states that 59 percent of city residents drive to work, 14 percent walk, 7 percent take public transportation, and 3 percent ride a bike. 

The new zoning takes goals of the Comprehensive Plan, such as encouraging parking behind buildings, and turns them into reality. There are several references to reducing parking requirements that will be put in motion if the zoning goes through as is. 

This is a trend happening nationally, according to Andrew Mondschein, a UVA School of Architecture professor. 

“Eliminating parking requirements directly reduces the cost of development, making housing and other uses more affordable,” Mondschein says. “Eliminating requirements also reduces one of the main ways we subsidize driving in the country, addressing the impacts of automobility on safety and our environment.”

But these proposed changes are also part of an ongoing trend in the city, according to Leonard Schoppa, president of the Kellytown Neighborhood Association. Schoppa says that under Mayor Maurice Cox in the early 2000s, the Comprehensive Plan also encouraged parking requirements be reduced. 

“The city dropped parking minimums to zero in the 14th Street and JPA corridors near the university, hoping to encourage private developers to build student housing that was denser in these close-to-Grounds areas, and allowing students to get around without driving or even bringing their cars to Charlottesville,” Schoppa says. 

However, Schoppa says that many of the buildings constructed since then do include some parking, in part because banks want to see business models that work for large apartment complexes. 

“If a developer of a 20-unit apartment building wants to build without off-street parking, the builder will not be able to get financing if they cannot convince the bank that sufficient numbers of renters will want to pay the planned level of rent for a place that has no parking,” Schoppa says.

That said, he does predict that new single-family homes may begin to be built without driveways. The new zoning will require a permit for every single curb cut, and that may put more parking on the street.

“I expect that some developers who want to build the six- and eight-unit apartment projects allowed in Residential-B and Residential-C areas will be able to build such projects without parking,” says Schoppa.

For this to really work, Schoppa says Charlottesville Area Transit needs to run buses more frequently to make that option more realistic. 

UVA’s Mondschein thinks Charlottesville is ready to eliminate parking requirements, but says people should not fear that will result in an immediate change. 

“Other changes, like improving our walking and bicycling infrastructure are moving forward too slowly, but this again is incremental change, and this can happen,” he says. “Ultimately, Charlottesville is a small city with an existing urban center and the potential to establish great neighbor­hoods that are not car dependent.” 

In the past few years, developers have filed proposals for some of the last vacant parcels in Charlottesville, pushing the limits of growth. This includes two projects a quarter-mile away from each other on the Rivanna River in an area where the city has never conducted a small-area plan for infrastructure.   

Local firm Seven Development is behind plans for two separate apartment complexes to be built on properties within the floodplain. One 77-unit complex would be located at 900 River Rd., while another 245 units are slated for three buildings on land off of East High Street that doesn’t yet have an address. 

Shimp Engineering has provided the engineering for both projects, each of which would depend on elevating the land out of the floodplain, though the latter project will require more fill dirt to be brought in. 

A preliminary site plan for 900 River Rd. has been approved, but the city recently issued a third denial to the one for 0 East High St. A major sticking point on the latter is the city’s position that the planned entrances are not legal under the existing zoning code. The developer disputes that notion.  

Concern from neighbors has led to one of the most organized opposition campaigns in recent years.

“We believe that the developers improperly moved the [Federal Emergency Management Agency] floodway in order to accommodate this project, potentially putting current and future residents at risk in terms of both safety and property damage,” says Zoe Edgecomb of the Circus Grounds Preservation Corporation. “Many localities, including Albemarle County, do not allow residential development in floodplains.”

Edgecomb says the group disputes the notion that the project is by-right.

“Multi-family housing, while considered a business use, has additional restrictions that consider health, safety, and welfare of residents,” she says. 

The corporation is asking the city to consider buying the property to prevent its development. Council took a first step toward that earlier this year when it agreed to hire an appraiser to do a market study for the land. That work is underway.

The 0 East High proposal may go before the Planning Commission, though under Virginia law, site plans must be approved if they meet the letter of the law. 

Both properties are within the scope of the Urban Rivanna River Corridor Plan that was put together by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. The plan called for a new design review process for properties, but no policy has yet been adopted. None of the plan precludes housing but recommendation No. 9 may signal why developers have opted to proceed.

“Affordable housing is encouraged to be located with close proximity to the river corridor supported by robust transportation system access in conformance with locally adopted land use plans,” reads page 72 of the plan. 

Justin Shimp, owner of Shimp Engineering, says the developments will improve conditions overall. 

“The existing concerned neighbors’ stormwater goes untreated into channels and into the river,” he says. “New higher-density projects provide treatment and are far less impactful on a per unit basis when compared to single family development.” 

Shimp says providing homes for people closer to the city will result in less air pollution due to the ability of more people to walk to work. 

The cost of housing continues to rise, but there is a large desire in the community for steps to be taken to preserve housing for those with lower incomes. That is translating into several large capital expenses throughout the area.   

This week, Charlottesville City Council held the first reading of a plan to award the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority $5 million for half the cost to purchase 86 affordable units across the city. 

“It is a very strong likelihood that this portfolio will exit affordability if sold on the open market due to the current property values and increased land speculation around the rezoning plan,” said Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders in the staff report. 

The units range from a $700-a-month efficiency on West Street to a three-bedroom apartment on Ridge Street that goes for $1,325. To give a sense of scale, the Department of Housing and Urban Development identifies the 2022 fair-market value rent for a studio at $1,024 a month and a three bedroom at $1,562.

The exact details are not yet known, such as where the $5 million will come from and what form it will take. A loan? A grant? But many of the properties will be within areas with more development potential under the future zoning. 

The new funding would be on top of the $3 million in the next fiscal year for public housing redevelopment, with more projected in the future. The five-year capital plan also anticipates over $13 million for various subsidized units the Piedmont Housing Alliance is building at Friendship Court and two projects on Park Street. 

Albemarle County has invested $3.2 million in Habitat for Humanity’s redevelopment of Southwood Mobile Home Park, and also helped secure $2.25 million in federal funds for site work in the first phase. 

Government funding is not the only way to keep homes affordable to people. There’s also the land trust model, where one entity purchases the underlying property and a household purchases the improved structure.  

The Piedmont Community Land Trust has worked on several projects in the community and had a portfolio of 30 properties at the end of 2022, according to its annual report. 

“The community land trust model is the only permanently affordable homeownership model in the region, and we are able to sustain the affordability of our homes by retaining ownership of the land and our re-sale formula, which includes an appreciation share with our homeowners,” said PCLT Executive Director Shekinah Mitchell.

In late January, the entity purchased a newly constructed three-bedroom house in Avon Park for $243,750. On the same day, an individual paid the land trust $225,000 to become the resident. 

The townhouse has a 2023 assessment of $370,500. The Albemarle County Assessor’s office does not consider this a valid sale, so it won’t have an effect on next year’s reassessment.  

The land trust has five duplexes on Prospect Avenue that will come on the market this spring and summer. 

The land trust model can also benefit from government funding for seed money. The entity received $240,000 from Charlottesville to purchase four lots on Nassau Street for new construction. One of the single-family attached houses has now sold twice with price points of $215,000 in February 2020 and $236,500 in March 2022. The latter transaction was 2.67 percent below the 2022 assessment. The 2023 assessment, however, climbed to $319,000. 

There has been a slight delay in the release of further details about how Charlottesville’s new zoning code will work, but at least two major projects are making their way through the system.   

Earlier this month, City Council signaled it will likely allow a technical change to the existing zoning to consider a nine-story mixed-use building at the corner of Ivy and Copeley roads. Under the new zoning, that project by RMD Properties would probably be permissible without further approval, but the developer’s attorney said they want to move forward as soon as possible. 

“We hope that it is something that will enable the project to move forward and give the developers some comfort and continue to invest money in the design process,” said Valerie Long with the firm Williams Mullen at a Planning Commission public hearing. 

The proposed new zoning for the property is Commercial Mixed-Use 8, which would allow for this type of use. RMD’s concept would not work under existing zoning because the land is less than the two-acre minimum required for a Planned Unit Development. 

The actual application will come back to the Planning Commission and City Council within a few months, after the elected body approves a zoning text amendment to eliminate the size requirement. 

Rory Stolzenberg, a member of the Planning Commission, signaled his support to allow a private developer to build something on land that will provide tax revenue to the city. (The University of Virginia’s real estate foundation has been buying up land on Ivy Road for decades.) 

“We might end up getting a building that is as large as contemplated here, or under the new zoning and without getting a dime of tax revenue for it, that we could be using to fund our schools and other services,” says Stolzenberg.

There’s a lot of construction on Ivy Road for projects that will not directly generate any tax revenue and do not have to conform to the city’s zoning. To the east of RMD’s site, the University of Virginia is currently constructing a 214-room hotel, the Karsh Institute of Democracy, and the School of Data Science. There’s room for many more buildings in the future. 

Another large building that is in the works is a hotel proposed for 843 West Main St., which is next to the Standard apartment complex. Earlier this month, the Board of Architectural Review made a preliminary review. 

“My recommendation was that this building, recognizing it is fronting on West Main, that it not turn its back and not present itself as another wall to 10th and Page,” said Jeff Werner, the city’s historic preservation and design planner.

The project is being pursued by-right under the existing zoning and would not require any special use permits. The draft zoning code would designate the property as Corridor Mixed-Use 5. 

Hotels on city property do generate property tax revenue for Charlottesville, in addition to revenue from the transient occupancy tax. For a sense of scale, 315 West Main St. was assessed at just over a million dollars 10 years ago. Earlier this year, the site of the Marriott Residence Inn was assessed at nearly $24 million. 

The second round of zoning rules will be released to the public on Wednesday, March 29. 

Population growth and the impact of a more congested community is not limited to one political jurisdiction. But how well is this place set up to build transportation infrastructure that straddles borders between Albemarle, Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia?

A recent letter from the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association asked the City of Charlottesville to find a way to contribute to a sidewalk project Albemarle County has preliminary plans to build on Old Lynchburg Road. 

“The FSNA recommends city participation because it would add a sidewalk, connect a portion of the Rivanna Trail, and would provide access to new city-owned parkland on the other side of Moores Creek,” reads the February 13 letter to City Council. “It would be easy to view this sidewalk as a facility mostly for County residents, but this is wrong.”

City staff met with members of the FSNA last week to discuss the project, which is one of many potential projects Charlottesville Public Works could be working on in a city with many residents clamoring for projects. There’s no list that community members can look at online for the most up-to-date information. 

However, the project is No. 26 on Albemarle’s detailed list of transportation priorities, according to an update from October 2022.

“This project would construct a shared-use path and multiple crosswalks along Old Lynchburg Road between Timberland Park Apartments and Azalea Park to improve pedestrian safety and mobility,” reads the list, which also states this project could be a collaborative project with the City of Charlottesville. 

That collaboration is taking place. 

This project dates back to Albemarle’s budget for FY20 when $6 million was programmed into the capital improvement program for “quality of life” by building sidewalks and bike lanes. The pandemic delayed the project and the decision was made to put that money toward projects that can attract further funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation. 

According to Albemarle County spokeswoman Abbey Stumpf, Albemarle paid $72,280 for an engineering study with detailed drawings that have been reviewed by both the Virginia Department of Transportation and the city engineer. 

“The results of the study were shared with Charlottesville leadership for consideration of a potential cost sharing arrangement,” Stumpf said. “There have been several discussions, but no commitments yet as both agencies work through the FY24 Budget development process.”

The FSNA sent a letter and set up last week’s meeting to get answers into a process that can be mysterious to citizens and elected officials. City trail planner Chris Gensic was there to talk about the city’s recent acquisitions of parkland in Albemarle. City Councilor Brian Pinkston also attended to get information. 

“Parents who were there told how dangerous it is to have kids crossing the road from Azalea West to the main part of Azalea Park, so having a crosswalk would make a huge difference,” Pinkston said. 

But Pinkston said the city has a lot of different priorities to sift through as it rebuilds after an era where none of those projects were ranked. A relatively new deputy city manager is on the case. 

“The intrepid Sam Sanders is trying to figure out how to make the project plan work,” Pinkston said. 

The Albemarle and Charlottesville planning commissions have not met since January 2017, but there’s talk another meeting may take place this year. A public body that had been set up to discuss regional growth was disbanded in late 2019. At its last meeting, the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee did discuss major transportation issues, but these were about larger projects such as the forthcoming changes to Hydraulic Road and U.S. 29.

This week, Charlottesville is expected to release the second of three sections of a new zoning code that is intended to increase residential density across the entire city and make it easier for developers to build with fewer government hurdles.   

The first section established the basic rules for what can be built where. At the very least, all properties zoned single-family residential would be able to have between three and four units constructed on them without any further permission from elected officials. 

The second section is expected to provide more guidelines for how affordability provisions will be enforced and how much parking will be required. There’s a lot of discussion yet to come. 

All of the land-use reform has been done under the Cville Plans Together initiative, and overseen by the firm Rhodeside & Harwell. So far, City Council has adopted an affordable housing plan as well as a new Comprehensive Plan intended to create more units. 

Lyle Solla-Yates, chair of the Charlottesville Planning Commission, says he feels “excellent progress” has been made so far. 

“I see some map errors that need to be corrected, most notably on West Main, but my understanding is that those will be fixed,” Solla-Yates says. The roadway east of the Drewary Brown Bridge would allow buildings between 114 feet and 142 feet tall, much higher than currently allowed.

Above all, Solla-Yates wants clarity in the code, and didn’t expect the process to take this long. “I didn’t understand how much was broken and how much was needed,” he says. “The more we fix, the more we realize is broken.” 

Diane Dale, a member of the Cville Plans Together steering committee, says it’s too early to get the full picture, and she wants as much time as it takes to realize the effects of the new rules. 

“It’s hard to fully understand the full effects of lot development without the Module 2 elements of parking and landscape,” says Dale, who represents the Neighborhood Leaders Group on the committee. 

Dale says she’s concerned the plan puts too much of a premium on housing above all other considerations. “The other elements of planning—environment, infrastructure, transportation, schools, etc.—are not being updated concurrently to address the higher densities,” she says, adding that threats to public health come with degradation of the urban environment. 

The Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition wants even more density allowed in existing single-family neighborhoods, rather than the three to four units that would be allowed on each lot. It also wants to allow additional height only if all units are guaranteed to be sold or rented to people with incomes below half the area median. 

“The zoning plans need to fulfill the Comprehensive Plan, but it is weaker because it restricts height, one of the main ways to provide new housing and make additional units possible,” reads a flier the group has distributed. 

The third section of the new zoning code will cover how the code will actually be administered.  

Solla-Yates says whatever results will be an improvement on the status quo. “We can’t make everyone happy, but I am sure we can find a better balance between health and safety on one side and aesthetics on the other,” he said. 

As the third month of the third year of the third decade gets underway, Charlottesville is poised for a new future. All over the city, landowners will have more space to build under the adopted Comprehensive Plan and the new zoning rules that are being written this spring.  

Some of the places where more density will be allowed have not had the benefit of a plan to suggest what the future could be. Other areas do have at least rough sketches, such as the eastern portion of Cherry Avenue, which has a small area plan.

While there’s no such formal document for the area around the Belmont Bridge, new pedestrian infrastructure built alongside and around the roadway will make it easier to get around on foot. When construction ends next year, there will be sidewalks on both sides of the bridge as well as a new pedestrian underpass. 

At least two major properties on the northern end of the bridge have sold in the past year. In February, a person associated with the Great Eastern Resort Company bought 0.384 acres in the 400 block of Avon Street for $1.4 million. This land contains a building constructed in 1961 that was the home of the now closed Fox’s Cafe. 

The property is within the new Corridor Mixed-Use 3 district under the draft zoning. That means a base height of three stories with the option to go to five if bonus criteria are met. Those rules will be released later this month. 

Last year, the owners of Lampo bought the building at 205 Monticello Rd., as well as 209 Monticello for $800,000. The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative used to be in the latter buildings but has recently moved to East Main Street. The properties share the same CX-3 district and were built in 1945 and 1950, respectively. 

In between the two is another commercial block from the mid-20th century with two existing businesses. One of them is Quality Pie, which took over the old Spudnuts’ space in 2017. That structure, as well as the one at 300 Avon St., was built in 1962, the same year the original Belmont Bridge opened to traffic. 

Land right across from the 300 block on Avon Street is slated as Node Mixed-Use 10, which will allow up to 10 stories as a base, and 12 if bonus conditions are met. 

Construction of the bridge began in July 2021, and the owner of Quality Pie has reported disruptions to business. He wants the city to provide assistance to keep his operations afloat. 

“It has housed a local business for over 50 years, and yet the city has managed to cripple and encumber us in just three years,” said Tomas Rahal, who does not own the property. 

Two blocks away, the Fitzgerald’s Tire Building at 408 Monticello Rd. is on the market for $1.2 million. 

Many of the development firms that build new spaces to live in the Charlottesville area are homegrown with a close-up view of this dynamic market. Names like Southern Development, Riverbend Development, Stony Point Development Group, and Great Eastern Management Company come up a lot when new projects become public.  

But in the last several years, many newcomers have arrived on the scene to try to take advantage of a growing population and an identified need for new housing units. 

Chicago-based firm RMD Properties does not currently have any projects in the Charlottesville area, but the real estate developers have two high-profile projects in the works. 

One potentially could be a nine-story building on one of the last privately owned parcels on Ivy Road, and “would include approximately 225-250 residential units (for approximately 610 residents), up to 4,000 square feet of retail/neighborhood commercial uses on the ground floor, structured parking, and high-quality amenity spaces,” reads RMD’s application for a zoning change required for it to proceed this summer. The firm has asked the city to allow the project, rather than wait for the zoning update to be completed later this year. 

“The agreement between the property owner and the developer requires action on a shorter time frame,” the application continues. 

If the project remained privately held, it would mean additional tax dollars for Charlottesville—unlike the project right across the street. The Karsh Institute of Democracy is being built at the University of Virginia on land that is exempt from Charlottesville’s tax rolls.  

For comparison, let’s look at something similar in the works. The Lark on West Main is on 1.27 acres of land. City Council voted 3-2 in January 2014 for a special use permit for the multi-use apartment building. In that year, the property had an assessed value of $1.068 million. In 2023, that’s increased to over $57.6 million. 

RMD’s other project is on U.S. 29 in Albemarle, two and a half miles north, and would redevelop the site of the C’ville Oriental market into a five-story building with up to 290 apartment units. This would transform the area if it moves forward. 

“The Project would offer needed housing options for County residents and employees of nearby business and employment centers that are close to public transit and community amenities, and would significantly contribute to the urban redevelopment of the surrounding area as envisioned by the Rio29 Small Area Plan,” reads the narrative for a rezoning. 

This project would be within half a mile of two other redevelopment projects. Local firm GEMC has filed plans to redevelop the former Giant grocery store with 250 apartments. A group of housing nonprofits are turning the Red Carpet Inn on Premier Circle into a 140-unit affordable housing development. 

Another recent newcomer to the market is RST Development, which succeeded in obtaining a rezoning permit to convert a mobile home park near Forest Lakes into a 254-unit apartment complex on 19.5 acres. The Board of Supervisors adopted that project in September 2021.

A look through real estate sales in Charlottesville for the first month of the year shows a market with signs of a cooler 2023, while also revealing hints that there is money to be made in the future. Sales volumes are down from January 2022, while inventories are beginning to increase.  

“January saw fewer transactions than we are accustomed to, and likely represents the start of a trend that we’ve seen where people are choosing to not sell because they either have no compelling reason to sell, or they have interest rates below 4 percent,” said local realtor Jim Duncan. “Current market rates are well above that.”

But one month of data is not enough to predict a trend, and there is still a long way to go in 2023 to see if this year will follow the past two years, which have seen double-digit assessment increases in both Albemarle and Charlottesville. Plus, any analysis of the market must also factor in changing rules that will give property owners significantly more development rights in the near future. 

In many cases, properties sold just below the 2023 assessments, including a house on Minor Road in the Lewis Mountain neighborhood: Its sales price of $534,600 was 4.63 percent under the assessor’s value. A house at 907 Nassau St. sold for $485,000, just under the 2023 assessment of $503,800. 

Anyone buying property in Charlottesville now has a clearer picture of what the future zoning code will allow. Three empty lots sold in January in the new Residential A district, which will allow for three housing units on each property.  

A single-family home on Fontaine Avenue went for $355,000, right between the 2022 and 2023 assessments. The purchaser may not realize that the property will jump from R-2 to the new Commercial Mixed Use 5, which, under the draft zoning code, allows up to five-story buildings before any bonus height is given for providing below-market residences. 

House flips to watch include a two-bedroom house at 1213 Little High St. that was purchased for $208,000, more than half under the 2023 value of $448,800. The buyer is Quick Fix Real Estate LLC. Another, a property at 1205 King St. in Fifeville, sold for $175,000 to Cardinal Ventures. A house on 12th Street in the Venable neighborhood was bought by a Puerto Rico-based nonprofit that paid about $50,000 under the 2023 assessment. 

Other existing homes continued to sell well above assessment, including a two-bedroom house on Sheridan Avenue in the Locust Grove neighborhood that was bought for $375,000, or 17.8 percent over the 2023 assessment. A three-bedroom house at 815 Elliott Ave. went for $565,000, or 35.07 percent over the assessment. That property includes a separate apartment. 

A house at 1505 Cherry Ave. was purchased for $425,000, or 43.1 percent above the 2023 assessment. That property is within the new Residential B zoning, which could allow up to six units by-right and 12 if all of the units will be subsidized. 

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville sold two new homes in the Jefferson Park Avenue neighborhood to two qualified homebuyers. They went for $281,900 and $284,900, and the deeds include restrictions that allow Habitat to have the right to buy them first if the owners decide to sell. Both are single-family detached units that are also located in the new CX-5 district. 

“Families only pay what they can afford, which is always less than that and generally about half of that,” said Dan Rosensweig, Habitat’s CEO. “In addition, we provide a zero interest mortgage to them, which saves them generally tens of thousands of dollars in interest expense.”

The draft zoning map for Charlottesville points the way to a dense future for the city, all in the name of providing affordable housing. But the existing zoning still provides opportunities for additional residential density for those who can pay for it. Sometimes that means removing houses.  

For example, a house built in 1893 at 704 Bolling Ave. in Belmont was demolished to make way for two new structures. Construction on the first, an accessory dwelling unit allowed under existing zoning at a cost of $195,000, began before the 19th-century building was torn down. 

The work description for the demolition permit, issued on December 22, stated asbestos in the home would be removed prior to demolition. The toxic material was commonly used in construction for fire protection before its carcinogenic properties were realized, and all demolition or renovation requires a certificate describing whether the material is being handled correctly. 

The cost to tear down 704 Bolling is listed in the application as $43,815. The property was last purchased in June 2021 for $400,000. 

While the property does not have any historic protections, it was built by the Belmont Land Company as part of one of the first expansions of Charlottesville in the last decade of the 19th century. The name Bolling comes from one of the vice presidents of that firm.

Another house at 615 Bolling Ave. sold on January 30 for $760,000, after extensive renovations, for $180,000 over the 2023 assessed value. The original house was built in 1920 and last purchased in January 2021 for $165,000, or about $50,000 under the assessed value that year. That purchaser began work, but was told to stop because the asbestos certificate had not been turned in. Only then did the owner apply for building permits for renovations of the existing house, as well as construction of a one-bedroom accessory dwelling unit. 

A third house on the street that was also built in 1920 will meet the same fate as 704 Bolling. A firm with the name Antsy Me LLC purchased 922 Bolling Ave. for $322,000 on June 30, 2022, and was issued a demolition permit this month.  

Under the draft zoning code, all three properties on Bolling Avenue would be zoned as Residential-A. That would allow three units on the property if the existing structure is torn down, but four if the existing structure is kept. 

The current president of Preservation Piedmont says those new rules will likely result in more demolition because there are no incentives. 

“There is such a desire here, as elsewhere, for upscale residential single-family construction despite the ordinance‘s stated intention to increase other types of housing,” says Genevieve Keller. “Those who can afford to buy or build right now appear to be favoring single family dwellings.”

The change could make demolitions more common, but it’s not cheap to take down a house. In the past year, the demolition of 707 Forest St. cost $10,000. The takedown of 128 Harmon St. was $25,000. 

Teardowns and renovations are nothing new in Charlottesville. In November 2021, a firm called Daddy Rabbit bought a house at 903 Charlton Ave. in the Rose Hill neighborhood for $160,000, and more or less gutted the structure to make way for new residents. The house sold last November for $525,000. The previous occupant had lived there since 1950, until her death in April 2021. 

That particular property is also zoned Residential-A, but the Future Land Use Map classifies it as “Sensitive Communities.” That means additional rules are supposed to be written to stop displacement. 

There are many who state with certainty what will happen under those new rules. The reality is, the future of Charlottesville will be built parcel by parcel, including continued removal of structures people have called home for generations. 

“Our last affordable houses such as 922 Bolling are the low-hanging fruit for teardowns,” Keller says. “But even so, the loss of embodied carbon and human toil is surprising when a buyer decides to demolish a house with a brand new roof, fresh paint, and new appliances.”