The Albemarle Planning Commission has recommended denial of a developer’s second request to fill in a portion of the floodplain in order to build a commercial building in the county’s Broadway Blueprint. The Commission had voted 4 to 3 in April 2025 to recommend approval of Elemental Ecotech’s first version of the permit, but the […]
The Albemarle Planning Commission has recommended denial of a developer’s second request to fill in a portion of the floodplain in order to build a commercial building in the county’s Broadway Blueprint. The Commission had voted 4 to 3 in April 2025 to recommend approval of Elemental Ecotech’s first version of the permit, but the […]
In yet another test of the city’s new zoning code, the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review has denied a necessary permit required for the current design of an apartment complex. The December 16 vote against the certificate of appropriateness was 6 to 1. On December 31, an attorney for developer LCD Acquisitions filed for an […]
Think of this as Charlottesville’s field guide to the new year. We rounded up the city’s most dialed-in experts in politics, food, art, weather, and beyond, and asked them to predict what’s coming up for 2026. Their collective wisdom charts the trends, shifts, and stories that will shape the year.—C-VILLE writers VIRGINIA POLITICS Fast times […]
Charlottesville City Council will not officially see a draft of the next budget until March, but City Manager Sam Sanders spent some time on December 15 setting up the next round of requests for affordable housing funds. “Our goal would be to begin to have conversations with you about prioritizing these considerations for the budget, […]
The Albemarle County Planning Commission has recommended approval of a rezoning that would allow a mixed-use development with 600 homes on 62.5 acres of land close to the junction of U.S. 29 and Interstate 64. In September, members of the appointed body thought the plan was too vague with a proposed minimum of 100 units […]
Charlottesville was among the first localities in the United States to regulate residential short-term rentals in 2015. More than a decade later, the city wants to update its rules, but it’s still juggling the often competing feedback from homestay operators and neighbors. Short-term rentals, also referred to as homestays, gained popularity during the mid-2010s surge […]
Those who use public parking garages in downtown Charlottesville experienced big changes December 16 when the city moved to a system where access is controlled by new software. “With the new system, residents and visitors will be able to enjoy an easy experience where their vehicle becomes their parking pass,” reads a press release sent […]
People accustomed to catching a morning train to Washington, D.C., and other points north will have to make some adjustments in the next few years as Amtrak makes service changes while a key construction project is underway. In December 2019, then-Gov. Ralph Northam announced an investment of $3.7 billion in rail infrastructure as an alternative […]
When Charlottesville City Council adopted a new set of building rules in December 2023, one intention was for developers to have an easier pathway to construct more homes on land that had previously been reserved for single-family residences. One developer who tried to go through the new development code found that not to be the […]
Two transactions in Charlottesville this fall illustrate how student housing is a lucrative global business with healthy cash flow fueled by households that can afford to pay premium prices for places to live. In the past dozen years, three student-housing buildings—all valuable commodities for investors—have been constructed on West Main Street. Madison Loft LLC sold […]