Photo: Courtesy UVA Health
A new chapter is about to begin for a historic property in Charlottesville’s neighborhood Fifeville that for many years served as the home of two city mayors.
The University of Virginia Board of Visitors has agreed to lease the 5.2-acre Oak Lawn property to Charlottesville City Schools with an option for the city to buy.
“We are excited to see the future of this historical landmark being developed by the city in a way that truly benefits one of its most vibrant neighborhoods,” said J.J. Davis, UVA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, in a statement released following the vote.
Both city schools and UVA sought to take over the 14.5-acre Federal Executive Institute when it was closed at the start of the Trump administration, and UVA eventually won out.
“They were disappointed in not getting this facility, but I think we found a wonderful win-win in working with the board and the leadership at UVA,” Davis told the Buildings and Grounds Committee on September 11.
Under the terms of the lease, Charlottesville City Schools must preserve the house, which was built in 1822 and designed by James Dinsmore, a builder who also contributed to the construction of Monticello and early buildings at UVA.
The university purchased the property in October 2023 for $3.5 million from Nancy O’Brien, the first woman to serve as Mayor of Charlottesville. She’s the widow of Francis Fife, who served as mayor from 1972 to 1974. O’Brien became mayor in 1976.
A planning study published this past summer recommended construction of a child care facility with capacity of up to 234 children to be run by UVA Health.
“Given the many financial priorities of the Medical Center and the fact that we are aware that the Charlottesville city schools need additional property within the city to offer additional services to their students, and given the adjacency of Oak Lawn to existing city school property, the university proposes a long-term lease with an option to transfer ownership of the property to the city,” said UVA Architect Alice Raucher.
UVA Communications did not respond to a question about the next steps for identifying more space for child care for UVA faculty and staff.
Oak Lawn is adjacent to Charlottesville Middle School and the school system will explore the possibility of using the space to operate some of the functions it had planned to carry on at the FEI site.
“We are thankful that our ongoing conversations with UVA have produced an opportunity to collaborate on using the Oak Lawn property to meet a critical community need,” said Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders in the release. “Our priority is to address the schools’ needs while recognizing there may be additional opportunities for community benefit.”
The 5.2-acre site is zoned Residential-C and city officials said that can allow for educational use without additional permits from the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development.
A block to the north, UVA also owns 2.73 acres on Roosevelt Brown Boulevard and Grove Street, which it purchased for $8.73 million. Community engagements were halted earlier this year to focus on Oak Lawn. UVA has not responded to a question about that, either.
