When real estate investment firm Bonaventure purchased the former Cavalier Crossing apartment complex in the summer of 2024, housing advocates sounded the alarm that many tenants would not be able to afford higher rents.
Two years later, that concern seems to have fizzled out, as no one spoke at an August 19 public hearing where the Albemarle Board of Supervisors approved several resolutions, including a rezoning to allow for 165 units to be constructed in five new buildings for a total of 309.
“The property was first developed for student housing and rezoned in the early 2000s,” said Rebecca Ragsdale, a planning manager with Albemarle County. “The site plan was approved in 2001, and the site was developed with the current structures in 2002, which were originally planned as student housing.”
With fewer tenants expected per unit, less space is required for parking in what has now been branded as Attain on 5th. The plan is to build on those sites and on areas currently designated as protected slopes.
This project is also one of the first to take advantage of Albemarle’s new affordable rental housing incentive program, which will allow up to $5 million in tax rebates over a 30-year period. That will require 31 units to be rented to households making below 60 percent of the area median income and another 31 to be reserved for those making below 80 percent.
Attorney Valerie Long of the firm Williams Mullen said the property was in bad shape when Bonaventure purchased it but all of the units have now been renovated.
“They’ve converted all of them from student suites to two- and three-bedroom apartments, and the improvement is dramatic,” Long said.
According to Long, Bonaventure was aware of concerns about displacement and offered options. As of mid-August, seven of the 99 leased units were occupied by former tenants.
“They also did a lot of things to help those existing tenants meet other roommates so that if they wanted to rent apartments together in the renovated units, they could,” Long said.
Scottsville District Supervisor Mike Pruitt had been one of those concerned about what the new owner would do but said he was glad to see an effort had been made. He wants the county to adopt policies for other projects.
“I think I’ve talked to this Board about the need for us to memorialize and institutionalize some kind of relocation plans in the future because it’s something I think is a gaping hole in county policy,” Pruitt said.
Jack Jouett Supervisor Sally Duncan said it is possible this project could be converted to non-student use because developers have stepped up production near the University of Virginia.
“My only complaint with this is that there are not more units, that they are not taller units, and, you know, hopefully in the future we can have taller buildings and more units,” Duncan said.
In addition to the rezoning to Planned Residential District, county supervisors also unanimously approved a request to reduce the amount of parking required and to waive a requirement that the new buildings have stepbacks. The latter allows more building space.
