At its regular meeting on November 10, the City Planning Commission approved a site plan for the YMCA to be built in McIntire Park. The commission also approved the site where a nonprofit group intends to build a Single Room Occupancy facility.
During the public comment period, members of the McIntire Park Preservation Committee voiced their opposition to the site chosen for the facility. According to Daniel Bluestone, the design of the building lacked imagination. Another resident said he opposes the YMCA because it is an act of ultimately “urbanizing the park,” but he told the commission, the “loss of open space to me is the biggest steal.”
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Kurt Krueger, chairman of the YMCA board, says that the estimated total cost of the 70,000-square-foot facility is around $14 million. They have already pledged $9.5 million with contributions from both Albemarle County—$2.03 million—and the City of Charlottesville—$1.25 million. |
Commission chair Jason Pearson reminded the audience that approval of the site plan for the YMCA by the commission was just a ministerial function, and not an opinionated decision on the location of the structure.
The approved site plan calls for a 77,000-square-foot facility in the western portion of McIntire Park, near the softball fields, which the city has leased to the YMCA for 40 years at a cost of $1 per year. Earlier last month, the commission approved a critical slope waiver for the facility, a critical step toward the realization of the project.
Ultimately, the YMCA will be responsible for all maintenance on the 4.51-acre site; 158 parking spaces will be added to the 110 spaces that are currently serving park frequenters; and the facility will be built into the hillside to minimize massing.
The approved design also features a few sustainable details: New pervious paving will be used and, according to architect Todd Bullard of VMDO, the design, which will incorporate natural light, will reduce run-off by half.
According to Kurt Krueger, chairman of the YMCA Board, $9.5 million were pledged for the construction of the facility, which includes $2.03 million from Albemarle County and $1.25 million from the city. A rough estimate of the total cost of the facility is around $14 million.
New Single Room Occupancy facility close to Downtown
Single Room Occupancy (SRO) housing has been discussed by city officials as an effective way to address the need of affordable housing in Charlottesville. At its last meeting, the city planning commission unanimously approved a special use permit for a proposed SRO facility at 401 Fourth St. at the intersection with Preston Avenue, on the former site of the Region Ten offices.
The applicant, Virginia Supportive Housing (VSH), a Richmond based nonprofit, originally applied for a 60-unit, 40-foot-high facility with on-site parking. Allison Bogdanovic, director of housing development for VSH, told the commission that the current plans are now to build 30 SRO units—which will house residents with income below $10,000—and the remaining 30 units—divided between studio apartments and one-bedroom residences—will be affordable housing.
Ray Masters, president of the Starr Hill Neighborhood Association, told C-VILLE that although in principle he is not against the facility, his biggest concern is finances.
“It’s a fiscal issue,” he says. “What is [VSH’s] contingency plan? What if they can’t rent our all of the units? There are so many open-handed problems with this whole idea.”
Bogdanovic told C-VILLE in an e-mail, that at the organization’s other facilities, “we have very low vacancy rates. Our staff works hard to ensure that we have applicants ready to move-in as soon as a unit becomes vacant.”
The estimated price tag is $8 million, with a pledge from the city of $500,000. The rest of the money, Bogdanovic says will be a mix of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, loans from the Virginia Housing Development Authority and Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, and grants from local public and private sources and foundations. SROs are a sort of dormitory facility with laundry rooms, exercise facilities and computer labs.
Bogdanovic told the commission that one of misconceptions about SRO facilities is that the tenants don’t pay rent. “They pay rent,” she said. In fact, each tenant pays either at least $50 a month or 30 percent of their income.
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