“We’re providing much-needed ... mid-level housing, not the single-family homes that are [at North Pointe] now, but townhomes, apartments, and condos,” said David Mitchell, Great Eastern Management Company’s construction manager, of the 707 additional units that county supervisors approved on April 1.
The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia projects that Albemarle’s population will climb to 124,560 by 2030, up from just over 118,000 in 2025, as estimated by the U.S. Census.
Whether those numbers turn out to be accurate, there is nonetheless a building boom underway in what Albemarle County considers the Places29-North planning area.
On April 1, the Board of Supervisors approved a request from the Great Eastern Management Company to increase the number of units at North Pointe, a planned development originally rezoned in 2006 for a total of 893 homes.
“It is 707 additional units and also to make adjustments to the commercial areas to reduce the amount of commercial space to 250,000 square feet,” said Rebecca Ragsdale with Albemarle’s Department of Community Development.
David Mitchell, construction manager for GEMC, said the amended version of North Pointe will better fit Albemarle’s needs.
“We’re providing much-needed … mid-level housing, not the single-family homes that are there now, but townhomes, apartments, and condos,” Mitchell said.
The 2006 rezoning included three signalized intersections from North Pointe onto U.S. 29, but since then the Virginia Department of Transportation has adopted policies to discourage further traffic lights on the major highway. People who want to head south from North Pointe have to use what’s known as a restricted crossing U-Turn to do so.
As part of the amendment, GEMC requested to eliminate an internal road that would have connected to Lewis and Clark Drive due to topography challenges and cost. Mitchell said the reduction of commercial space lowered traffic forecasts.
According to Ragsdale, VDOT and county staff supported that change.
“The widened road would be built in the floodplain,” said Director of Planning Michael Barnes, who added that a stream called Flat Branch would be impacted.
When the change went before the Planning Commission in March, several people who live at North Pointe requested that the roadway be built anyway. However, none of them appeared at the Board’s public hearing. The only speaker was a man who said Albemarle is approving too many developments.
“We have a lot of units under construction right now in the county, so I just ask that that be taken into consideration also,” said Greg Delaney, a resident of the Jack Jouett District.
Finding out how many units are approved to be built and how many are under consideration is currently more difficult since a cybersecurity incident against Albemarle last June meant the county’s Development Dashboard has not been updated since April 2025.
Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley said more homes are being concentrated in places like Hollymead because the Board had made a decision not to expand the development area.
“When you do that, you have to also put in the infrastructure, water and sewer, which costs a ton of money,” LaPisto-Kirtley said.
Supervisor Sally Duncan said this was the right place for more people to live with proximity to jobs and businesses.
“My only complaint is that the buildings are not taller and there’s not more housing,” Duncan said.
The vote to approve the amendment was unanimous.
