Sean Tubbs, Author at C-VILLE Weekly

Investment firm seeks rezoning to add 165 more units to former Cavalier Crossing

When an investment firm purchased the former Cavalier Crossing apartment complex on Fifth Street Extended last year, affordable housing advocates were horrified that the intent was to convert the 144 existing units to market rate. Now Bonaventure has filed plans with Albemarle to rezone the property to allow construction of 165 new units and comply […]

Sean Tubbs | May 7, 2025

News

There will be at least one contested Supervisor race in Albemarle this November

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors will adopt a new budget on May 7 that is based on increases in the tax rate for real property and personal property. On April 29, Republican Scott Smith rode his bike to the steps of the county office building and compared himself to Paul Revere with a warning. “Right […]

Sean Tubbs | May 2, 2025

News Real Estate

City evaluates proposal to create authority to purchase land for affordable housing

When City Council adopted a new zoning code in late 2023, the action granted property owners the ability to build many more houses and apartments than under the old rules. Charlottesville’s housing program manager said that has made property more valuable. “We have occurrences of rising land costs [and] speculative development that may happen within […]

Sean Tubbs | April 30, 2025

News Real Estate

Divided Albemarle Planning Commission recommends key approval for floodplain development in Woolen Mills

One of the areas Albemarle Board of Supervisors has identified for industrial development is along Broadway Street in a land-locked section of the county only accessible via roads through Charlottesville. The future happens one application at a time and the Board will soon consider whether it wants to allow the owners of a project called […]

Sean Tubbs | April 25, 2025

News Real Estate

A couple pays $3.5 million for Dairy Road estate

Over the last few years, analysis from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors has captured a trend of fewer homes being sold in the region, while the average purchase price continues to climb. There were 1,287 homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to 879 sold in the last three months of 2024. […]

Sean Tubbs | April 23, 2025

News

Another preliminary ruling from Judge Worrell allows lawsuit against Charlottesville’s zoning code to proceed

A major feature of Charlottesville’s relatively new zoning code is that developers can build more places to live without seeking additional permission from local elected officials. There has been an active lawsuit since January 2024 that claims the city did not follow Virginia’s regulations to study the impact more people would have on area roadways. […]

Sean Tubbs | April 18, 2025

News Real Estate

Piedmont Community Land Trust continues to add to portfolio

There are many ways to make it more affordable for an individual or family to own a home. One of them is to separate the cost of land from the cost of the structure itself. That’s the business model of the Piedmont Community Land Trust, an entity created in 2008 by the Thomas Jefferson Planning […]

Sean Tubbs | April 16, 2025

News

Albemarle Supervisors agree to put $5.2 million toward affordable housing next year

Earlier this year, dozens of organizations sent a letter to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, demanding it increase the real estate tax and put at least $10 million a year toward affordable housing projects. “We ask that you support strategies to increase deeply affordable housing and address unmet needs in Albemarle County,” reads the […]

Sean Tubbs | April 11, 2025

News Real Estate

Coalition seeks zoning change in Louisa County to allow churches to be used for overnight stays in winter

The arrival of spring brings the end of the season for PACEM, a network of churches that provides overnight shelter for hundreds of unhoused individuals in the Charlottesville area each year. Since 2004, the group, officially known as People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry, has since 2004 operated cold-weather shelters across a rotating set of […]

Sean Tubbs | April 9, 2025

News

Several plans call for tunnels beneath area railways, but none under active consideration

This week, Norfolk Southern periodically shut down three at-grade railway crossings in Charlottesville to perform maintenance on the underlying tracks. While the closure was temporary, it raises questions about how to make it easier to get across the linear barrier of the railroad. In all, there is a distance of 4,500 feet where the railroad […]

Sean Tubbs | April 4, 2025