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Bigger portfolio

As Charlottesville considers an ordinance to create a land bank to generate more affordable housing, one government entity is already providing much of that function. In addition to owning and operating hundreds of public and voucher-based units across the city, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority has been buying more property to guarantee lower rents […]

Sean Tubbs | March 13, 2024

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Housing more

The University of Virginia’s Great and Good strategic plan helped guide the public institution to recently surpass a $5 billion fundraising goal. One item in the plan calls for the creation of a Good Neighbor program. “Affordable housing is one of the six issues that was identified by the community as being important to work […]

Sean Tubbs | March 6, 2024

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Build-out

For many years, aspirational plans adopted by elected officials have called for Route 29 to become more than just a shopping destination or a way for travelers to pass through the city. “The Hydraulic Small Area Plan seeks to identify opportunities for a more sustainable mixed-use development pattern that departs from the historic, suburban patterns […]

Sean Tubbs | February 28, 2024

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Producing the goods

The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank served nearly 118,000 people in the last fiscal year, all while relying on aging equipment at the space it rents at 1207 Harris St. The City of Charlottesville is planning to invest $215,000 in unspent federal funds to help the organization solve a crisis. “BRAFB’s current refrigerator unit was […]

Sean Tubbs | February 21, 2024

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Later date

As part of the adoption of the development code on December 18, 2023, a divided City Council set a date of August 31 for when projects would be reviewed under the new rules and would be subject to new affordability requirements. Councilor Natalie Oschrin was in the audience as a community member in December, but […]

Sean Tubbs | February 16, 2024

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Automotive zone

When Albemarle County supervisors adopted a Small Area Plan in December 2018 for the intersection of Rio Road and Route 29, the idea was to reimagine it for a less car dependent 21st century.  “We invite our partners to work with us and to think creatively about the future of Rio29, because doing so can […]

Sean Tubbs | February 7, 2024

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Worship again?

In 2019, City Council rezoned a church site in Belmont to allow for subsidized apartments to replace parking on the three-quarter acre lot. The project never materialized, and four and a half years later, a new faith-based institution has purchased 750 Hinton Ave.  The Church of the Good Shepherd currently rents space at the Music […]

Sean Tubbs | January 31, 2024

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Up less

Albemarle County is reporting another increase in average property values for 2024, but its not as high as in the past two years.  “This year what we’re looking at is a 4.07 percent overall increase to the tax base based on the reassessment,” says Peter Lynch, Albemarle’s assessor.  Albemarle switched to annual assessments in 2009, […]

Sean Tubbs | January 24, 2024

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Now what?

Nearly a month has passed since Charlottesville City Council approved a new development code intended to increase the number of places for people to live. But the city still has several finishing touches to put in place before the code goes into effect on February 19.  One of them is the adoption of a manual […]

Sean Tubbs | January 17, 2024

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More beds at ABC

Rezonings for large, mixed-use complexes include a legally binding document called a “code of development” that lays out what can be built in a given project and how much the public can expect.  In October 2020, the Board of Supervisors approved the Albemarle Business Campus, a mixed-use development on Fifth Street Extended that allowed for […]

Sean Tubbs | January 10, 2024