Sean Tubbs, Author at C-VILLE Weekly

Harris Road apartment complex developer has until April 2026 to move forward

These are complicated times for anyone who’s tracking the details of how new housing gets constructed in Charlottesville. While planners and builders are still learning how the new development code works, staff in the Department of Neighborhood Development Services are hoping to adopt the first set of amendments by the end of the year. A […]

Sean Tubbs | May 28, 2025

News

Charlottesville Board of Zoning Appeals steps in to make decision after neighbors object

As more proposals seek approval under Charlottesville’s new development code, the Board of Zoning Appeals will play a technical role in making some of the decisions. Its meetings will also be one of a few places where people can officially express their objections. “We are hearing an administrative modification today,” said zoning administrator Read Brodhead […]

Sean Tubbs | May 23, 2025

News Real Estate

Albemarle Planning Commission votes to recommend approval for Forest School on Dudley Mountain Road

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit just over five years ago, child-care providers struggled to find ways to stay open amidst social distancing rules. Congregation Beth Israel “pivoted to a forest school model, embracing outdoor learning to keep our doors open for families,” said Jill Abbey-Clark, the director of what CBI calls its Forest School. To […]

Sean Tubbs | May 21, 2025

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Former Red Carpet Inn demolished to make way for 80-unit supportive housing apartment complex

The development of housing reserved for people with low incomes can take a long time, given shifting timelines of residents’ availability. That has twice been the case for SupportWorks Housing (formerly Virginia Supportive Housing), a Richmond-based nonprofit that steered the 60-unit Crossings at Fourth & Preston in Charlottesville through a complex process that involved a […]

Sean Tubbs | May 16, 2025

News Real Estate

BAR will consider request to demolish one of Charlottesville’s oldest houses

Charlottesville has seen many periods of growth since its founding in 1762, and new development rules adopted in late 2023 point the way to a more dense future. Along the way, city leaders have made decisions about whether some buildings should be preserved, assigning the Board of Architectural Review—the governing body that makes such decisions—a […]

Sean Tubbs | May 14, 2025

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Governor Youngkin eliminates funding that would have gone to a Biscuit Run connector trail

The Commonwealth of Virginia purchased nearly 1,200 acres of land at Biscuit Run in late 2009 in order to create a new state park, but funding to build the various components did not materialize. In 2018, Albemarle County entered into a 99-year lease with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to open the space […]

Sean Tubbs | May 9, 2025

News Real Estate

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

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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

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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