Sean Tubbs, Author at C-VILLE Weekly

Should a downtown movie theater be demolished to build new housing?

Crowds rarely attend meetings of the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review, but quite a few people showed up for a November 19 preliminary review of a potential 184-foot-tall building at the Downtown Mall site of the Violet Crown movie theater. “I completely understand the magnitude of the importance of this property cannot be overstated,” said […]

Sean Tubbs | November 27, 2024

News Real Estate

Judge is ready to rule in Charlottesville zoning case, but opens door to more evidence

One month after City Council approved a new zoning code that allows more residential density across Charlottesville, a group of property owners filed a lawsuit arguing they would be harmed by the changes. Last week, Charlottesville Circuit Judge Claude Worrell dismissed two of the four counts in White v. Charlottesville but left room for further […]

Sean Tubbs | November 20, 2024

News Real Estate

Neighbors oppose private school in Albemarle’s rural area

The Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia projects that Albemarle’s population will grow from around 116,000 now to more than 155,000 people in 2050, generating the need for services in a county where growth and development is only allowed on 5 percent of the land mass. One service is day care, a function […]

Sean Tubbs | November 13, 2024

News Real Estate

Upfitting a West Main building for new kind of donut shop

While the city may have recently abandoned an expensive plan to upgrade West Main Street to be more of a destination, those who want to take a risk on business continue to make investments. At least that’s what a Chesterfield-based firm did when it purchased 917 W. Main St. for $1.3 million in August 2022. […]

Sean Tubbs | November 6, 2024

News Real Estate

Another mixed-use project hopes to build more homes, less space for business

When Albemarle supervisors approved a rezoning of 277 acres north of Polo Grounds Road in November 2016, Riverbend Development got the green light to build up to 1,550 residential units and develop 130,000 square feet of commercial space. Eight years later, Riverbend has asked Albemarle for permission to build 300 more homes as part […]

Sean Tubbs | October 30, 2024

News Real Estate

Albemarle supes resume Comprehensive Plan review with discussion of growth area

A delay in the completion of a new comprehensive plan for Albemarle County means adoption won’t happen until at least summer 2025, a time when half of the Board of Supervisors may be up for re-election. Among other things, the update, known as AC44, will reaffirm rules about what can be built in Albemarle and […]

Sean Tubbs | October 23, 2024

News Real Estate

Five-unit Venable apartment building to be replaced with nine-dwelling structure

The future of land use in Charlottesville will be determined parcel by parcel as property owners make decisions about whether they will build units that are required to be sold or rented at levels below the market value. The relatively new owners of 1609 Gordon Ave., an LLC who bought the property in December 2021 […]

Sean Tubbs | October 16, 2024

News Real Estate

Albemarle County biotech company to add 200 jobs at expanded facility

Albemarle County’s campaign to grow the biotechnology industry showed a major sign of progress earlier this month when one company announced plans to invest $200 million into an expansion project. “We want to expand our manufacturing to make sterile medicines, put in clean rooms, and create really, really great jobs,” said Afton Scientific’s Tom […]

Sean Tubbs | October 9, 2024

News Real Estate

A hotel seems more likely at Artful Lodger shopping center

A New York-based developer who had planned to build a nine-story apartment tower on the site of a downtown Charlottesville shopping center has sold the property for $5.75 million. Jeffrey Levien’s company Heirloom Development bought 218 W. Market St. in June 2020 for $4 million, but sold the property in mid-September to Cavalier Hospitality LLC. […]

Sean Tubbs | October 2, 2024

News Real Estate

Major real estate transactions taking place this month in Fifeville

As planning and negotiations continue over a grocery story at 501 Cherry Ave., major transactions continue to take place in the Fifeville neighborhood. On September 9, the firm Neighborhood Investments paid $2.24 million for an undeveloped property between Roosevelt Brown Boulevard and Ninth Street SW. There have been several development projects associated with the land, […]

Sean Tubbs | September 25, 2024