A look at planned hotel rooms in the Charlottesville area

The number of hotel rooms under construction in the United States is at a five-year low, according to data collected by the company CoStar. The publication Construction Dive reports that the number of rooms being built decreased 11.9 percent year over year in June. While the exact data for Albemarle and Charlottesville is not available, […]

Albemarle Supervisors update regulations on solar panels

Albemarle property owners who want to install solar-energy facilities or battery-storage systems now have an easier pathway to do so. At its July 16 meeting, the Board of Supervisors adopted a new ordinance regulating solar facilities as well as battery-energy storage systems.  Under the new regulations, “accessory” energy facilities are allowed in any zoning district […]

Another affordable apartment complex planned for Seminole Trail

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted the Places29 Master Plan in February 2011 as a vision to guide the transition of commercial spaces into areas where people could live.  “There is no timeframe for the vision,” reads an introduction to the plan. “In fact, it may be decades before the area builds out in fulfillment […]

Protesters demand a halt to federal influence at UVA

University of Virginia President Jim Ryan’s last day in office is July 11, and Executive Vice President J.J. Davis will take over the position on an acting basis while a search committee does its work.  On the afternoon of July 4, around 400 people gathered near the Rotunda to protest Ryan’s resignation and the demand […]

Charlottesville pledges to restore new zoning code

The City of Charlottesville has stopped taking any applications for new development while officials figure out how to move forward after its zoning code was thrown out by Judge Claude Worrell on June 30 for a technical error.  On July 1, the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services let builders and developers know that all […]

One West Main Street commercial establishment closes while another goes private

When Charlottesville City Council granted permission for three student apartment buildings to be constructed on West Main Street in the 2010s, the zoning rules at the time required that the ground floor have space for commercial establishments. Since then, several of the required spaces have remained vacant while other businesses have struggled to stay afloat. […]