Building boom

Many of the development firms that build new spaces to live in the Charlottesville area are homegrown with a close-up view of this dynamic market. Names like Southern Development, Riverbend Development, Stony Point Development Group, and Great Eastern Management Company come up a lot when new projects become public.   But in the last several […]

Lost dogs

Last spring, Michael Juers and his wife Pamela dropped their two Chihuahuas off at the home of Adrienne Skaggs, a Ruckersville resident who’d listed her Sweet Dogs Grooming dog-sitting service on Rover.com. The Juers were traveling from the Charlottesville area to Florida ahead of a permanent move there, and hoped the dogs would have their […]

Sold!

A look through real estate sales in Charlottesville for the first month of the year shows a market with signs of a cooler 2023, while also revealing hints that there is money to be made in the future. Sales volumes are down from January 2022, while inventories are beginning to increase.   “January saw fewer transactions […]

In brief

UVA professor honored for artificial pancreas invention UVA School of Medicine professor Marc Breton has been awarded the university’s 2022 Edlich-Henderson Innovator of the Year for his role in developing an artificial pancreas, which now helps thousands of people around the world who have Type 1 diabetes. After receiving a Ph.D. in systems engineering from […]

(Don’t) go with the flow

Rebecca Reilly was one of five Charlottesville residents to sign a petition urging FEMA to reconsider regulatory changes made to allow real estate development on the floodplain of the Rivanna River.  “Unfortunately, we weren’t aware of the change in the map within 90 days,” said Reilly. “So FEMA’s response was we didn’t respond quickly enough.” […]

The other side of the story

Nearly two years ago, Virginia became the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. Before then, the commonwealth had executed over 1,300 people—more than any other state. As the head chaplain on Virginia’s death row, Reverend Russ Ford ministered to men sentenced to capital punishment throughout the 1980s and ’90s, and walked 28 of […]

In brief

Controversial conservative businessman Bert Ellis has been confirmed to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors. On February 7, the Virginia Senate struck down a resolution brought forth by state Sen. Creigh Deeds to remove Ellis’ name from the final list of appointees. Democratic state Senators Lynwood Lewis and Chapman Petersen rejected the resolution alongside […]

Taking action

Since the fall, Charlottesville and Albemarle County have seen a significant spike in shootings—several involving juveniles. On January 23, a male juvenile was injured in a shooting in the area of Sixth and Garrett streets. Three months earlier, Charlottesville police arrested three teenage boys, ages 14 to 17, in connection with an October 15 Omni […]

Planning ahead

The Charlottesville Climate Action Plan is 97 pages long and chock-full of graphs, charts, and infographics. While the plan will affect everyone who lives in the city, the document can hardly be considered digestible for the average resident.  On February 8, the Piedmont chapter of the Virginia Sierra Club attempted to rectify this. The nonprofit […]

Zoning in

The draft zoning map for Charlottesville points the way to a dense future for the city, all in the name of providing affordable housing. But the existing zoning still provides opportunities for additional residential density for those who can pay for it. Sometimes that means removing houses.   For example, a house built in 1893 […]