Danny Schmidt saves the best for last

If the only stupid question is the one not asked, then Danny Schmidt, a Charlottesville expatriate and a founding father of the local folk scene, is thumbtack sharp, a songwriter with the curviest question marks. Former local Danny Schmidt trots out his finest tunes for the esteemed Red House Records label on Instead the Forest […]

Neko's powerful new storm

On Middle Cyclone, Neko Case refines and deepens lessons learned from country, the singer/songwriter tradition and the off-center pop art of her sometimes band, the New Pornographers. With a terseness that nonetheless gives room for metaphor explorations and her discreetly eloquent musicians, Case twists the usually sleepy singer/songwriter style, lacing its romance with verbal timebombs […]

Judge denies injunction to stop Meadowcreek Parkway

The City of Charlottesville and the Virginia Department of Transportation nominally won in a circuit court hearing last week over a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the Meadowcreek Parkway, but the victory may be pyrrhic depending on what Judge Jay Swett decides during a May 19 hearing over the merits.   Meadowcreek Parkway […]

Charlottesville and Albemarle's top 10 private property owners

JUMP TO… • Douglas Caton (No. 10) • Coran Capshaw (No. 9) • Federal Realty Investment Trust (No. 8) • Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge (No. 7) • Martha Jefferson Hospital (No. 6) • Charles Rotgin, Jr. (No. 5) • Wendell Wood (No. 4) • Hunter Craig (No. 3) • Dr. Charles Hurt (No. 2) […]

No. 1: University of Virginia Foundation

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA FOUNDATION Assessed value: $342 million Acres: 4,766 Notable holdings: Boar’s Head Inn and Birdwood Golf Course; North Fork Research Park; Fontaine Research Park; Morven Farm; 18 residential properties; 14 apartment buildings; 18 office buildings; two other hotels; one former hospital; and five restaurants. The UVA Foundation, which manages the taxable real estate […]

No. 2: Dr. Charles Hurt

DR. CHARLES HURT Virginia Land Company Assessed value: $132 million* Acres: 3,155 Notable holdings: Fray’s Grant, Pavilions at Pantops, Advance Mills Farms, Mink Creek Estates, Montgomery Ridge. In 1961, Virginia Land Company was founded by Dr. Charles Hurt, a 1954 graduate of the UVA School of Medicine. Much of Hurt’s assets are in undeveloped land, […]

No. 3: Hunter Craig

HUNTER CRAIG Assessed value: $126 million* Acres: 1,305 Notable holdings: Biscuit Run, Wachovia tower on the Mall, the Bank of America building on the Mall, Chancellor Building on the Corner, Barracks West Condos Hunter Craig is either well positioned to make a killing when the recession ends or stuck with a millstone around his neck. […]

No. 4: Wendell Wood

WENDELL WOOD United Land Corporation Assessed value: $122 million* Acres: 1,966 Notable holdings: Undeveloped portions of Hollymead Town Center; office buildings adjacent to NGIC; Forest Springs Mobile Home Park. In the news recently for the sale of a 48-acre tract of land to the U.S. Army for the expansion of the National Ground Intelligence Center […]

No. 5: Charles Rotgin, Jr.

CHARLES ROTGIN, JR. President and CEO of Great Eastern Management Company Assessed value: $120 million Acres: 402 Notable holdings: Much of North Pointe, Pantops Shopping Center (the one with Food Lion), Solomon Court and Pineridge. A 1966 graduate of UVA, Charles “Chuck” Rotgin, Jr. began his real estate development, construction and management career in 1971 […]

No. 6: Martha Jefferson Hospital

MARTHA JEFFERSON HOSPITAL Assessed value: $112 million Acres: 110 Notable holdings: Downtown campus; new center at Peter Jefferson Place; Crozet Family Medicine; Health Services at Proffit Road A nonprofit, community hospital established in 1903, Martha Jefferson has recently entered negotiations with a North Carolina development firm to redevelop its 14-acre downtown campus. The hospital is […]