The bigger the better?

There’s just no denying it — the thing is absolutely massive. On the main approach from Emmet Street (where thousands of basketball game and concert goers will surely get a nice, long look as they sit stranded in event-day traffic),…

Council, BAR in a tangle over Mall\’s scale

“Why do we never get an answer/When we’re knocking at the door/With a thousand million questions/About hate and death and war?” So goes the first verse of the Moody Blues’ 1970 song “Question.” Replace the last line with “About Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall,” and you’ve got an accurate description of last Thursday night’s special City Council […]

Goodbye to U

Dear Ayla: Yes, the John Paul Jones arena, which has been under construction for the past three years, is finally set to open in a matter of weeks. This means its venerated predecessor across the street, University Hall, will no longer be home to Virginia basketball games.
To track down this particular answer, Ace went straight to the top dog: Craig Littlepage, UVA’s director of athletics. According to Littlepage, “University Hall will stand for seven years or so. The horizon may be for five to seven years or maybe even longer than that.”

Snap Judgments

One season. Three categories. Endless ideas. C-VILLE’s Summer Photo Contest is more than just a way to create an issue when the Art Director is on vacation—it’s a celebration of summertime in Charlottesville in all its variety. Dive in, the water’s great!

Riverbend cuts prices for “workforce”

A potential signal of a cooling Charlottesville condo market came last week as Riverbend Condominium developers Dupont Fabros slashed prices 10 percent and began rolling out a “Workforce Housing initiative,” which provides a price break for anyone employed in “key public service sectors.”

Planners deny, defer two Fifeville projects

Revitalization or gentrification? Whatever you want to call it, the Charlottesville Planning Commission wasn’t approving it at their July 11 meeting, putting the brakes on two projects that would increase density in the Fifeville neighborhood around Cherry Avenue.    In an uncharacteristically divided decision, the commission voted 4-2 to deny a rezoning request by Mark Saunders […]

Second quarter a boon for buyers

If you’re looking to buy a home, you can thank your lucky stars that you’re shopping now rather than a year ago. According to the second-quarter market report from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors (CAAR), the real estate market now officially belongs to buyers, after several years of sellers holding the reins.     One […]

Beights’ bridge woes drag on

Late on Tuesday night, July 11, the Beights Development found itself back before the Albemarle County Planning Commission, more than four years after they first received approval to install a ConSpan bridge crossing at Mosby Mountain Stream to provide a northern entrance to the Mosby Mountain residential development.    Although residential construction has been finished for […]

Office of the Architect goes “sustainable”

The Office of the Architect at UVA wants to make it a more environmentally friendly and sustainable institution. David Neuman’s office recently developed “Guidelines for Sustainable Buildings and Environmental Design,” a strategy modeled after similar environmental policies at other universities, including Duke and the University of North Carolina.

Reunion giving up 43 percent

Usually a time for such games of skill as Spot-the-Greatest-Weight-Gain and Try-to-Remember-Foxfield, UVA Reunions Weekend have adopted a more serious purpose in recent years—namely, they are increasingly becoming fundraising occasions for the University. At more than $42 million, the 2006 giving, culminating with June’s reunion events, represented a 43 percent increase over 2005 figures. And, […]