Back to worship 

A Christian church with locations in Louisa County, Pantops Mountain, and Waynesboro has purchased a key site in downtown Charlottesville for a new campus.  Point Church paid $1.3 million for 105 Ridge St., a structure originally built in the late 19th century for the Mount Zion Baptist Church. The property had previously been listed at […]

Neighborhood remodel?

Twenty-three years ago this week, Albemarle Supervisors officially adopted a policy called the Neighborhood Model to encourage construction of a more urban fabric in the county’s designated growth areas.    “We were proud of the tremendous efforts put into developing the Neighborhood Model by a committee of local residents and staff,” says Sally Thomas, who […]

Explosive growth

Unlike Scottsville, Crozet is not a town, and decisions about land use are up to the six-member Board of Supervisors. The unincorporated community is in Albemarle’s White Hall District, and last year, incumbent Supervisor Ann Mallek narrowly defeated challenger Brad Rykal.   Rykal’s campaign argued Albemarle has focused too much development into Crozet without providing […]

House down

The City of Charlottesville issued a stop-work order on Friday, April 26, at 521 Park Plaza in the North Downtown neighborhood. When it served the document, the city discovered the three-bedroom house had been demolished.  At some point late last week, a yellow excavator smashed the one-and-a-half-story structure into pieces. City records listed the home, […]

Change of plans?

The developer of a planned nine-story apartment building at 218 W. Market St. is considering building a hotel there instead. “It’s a great opportunity to further expose the Downtown Mall to visitors coming into Charlottesville, and increase the vitality of our downtown,” says Jeffrey Levien of Heirloom Development. In September 2020, City Council granted Levien’s […]

One exit

Any structure erected in Virginia must conform to building codes created around a century ago to ensure safe construction methods are followed and that people inside can get out if there’s a fire. Such provisions spread across the country after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in March 1911 in New York City that led to […]

Buffer zone

Ten months ago, Albemarle County Supervisors authorized County Executive Jeffrey Richardson to proceed with the purchase of 462 acres around the Rivanna Station military base. In late March, Richardson filed for a rezoning with the county’s Community Development Department to rezone just over a third of that land for economic development purposes. “A key element […]

Housing more

The University of Virginia’s Great and Good strategic plan helped guide the public institution to recently surpass a $5 billion fundraising goal. One item in the plan calls for the creation of a Good Neighbor program. “Affordable housing is one of the six issues that was identified by the community as being important to work […]

Build-out

For many years, aspirational plans adopted by elected officials have called for Route 29 to become more than just a shopping destination or a way for travelers to pass through the city. “The Hydraulic Small Area Plan seeks to identify opportunities for a more sustainable mixed-use development pattern that departs from the historic, suburban patterns […]

Automotive zone

When Albemarle County supervisors adopted a Small Area Plan in December 2018 for the intersection of Rio Road and Route 29, the idea was to reimagine it for a less car dependent 21st century.  “We invite our partners to work with us and to think creatively about the future of Rio29, because doing so can […]