A rendering of the proposed 11-story building at 843 W. Main depicts its physical relationship to a future Westhaven community developed according to a master plan approved by its residents in March. Image: LV Collective / Timmons Group.
On Friday, August 22, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell will issue a written opinion on whether he will reconsider a motion of default judgment that threw out the city’s zoning code. On August 13, he hinted he would not, but also gave the city’s attorneys a chance to explain what their defense would be if White v. Charlottesville goes to trial.
Meanwhile, planning work continues for several buildings, including two that went before the city’s Board of Architectural Review on August 19 for preliminary review.
A firm called LV Collective has filed plans to build an 11-story building at 843 W. Main St. with 708 beds and a 120-space parking garage. That’s right next to The Standard at Charlottesville and to the immediate south of the Westhaven community, soon to be redeveloped by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
The 1.6-acre property is zoned Corridor Mixed-Use 8 under the voided development code, which allows that level of height if the developer provides an additional level of affordable housing. If not, the building can be eight stories tall, but 10 percent of the units must be designated as affordable. A major feature of the new zoning is that City Council plays no role in approving projects like this.
The Public Housing Association of Residents has circulated a petition against the development, arguing that the building will tower over Westhaven and the 10th and Page neighborhood.
Charlottesville City Council has pledged $15 million toward redevelopment of Westhaven. On August 6, its executive director asked council for more than $500,000 in annual funding to support public housing units, resident services, and to pay for redevelopment staff.
Student housing on West Main Street has been lucrative for the city. In 2025, the Flats @ West Village generated $903,258.16 in real property taxes. Construction took place in 2014 and in that year the taxes were $64,275.10.
Across the street is The Standard, a student apartment building that went up in 2018. The site had been home to an office building and generated $14,622.31 in 2017, after that building was demolished. In 2025, the owners paid $1,001,194.46 in taxes.
The combined tax bill in 2025 for the three properties upon which LV Collective wants to build is $66,759.
Also on the BAR agenda on August 19 was a second review of a seven-story student housing building on Seventh Street SW in Fifeville. The BAR had a first look at The Mark in June, and mostly discussed the project’s incorporation of two historical protected buildings.
During the creation of the new development code, a campaign was waged against Stony Point Development Group, which sought to develop a third phase of Dairy Market. That project was put on hold and City Council agreed to limit height on Preston and Cherry avenues with the creation of an overlay district called Core Neighborhood Corridor. In these areas, council must grant a special exception permit for a building to exceed seven stories allowing for conditions to be set.
Those rules do not apply to West Main.
