While staff in the City of Charlottesville’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services continue to process land-use applications under a new set of zoning rules, there are still many projects approved under the old rules waiting to be built.
One of them is an apartment building that would be constructed close to downtown, where a pediatrician’s office currently stands, in the Little High neighborhood.
City Council voted 3-2 in July 2017 to approve a special use permit to allow up to 127 residential units on the 1.4 acre site. Under the rules at the time, only four of the apartments were required to be designated as affordable.
Many members of the surrounding neighborhood had waged a major campaign to stop the project, arguing the building would be out of character with single-family homes nearby. Without the permit, the Great Eastern Management Company could only have built around two dozen units.
The Little High Neighborhood Association sued the city in the summer of 2018, and Charlottesville Circuit Court records show the suit is still technically active.
Every quarter, Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders provides written responses to anonymous questions posed by members of various neighborhood associations. The latest edition features comments from someone still angry that the project was approved.
“The 1011 East Jefferson project [is] one of the biggest deceptions of all time,” reads the question. “Why not scrap the 2017 deal, which was made in bad faith (and the developer has done nothing with the property since)?”
While the project has not gone to construction, GEMC filed a site plan for it in the summer of 2024, and NDS granted final approval this January.
“The Final Site Plan shall be valid for a period of five (5) years from the date of approval or until January 6, 2031,” reads the city’s response. “The applicant must meet several additional requirements prior to the issuance of a land disturbance permit.”
Under the new development code adopted by City Council in December 2023, the property is zoned Corridor Mixed Use 5, which would allow a building to be as high as seven stories with no cap on residential density. However, the project would require 10 percent of the units to be designated as affordable to households making less than 60 percent of the area median income.
David Mitchell, construction manager at GEMC, said the company will construct the apartment building by 2031. But he said it company would not pursue a project under the new inclusionary zoning measures because it is not financially feasible to do so.
“That is something that is becoming evident in the fact no real projects have come forward under the new code and the city staff and City Council at least are starting to recognize that,” Mitchell said.
GEMC also has a site plan approved under the previous zoning to convert a portion of the Seminole Square Shopping Center into an apartment complex.
