Greystar’s new Spring Valley development will bring 525 rental units to 35 acres off Old Ivy Road.
When the Board of Supervisors approved Greystar Development’s request to rezone 36 acres of land just to the west of the University of Virginia’s North Grounds, there was no mention of what the area would be called after 525 new units were built.
At some point between March 2023 and now, marketing officials came up with the name Spring Valley for the general area for two branded communities. Construction began in September 2025 on 336 apartments units in five buildings as well as 189 single-family homes and town homes.
“Ideally positioned off Old Ivy Road, the residential community of Spring Valley plants you in the heart of Charlottesville living,” reads Greystar’s website. “Within Spring Valley, you can live at The Bennett for vibrant apartment living or The Dean for an idyllic townhome and single-family home experience.”
There is no known prior association with that name for this location in Albemarle, though there is an orchard of that name further to the west. Until the 35.4 acres were graded, the wooded landscape along U.S. 29/250 provided a rural passage for the Rivanna Trail. That pathway will now travel through a more urban environment.
One-bedroom units at The Bennett range between a base rent of $1,960 and $2,385 a month before utilities. Two-bedrooms will lease for between $2,780 a month and $3,230 a month. The largest three-bedroom unit will set you back $3,775 per rental period.
None of the units in the Dean are for sale and listed rents for three-bedroom units there range from $3,733 to $4,065 a month.
This is the first development in Albemarle County for Greystar, the largest manager of apartments in the United States with over 1 million units under its administration, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council. The company is also the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Housing Rights Initiative in July alleging that Greystar violated fair housing laws in several states for not renting to households with federal housing vouchers. Virginia is not one of those states.
The rezoning came despite opposition from residents of the Bellair neighborhood concerned about the additional traffic the development would bring to an already congested area. The eastern end of Old Ivy Road is constrained by a narrow railway underpass and the western end is snarled during peak periods. The area is not served by regular transit services.
The developer agreed to contribute up to $750,000 in off-site improvements, and studies were conducted to identify solutions to relieve congestion. One project currently under review by the Virginia Department of Transportation would add an extra lane to the on-ramp from Old Ivy Road to the U.S 29/250 bypass.
The cost estimate for that project has increased from $13.9 million to $20.6 million, according to VDOT.
The future residents of Spring Valley will one day be joined by future residents of Ivy Gardens, a 440-unit apartment complex now owned by the University of Virginia Foundation. In 2020, the Office of the Architect commissioned the firm Perkins&Will to develop a master plan to redevelop the site with 770 residences, 46,000 square feet of academic space, and 69,500 square feet of commercial space. So far those plans have not moved forward.
