Hollymead Town Center might well get its, well, town center. Of the five areas of Hollymead, two areas are almost all commercial and two are almost all residential. Only Area A-2, as it’s known in the planning process, is truly designed to be mixed-use, with 1,222 residential units and 364,000 square feet of commercial space. It’s that part which will resemble an urban environ rather than the suburban norm.
 If this rendering reflects the future of Hollymead, this portion at least might earn the name "town center. |
Albemarle County planning commissioners voted 4-3 to recommend the Board of Supervisors approve the rezoning. Affordable housing advocates can cheer that 20 percent of the project should qualify as "affordable." One of the Commission’s conditions is that all of the mixed-use buildings be LEED certified, which signifies "green" building. J.P. Williamson of Octagon Partners, leading the development, notes that two years ago, the project missed every tenant of the neighborhood model, and now hits all 12.
But commissioners struggled over the value of the proffers, which are expected to total roughly $12 million, and many of the promises haven’t been formally submitted.
When asked if he would defer, Williamson wouldn’t budge. He blasted the timing of the process, which only gives him a few days to respond to an application submitted four weeks prior. "There’s no deceit here—this is our attempt to do a good project. …I think it’s a mischaracterization to say we haven’t committed to anything—we’ve committed to everything that’s ever been asked for. I don’t think it’s fair to ask for another eight- to 12-week delay to sort through these issues that we’ve already agreed to."
Hollymead’s history no doubt inspired some mistrust. The Hollymead Town Center, with initial approvals in 2003, gave county leaders a lot of heartburn when developer Wendell Wood quickly graded nearly the entire area, creating a Martian-esque landscape and plenty of erosion. Issues have also arisen over a road and a staircase at Hollymead, as C-VILLE has previously reported.
At an August 8 work session, the Board of Supervisors will take a joint look at both Area A-2 and Area A-1, which is designed to be roughly similar to the Target portion of Hollymead.
Previous coverage:
Hollymead developers outflank Places29 plans
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