As planning and negotiations continue over a grocery story at 501 Cherry Ave., major transactions continue to take place in the Fifeville neighborhood.
On September 9, the firm Neighborhood Investments paid $2.24 million for an undeveloped property between Roosevelt Brown Boulevard and Ninth Street SW. There have been several development projects associated with the land, owned by the Piedmont Housing Alliance, on two occasions.
The Piedmont Housing Alliance sold the 0.56-acre property in March 2016 for $1.19 million. The previous owner filed a site plan amendment in 2020 for 24 residential units and about 11,000 square feet of commercial space, which was never approved. Since then, Charlottesville City Council has adopted a small area plan for Cherry Avenue that discouraged tall buildings in order to preserve the character of surrounding neighborhoods.
As a result, the city’s new zoning code classified the undeveloped Ninth Street lot as Commercial Mixed Use 3, which sets a base height limit of three stories but an additional two stories are allowed if the project has affordable units that qualify it for bonus space. That is different from other corridors in Charlottesville, such as Barracks Road and Fifth Street Extended, which allow up to 10 stories to encourage shopping centers to redevelop at maximum density.
Richard Spurzem of Neighborhood Properties said in an email he was not sure if he would proceed with the existing site plan or start fresh.
This past March, Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville bought a former auto repair business at 316 Ninth St. SW for $700,000. The nonprofit owns two nearby lots and has not yet decided how it will use its new property.
The city’s public housing agency is planning to purchase two properties several blocks away on Fifth Street SW to preserve them for affordable housing. There are multiple buildings at both locations, and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority wants to buy them for $2.2 million.
“The acquisition of this portfolio will allow CRHA to preserve the naturally occurring affordable housing units while giving CRHA the ability to redevelop the property to provide additional housing units soon,” reads a resolution adopted by the CRHA Board of Commissioners on September 23.
The acquisition continues a trend of CRHA purchasing property, including several Fifeville properties that were part of a $10 million purchase from Woodard Properties in August 2023, to expand its portfolio.
Meanwhile, single-family homes still sell at a premium in Fifeville. On September 4, 2024, a two-bedroom house at 223 Fourth St. SW sold for $585,000, well above the 2024 assessment of $376,000. There’s also an accessory dwelling on the property.
On September 18, a single-family attached home in the Orangedale subdivision at 705 Prospect Ave. sold for $296,500. That’s over 39 percent above the 2024 assessment of $212,900.
No matter the development, the leadership of the Fifeville Neighborhood Association want all projects to align with the values enshrined in the Cherry Avenue Small Area Plan.
“We encourage developers to come talk with residents directly at our monthly meetings so that we can work together on upcoming projects and make sure residents are informed,” read a statement sent in response to a question from C-VILLE.
