Tomorrow night, Charlottesville’s City Council and Planning Commission will hold a joint hearing to determine whether a hotel proposed for the student-swamped Corner near UVA may increase its number of rooms by nearly one-third. Whit Graves, of University Limited Partnership, requested a special use permit for the hotel, to increase the number of rooms to 40 from 31. The hotel is planned for the current site of the Alcove condos, which are owned by Graves, his mother and his uncle.
The city has looked favorably on the project so far, and approved special use permits to house 90 percent of parking at the 14th Street parking garage and to maintain existing building setbacks. City staff estimates that an increase in the number of rooms would also boost the number of car trips on 14th Street, to 196 from 123, but writes that additional hotel options near the Corner "gives tourists and guests the opportunity to experience Charlottesville without getting behind the wheel of a car."
