Red dirt alert

We’ve noticed a little more commotion than usual on East Rio Road, where development of the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program’s (AHIP) Treesdale Park is accelerating along the notoriously congested two-lane road. Last November, Pinnacle Construction and Development Corp. broke ground on the affordable housing project, which AHIP estimates will serve nearly 900 working families over the next 50 years. The planned 88-unit multi-family community is located between Stonehenge Road and Towne Lane on East Rio—a few minutes by car from the proposed site of McIntire Road Extended, the city’s unconstructed portion of the Meadow Creek Parkway. Treesdale will offer a mix of two- and three-bedroom apartments for families earning up to 60 percent of the area median income. (In Albemarle County, 60 percent of the area median income equates to $36,000 for a family of four.) Treesdale Park, an EarthCraft and EnergyStar project, will carry reduced water and energy bills for future residents, as well as a diminished environmental impact. The project will also include a community center with classrooms, daycare programs, a computer lab and a fitness center.