The pending closure of Roses in the Pantops Shopping Center is the latest in the end of an era, as 20th-century commercial patterns continue to wane. A looming vacancy might be seen as a catalyst for new construction to fit the needs of the 21st century, but a representative of the firm that owns the property said that is premature.
“It’s too early for us to look at a redevelopment,” says David Mitchell, construction and development manager for Great Eastern Management Company, which owns the property. “We would rather find a new tenant.”
The building that Roses shares with the Dollar Tree dates back to 1986 and was built in the early days of Albemarle’s growth management policy that concentrates development on land close to the City of Charlottesville. Albemarle has sought to manage that land through the development of planning documents such as the Pantops Master Plan, which identifies the Pantops Shopping Center as an “Urban Center” called Riverbend.
“Development projects in this Center should establish a more diverse mix of uses, an interconnected street network, and human-scaled, walkable development patterns,” reads page 38 of the plan.
GEMC has already shown a willingness to redevelop commercial properties into something that might implement that planning vision. In 2018, the company filed plans with the City of Charlottesville to redevelop the southern portion of the Seminole Square Shopping Center into an apartment complex with more than 350 units. The city is reviewing that proposal under its former zoning code, which did not have a requirement that 10 percent of units be income-restricted.
“The recently passed affordable housing regulations [in Charlottesville] for new residential [structures] will make residential extremely difficult if not financially impossible,” Mitchell says.
So far, only one multifamily apartment building is pending under the city’s new zoning code and that is a fully affordable project being pursued as part of a University of Virginia initiative.
Albemarle County wants there to be more places for people to live, and adopted a plan in July 2021 called Housing Albemarle that calls for building thousands more residential units. Last February, Albemarle supervisors approved the Affordable Rental Housing Incentive Proposal that would grant a “financial incentive” worth 15 percent of the property’s real estate tax rebate. In return, 20 percent of units must be available to households making less than 60 percent of the area median income.
Currently there are 141 units under review on Pantops.
GEMC is also the developer of North Pointe in northern Albemarle, a development enabled by a 2006 rezoning. In 2023, the company sought a rezoning to decrease the amount of commercial space in favor of more homes. That plan is still under review.
Riverbend Development is seeking rezoning to increase the number of units that can be built at Brookhill south of Forest Lakes.
Meanwhile, more people continue to call Albemarle home. Figures released this week by UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service claim the county population has grown 4.8 percent to an estimated 117,790 since the 2020 Census.
