There is a trend of late in Albemarle County for developers to return to the Community Development Department to amend previous rezonings and request that commercial space be swapped out for more residential units.
For instance, in April the Board of Supervisors approved a request from Great Eastern Management Company to add more than 700 places to live at North Pointe for a total of 1,600 units. Last September, they agreed to Riverbend Development’s rezoning to add another 300 units at Brookhill for a total of 1,850.
Now United Land Corporation has asked for a rezoning of the southern portion of Hollymead Town Center to provide between 1,500 and 2,400 new units in an area preparing for the arrival of AstraZeneca and the continuing expansion of the UVA North Fork Discovery park.
Area A-1 is 31 acres and zoned for up to 258,000 square feet of commercial use only with no residential allowed. Area A-2 is 44.5 acres and 368,000 square feet and allows 1,222 residential units.
Just over 100,000 square feet of commercial space have been built since 2011 and the company wants flexibility.
“Over the past 15 years, there have been no residential units constructed and the majorityof commercial pad sites remain vacant in both the A-1 and A-2 blocks,” reads the narrative for a rezoning request submitted in March.
The application states that commercial is no longer viable and points out that Albemarle County has identified a need for thousands of new units to satisfy demand for a growing population.
“Allowing higher densities in established locations like Hollymead Town Center will help the County meet future housing needs for residents and also support both existing and commercial development in the Hollymead Town Center core,” the narrative continues.
The application points out many of the conditions required in the original rezoning have been satisfied, such as construction of Towncenter Drive to connect U.S. 29 and Dickerson Road.
This amendment also seeks to add 74 acres of currently undeveloped land to A-2, but not all of it would be residential.
“The revised plan would propose a minimum of 150,000 square feet—up to 350,000 square feet—of commercial space, focusing commercial along Route 29 with the potential for mixed use commercial along Berkmar Drive and Towncenter Drive,” the narrative continues.
A cyberattack last June knocked out what the county calls a “development dashboard,” which tracks the number of proposed residential units as well as those approved. The site will soon be restored and data shown to C-VILLE Weekly indicates there are a total of 2,524 residential units under review in Hollymead and over 6,400 approved but not yet built.
The public will get the first chance to talk about this rezoning at a future meeting of the Places29 North Community Advisory Committee.
