A 2019 UVA plan recommended road construction from Copeley Road to the Millmont Street and Arlington Boulevard intersection, which would relieve congestion during peak commute times and after events at the John Paul Jones Arena. Photo: Eze Amos
The University of Virginia tends to keep its plans close to the vest, but sometimes keen observers can get a glimpse of its future by poring through property sales.
On May 31, 2024, an entity connected to UVA’s real estate foundation paid the University of Virginia Credit Union $10.5 million for three properties on Arlington Boulevard. Later that year, a Board of Visitors panel was told a study for a new road was underway.
On March 5, the idea entered the public realm as the BOV’s Buildings and Grounds Committee reviewed additions to the Major Capital Plan, the way UVA tracks development of new structures and infrastructure. One addition is $100,000 for design of the Copeley Connector Road.
Copeley Road currently runs from Ivy Road through North Grounds before turning to the east where it terminates with Emmet Street.
“The 2019 North Grounds Athletics plan recommended road construction from Copeley Road to the Millmont and Arlington Boulevard intersection to relieve congestion during peak commute times and for patrons when they’re exiting the large [John Paul Jones] arena events,” said Lois Stanley, UVA’s senior vice president for operations.
The 2023 Grounds Plan: A Framework for Campus Planning also calls for the road to be built alongside a multi-use path.
“This would greatly improve safe connectivity between Grounds and the Barracks Road Shopping Center,” reads page 38 of the plan.
Few details about the scope of the future roadway were mentioned at the meeting, but the UVA Foundation owns all of the land immediately to the south of Millmont Street’s intersection with Arlington Boulevard. In December 2019, the foundation paid $10 million for Arlington Park Townhomes and its 2.12 acres. In June 2020, the foundation paid $10 million for an apartment building just to the south.
The UVA Foundation is a result of an agreement signed in 1986 between Albemarle, Charlottesville, and UVA to set expectations about how each would approach growth. The foundation pays real property taxes to the city, but that stops when the Board of Visitors formally takes ownership.
Other additions to the major capital plan include $13 million for construction of a multipurpose practice field and $12.5 million for two new Health System buildings. The plan will come back for formal approval at the BOV meeting in June.
Members of the Buildings and Grounds Committee were also briefed on the
schematic design for a second structure on Ivy Road that the School of Data Science wants.
“We’ve been working on the development of the Emmet Ivy Corridor since the Board of Visitors approved the framework plan in 2016,” said Alice Raucher, architect for the University of Virginia.
The School of Data Science opened in April 2024.
All of the land within the corridor was once on the city’s tax rolls, but the UVA Foundation slowly bought up property for decades before it was ready to develop. Businesses spanning from the Cavalier Inn to the former Wings Over Charlottesville eventually closed to make way for the new UVA precinct.
A hotel and convention center called the Virginia Guesthouse will open in April. The Karsh Institute of Democracy and a 780-bed student housing complex are currently under construction. The latter has one wall facing Copeley Road, directly across from Blume on Ivy, a 231-unit luxury student housing development that will include, among other amenities, a golf simulator, swimming pool, and rooftop deck with a jumbotron and firepits.
