West Main sites approved for demolition

There’s no shortage of creative potential on the 300 block of West Main Street, a section of the city’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood that was once populated with automobile shops like Russell Mooney Oldsmobile. And if destruction is a form of creation, then a recent meeting of the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) provided a chance to review the site’s potential for development and, in one instance, affordable housing.

Last Tuesday, the BAR renewed demolition approval for 301 and 315 West Main, current home to Ryal’s Furniture and Random Row Books, respectively. Applicant Jim Mooney, whose family has owned both sites for more than 50 years, told the BAR that his family hoped to keep the buildings intact “as long as we can.”

Demolition approvals for the sites have been renewed or extended since 2005, although members of the BAR have argued against demolishing the 315 West Main building, once home to the Mooney Oldsmobile shop and thought to represent West Main’s “historic automotive 1950s character.” Jim Mooney, Russell’s grandson, told the BAR, “If a buyer were to come along that wanted to keep that property for some reason, we’d be fine with that.”

While demolition was re-approved for both sites, board members Rebecca Schoenthal and Eryn Brennan voted against demolition of 315 West Main. Brennan said she thought it was viable to “work the building into a new scheme, bring it back to life.”

“It’s for sale,” replied Jim Mooney. 

As is 301 West Main, assessed at $1 million and, along with 315 West Main, on the market for more than six months at a total price of $4.8 million. But if the $4.8 million price tag is a hurdle for would-be developers, then 301 West Main represents another sort of obstacle for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA)—a roadblock to $300,000 in affordable housing funds.

In September 2007, City Council rezoned 301 West Main as Downtown Corridor for then-developer Bob Englander, who planned a nine-story, mixed-use structure at the site. The rezoning was contingent on a few proffers from Englander’s Cathford Group development firm—namely, $300,000 to the CRHA, to fund affordable housing projects. A February report from Neighborhood Development Services puts the average cost per affordable housing unit at $108,115.

But as Englander recently told C-VILLE, that $300,000 depends on development of the site.

“When someone closes on a property to start development, the proffer kicks in,” said Englander. “Until then, there is no proffer.” He added that Cathford “will look forward to paying the $300,000 at some point, as soon as the market turns around.” Which might take a while.

“With the real estate market the way it is, we haven’t had any interest to speak of in the last couple of years,” says Russell Mooney, Jr. His son, Jim Mooney, told the BAR that the site presently has “yard sale tenants” so the owners can continue to pay city taxes.

In the meantime, the West Main sites remain undemolished testaments to the city’s ’50s auto scene, for better or worse. 

“I can’t afford to have it as an artifact,” says Russell Mooney, Jr. “The city charges me almost $25,000 a year tax on it. And in order to pay that kind of money I’ve got to rent it or do something.”