Monthly Archives: March 2019

Developer purchases University Tire property on West Main

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A New York-based developer who is currently constructing new apartments at 600 West Main Street has added another property to his portfolio.

Jeffrey Levien has purchased 602 West Main Street for $2.9 million. Plans have not yet been filed with the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services.

The property currently is home to a University Tire franchise and was assessed in 2019 at $1.43 million. The limited liability company that bought the property has the name Heirloom West Main Street Second Phase.

The first phase of Levien’s development project, known as Six Hundred West Main, is currently under construction. A six stories with 57 apartment is being behind two structures that are historically protected. One of these structures is the home of the Blue Moon Diner, which is expected to re-open later this year.

Levien is also seeking to purchase 218 West Market Street, a small shopping center that he is seeking to demolish. That request will go before the Board of Architectural Review at their meeting on March 19.

“Looking at the current and future expansion of Charlottesville, the BAR must identify opportunities for accomodating growth in ways that are sensitive to our historic urban fabric by protecting important structures in our cultural and urban development while recognizing that some old buildings must be allowed to be taken down to make way for the future,” reads the narrative for the demolition request. As with Six Hundred West Main, Levien is represented by the firm Bushman-Dreyfus.

The narrative for 218 West Market makes the case that the BAR has granted several demolition permits in the vicinity, most notably at the former Main Street Arena which is still in the process of being deconstructed. The seven-story CODE building will be built on the footprint by the entrepreneur Jaffray Woodriff.

The BAR did not allow Levien to take down the two structures that are now part of the Six Hundred West Main project. They were both contributing structures in the West Main Architectural Design Control District, as were two structures that are being incorporated into the Quirk Hotel across the street.

(this story will be updated as needed) 

Albemarle land use report: Pantops self-storage and dozens of new homes off Berkmar

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Every month, Albemarle receives various land use applications for upcoming developments. In the interest of letting you know what’s going on, we’ll occasionally bring you information about what you can expect.

Here are two such submissions:

Four-story self storage facility planned for Stony Point Road

A Henrico-based company has submitted plans for a four-story self storage facility that would be just off of U.S. 250. In all, the structure would include over 82,000 square feet of space, including a basement level. The site is on the east side of Stony Point Road and will include a subdivision of property already owned by Pantops Corner LLC. The company has other plans forthcoming for the adjacent properties. The storage building is by-right under the propery’s highway commercial zoning. It will need to go before the Architectural Review Board for design review. The next step for this project will be a site review conference on April 4.

Dozens of single family homes planned between Berkmar and Woodburn Road

A Charlottesville-based developer has submitted plans to build up to 71 single family homes on nearly nine acres of land between Woodburn Road and Berkmar Drive. The land for the Berkmar Overlook project is already zoned for up to six residential units per acre but the plans qualify for two types of bonus density. Without these, Berkmar Development LLC could only build 52 units on the site. However, the county allows additional density for the provision of affordable units as well as additional tree preservation. Eight units will be deemed as affordable under the county’s guidelines.