Information Charlottesville

Great Eastern Management Company has filed new plans to redevelop 23.9 acres of the Seminole Square Shopping Center and there’s a public meeting at 10 a.m. today where staff with Collins Engineering will go over them. (meeting info)

“This site plan is for remodeling of existing building facades and parking lots for expansion to build two new commercial buildings, one mixed-use building, and three multi-family residential buildings with underground parking,” reads the March 11 notice sent to adjoining property owners. 

In all, Great Eastern Management seeks to build 352 units on the site. 

Aside from the Entrance Corridor Review Board, this may be the only public meeting for the project, which is being pursued by-right.  The property is zoned Highway Commercial and the new Future Land Use Map designates the land as Higher Intensity Residential. 

The company submitted a different plan in 2018 that would have required a rezoning. The plan will remove the existing commercial building that most recently housed a Giant grocery story as well as the southernmost section of the shopping center and replace that with most of the new buildings. 

How does this submission match up against a small area plan created for the area in late 2017? Read the Hydraulic plan here and see! The Charlottesville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization was awarded Smart Scale funds in Round 4 for a pedestrian and bike bridge across U.S. 29 to connect this area with Stonefield. 

Anyone can submit written comments on the project through April 22. 

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Before you go: This article was originally posted in the Week Ahead for March 21, which was originally published as part of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter. That work is supported by the Piedmont Environmental Council, but you can add yours my making a contribution through Patreon. Not all of these stories quite work as news stories and excerpting them here is an experiment. Please send feedback!