Restaurant site in Belmont sells for $1.4 million and many more November 2023 Charlottesville transactions

On Friday, the City of Charlottesville will publish property assessments for 2024. At that point, the data for transactions for the year to date will begin to be published and I can begin reviewing this year’s real estate transactions. Doing that work helps me feel connected to what’s happening.

Assessments were up an average of 10.77 percent in 2022, as I wrote at the time. Last year there was a 2023 average increase of 12.33 percent. Will there be a third year of double digits, or will Charlottesville’s assessments follow Albemarle with a single digit average increase?

Like everyone, I want to know what the new Development Code is going to do to the market and Charlottesville’s built environment. While I am interested in knowing mathematical trends, I find myself seeing stories in every single transaction. I don’t have time to dig into all of them, but I’m finding myself needing to become more acquainted with details I don’t understand yet in order to fully explain the continuing story of this community.

This was posted to Charlottesville Community Engagement on Monday for paid subscribers to have a first look. Almost all of my content is available for free for anyone to read thanks to the 600 or so people who are paying me to do the work. This is one small incentive to join in and help pay for my growing business.

I’ll post December 2023 transactions to this website on Monday but you can get a first look on the Substack version of this information.

November 1, 2023

• A firm called Belmont7 LLC purchased 229 Douglas Avenue and a vacant lot on Monticello Road for $2.4 million. That’s 8.31 percent below the combined 2023 assessment of $2,617,500, but 47.09 percent above the combined 2022 assessment of $1,631,700. The former zoning on the property is Neighborhood Commercial Corridor and there are several businesses on the site including the restaurant Belle. (Corridor Mixed Use 3, 0.365 acres) 
• A two bedroom single-family attached home on Midland Street built in 2018 in the Belmont-Carlton neighborhood sold for $359,900. That’s 5.51 percent above the 2023 assessment of $341,100 and 23.85 percent above the 2022 assessment of $290,600. The structure is part of the Sunrise Park Planned Unit Development that was spearheaded by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville. The builder was Southern Development. (Residential-B, 0.02 acres)
• A three bedroom house in the 600 block of Shamrock Road in the Johnson Village neighborhood sold for $465,000. That’s 16.48 percent over the 2023 assessment of $399,200. (Residential-A, 0.23 acres)

November 2, 2023

• A three bedroom house built in 1910 in the 1300 block of East Market Street in the Woolen Mills neighborhood sold for $595,000. That’s 27.87 percent over the 2023 assessment of $465,300. (Residential-A, 0.172 acres)
• A two bedroom house built in 1944 in the 800 block of Ridge Street sold for $337,000. That’s 5.61 percent above the 2023 assessment of $319,100 and 18.62 percent over the 2023 assessment of $284,1000. (Residential-A, 0.172 acres) 

November 3, 2023

• A three bedroom house built in 1964 in the 500 block of Rockland Avenue in the Ridge Street neighborhood sold for $285,000. That’s right in between the 2022 assessment of $268,400 and the 2023 assessment of $309.700. Or put another way, 7.98 percent below 2023 and 6.18 percent above 2022. (Residential-A, 0.157 acres)
• A three bedroom house built in 1965 in the 700 block of Village Road in the Johnson Village Neighborhood sold for $450,000. That’s 9.04 percent above the 2023 assessment of $412,700.(Residential-A, 0.19 acres) 

November 6, 2023

• A two bedroom house built in 1960 on Shelby Drive in the Meadows neighborhood sold for $415,000. That’s 27.38 percent above the 2023 assessment of $325,800. (Residential-A, 0.461 acres)
• A two bedroom single-family attached house on Riverside Avenue in the Woolen Mills neighborhood sold for $242,500. The structure was built in 1971. That’s 33.24 percent above the 2023 assessment of $182,000. (Residential-A, 0.088 acres)

November 8, 2023

• A 771 square foot apartment with two bedrooms in the apartment complex at 1800 Jefferson Park Avenue sold for $225,000. That’s 9.17 percent above the 2023 assessment of $206,100 and 30.66 percent above the 2021 assessment of $172,200. (Corridor Mixed Use 5, N/A)
• An 893 square foot two bedroom apartment in a complex at 1307 Wertland Street sold for $183,000 to an entity called FFC Properties. They have an address of Hamilton, Virginia. That’s 9.36 percent below the 2023 assessment of $201,900. (Residential Mixed Use 5, N/A)
• The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority has purchased a single family home at 1642 Meridian Street in the Belmont neighborhood. The transaction is 20.11 percent below the 2023 assessment of $319,200. This is the latest in a series of purchases for the government agency which also includes a $10 million purchase of the Dogwood properties in 2023. (Residential-A, 0.23 acres)
• A three bedroom house on Parkway Street in the Woolen Mills North Downtown neighborhood sold for $795,000. That’s 19.33 percent above the 2023 assessment of $666,200. (Residential-A, 0.166 acres)
• A three bedroom house built in 1978 on Leigh Place in the Willoughby neighborhood sold for $355,000. That’s 6.16 percent above the 2023 assessment of $334,400 and 19.73 percent above the 2021 assessment of $296,500. (Residential-A, 0.165 acres)
• A two bedroom house in the 500 block of Avon Street sold for $525,000. That’s 1.55 percent above the 2023 assessment of $517,000 and 25.36 percent above the 2021 assessment of $418,800. (Residential-C, 0.0810 acres)

November 9, 2023

• A three bedroom house built on Bennett Street in 2021 as part of the Lochlyn Hill Planned Unit Development sold for $525,000. That’s 12.78 percent above the 2023 assessment of $465,500. (Residential-A, 0.1 acres)

November 13, 2023

• A four bedroom house in the 1300 block of Chesapeake Street in the Woolen Mills neighborhood sold for $719,000. That’s 38.06 percent over the 2023 assessment of $520,800. A thing to note about this property is that it had been designated as Residential-B in the first draft of the zoning map, but was reduced to Residential-A as one of the last minute changes before Council adopted the new Development Code on December 18, 2023. Does that explain the higher price paid? Or is there some other factor? (Residential-A, 0.211 acres)
• Elsewhere in the Woolen Mills neighborhood, a two bedroom house built in 1953 in the 300 block of Meade Avenue sold for $333,600. That’s exactly at the 2023 assessment. For comparison, that’s 24.66 percent above the 2021 assessment of $267,600. (Residential-B, 0.373 acres)

November 14, 2023

• A 765 square foot one bedroom apartment in the Walker Square apartment complex sold for $305,000. That’s 14.06 percent above the 2023 assessment and 31.92 percent above the 2022 assessment of $231,200. (Residential Mixed Use 5, N/A)

November 15, 2023

• A two bedroom house built in 1942 in the 1300 block of Chesapeake Street sold for $350,000. That’s 21.82 percent above the 2023 assessment of $287,300. This is another property that had been designated as Residential-B since the first draft of the zoning map was published in February 2023. A last-minute change lowered the building potential in this block of the road. The assessment in 2021 was $218,300 making this transaction 60.33 percent over that number. (Residential-A, 0.153 acres)
• A two bedroom house built in 1949 in the 800 block of Druid Avenue in the Belmont neighborhood sold for $348,000. That’s 35.94 percent above the 2023 assessment of $256,000. (Residential-A, 0.139 acres)
• A single family attached house at 605 on Bailey Road in the Orangedale section of the Fifeville neighborhood sold for $170,000. The purchaser is JLM Homes. The seller is former Mayor Charles Barbour. The translation is 3.95 percent below the 2023 assessment of $177,000 and 27.72 percent above the 2021 assessment of $133,100. The company bought 603 Bailey Road from Barbour in April. (Residential Neighborhood A, 0.177 acres) 
• An 1,197 square foot three bedroom unit in the Charlottesville Towers on 1st Street North sold for $390,000. That’s 52.17 percent above the 2023 assessment of $256,300. (Residential Mixed Use 5, N/A)
• A single family three bedroom townhouse on Brandywine Court sold for $329,000. That’s 11.45 percent above the 2023 assessment of $295,200. (Residential-C, 0.081 acres)

November 16, 2023

• The University of Virginia paid the University of Virginia Foundation $1,836,059 for the property known as 2025-2029 Ivy Road. That’s 3.41 percent below the 2023 assessment of $1,900,900. The Foundation paid $1,724,90 for the property on April 22, 2010. At the time, that was 55.73 percent above the assessment of $1,836,059. The property is now part of UVA’s Emmet-Ivy Corridor initiative. This is within the location of the future Karsh Institute of Democracy. The Board of Visitors signed off on the design last June. Charlottesville City Council has no control over what happens at this location, nor any other property owned outright by UVA. (Commercial Mixed Use 5, 0.79 acres)
• An entity called Harris Street 932 LLC purchased 932 Harris Street for $750,000. That’s 88.44 percent above the 2023 assessment of $398,000. (Industrial Mixed Use 5, 0.39 acres)

November 17, 2023

• A 1,119 square foot two bedroom unit in Walker Square sold for $390,000. That’s 3.28 percent above the 2023 assessment of $377,600 and 19.27 percent above the 2022 assessment of $327,000. (Residential Mixed Use 5, N/A)
• A 715 square foot studio apartment in the Belmont Lofts on Douglas Avenue sold for $385,000. That’s 12.8 percent above the 2023 assessment of $341,300 and 25.16 percent above the 2022 assessment of $307,600. (Residential Mixed Use 3, N/A)
• A three bedroom house built in 2007 on Riverbluff Circle in the Woolen Mills neighborhood sold for $610,000. That’s 24.95 percent above the 2023 assessment of $488,200. (Residential-A, 0.109 acres)
• A three bedroom house built in 1996 on Marshall Street in the Locust Grove neighborhood sold for $650,000. That’s 4.24 percent below the 2023 assessment of $678,800 and four percent above the 2022 assessment of $625,000. (Residential-A, 0.226 acres)

November 21, 2023

• A three bedroom unit on Montpelier Street in the Jefferson Park Avenue neighborhood sold for $374,900. That’s 5.93 percent above the 2023 assessment of $353,900. The seller is Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville who purchased the property in 2018 and have since made renovations. (Residential Mixed Use 3, 0.074 acres)
• Shirley’s Place LLC purchased 600 Altavista Avenue in the Belmont neighborhood for $300,000. That’s 18.53 percent over the 2023 assessment of $253,100. (Residential-A, 0.217 acres)
• Morton Properties LLC purchased 309 Fairway Avenue in the Woolen Mills neighborhood for $200,000, which is 36.14 percent below the 2023 assessment. The structure is a two bedroom house built in 1930. There were extensive renovations in the mid 2010’s. This appears to be a sale within a family so may be regarded as invalid. (Residential-A, 0.139 acres)

November 27, 2023

• A single family attached unit in the 1000 block of 5th Street SW sold for $310,000. That’s 56.72 percent over the 2023 assessment of $197,800. (Residential-C, 0.256 acres)

November 28, 2023

• A single family attached unit in the 700 block of Orangedale Avenue sold for $278,000. That’s 31.94 percent over the 2023 assessment of $210,700. (Residential-A, 0.084 acres)
• A three bedroom single family attached unit in the 600 block of Bailey Road sold for $295,000. That’s 51.91 percent above the 2023 assessment of $192,400. (Residential Neighborhood A, 0.131 acres)

November 29, 2023

• A three bedroom house in the 1600 block of Oxford Street built in 1951 sold for $1,045,000. That’s 15.06 percent over the 2023 assessment of $908,200. The 2021 assessment was $547,800. (Residential-A, 0.316 acres)
• A two bedroom house on Mobile Lane in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood sold for $413,000. That’s 5.12 percent above the 2023 assessment of $392,900 and 23.99 percent over the 2021 assessment of $333,100. (Residential-A, 0.202 acres)

November 30, 2023

• The building at 816 Hinton Avenue in Belmont that contains the Conmole restaurant on Hinton Avenue sold for $1.4 million. The purchaser is the Conmole Group LLC. That’s 105.1 percent above the 2023 assessment of $682,900. (Commercial Mixed Use 3, 0.174 acres)
• A three bedroom mansion built in 2018 as part of the Water Street Promenade project sold for $1.74 million. That’s 19.59 percent above the 2023 assessment of $1.455 million. This is the 1000 block of East Water Street. (Commercial Mixed Use 3, 0.07 acres)
• The City of Charlottesville closed on its $5.9 million purchase of five properties off of East High Street from developer Wendell Wood and other entities. By my calculations that price is 429.05 percent above the combined 2023 assessment of $1,115,200. The project ensures that 245 units that had been proposed for the floodplain land will not be built. It also means the City of Charlottesville owns a single family home at 532 Caroline Avenue. Learn more about the purchase in this story on Information Charlottesville. (Residential-A, 23.811 acres)
• The University of Virginia Foundation purchased commercial property at 407 and 409 Earhart Street for $3 million or 50.62 percent above the 2023 assessment of $1,991,800. The site is the home of one of UVA’s child care centers as well as a second industrial building. I wrote about this transaction in more detail for C-Ville Weekly. (Neighborhood Mixed Use 10, 1.46 acres)
• Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville has exercised its right of first refusal and repurchased 226 Burnet Street in the Ridge Street Neighborhood. They paid $350,000, which is 5.58 percent above the 2023 assessment of $331,500 for the two bedroom single family attached house built in 2016. (Residential-C, 0.02 acres)

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