Materials available for review on potential redevelopment of cinema building at 200 West Main 

On Tuesday, the Board of Architectural Review will take a look at a preliminary discussion of the potential redevelopment of 200 West Main Street which is currently the home of the Violet Crown Theater. 

The building dates back to 1898 and has been used as a department store, a steam laundry, a grocer, and a furniture store. According to a staff report for the BAR’s review, the use as a cinema dates back to 1913 but it has mostly been used for retail. 

“In 1996, the building was converted from a Leggett’s department store to a Regal movie theatre, with the metal facade replaced with bricks,” reads the report. “In 2014-2016, the current, contemporary facade was reconstructed for the Violet Crown theatre.” 

Heirloom Development has a contract to purchase the property if they can get approval for a new building. The new Development Code allows up to 10 stories by-right, or 142 feet, if a bonus provision is not taken. If additional affordable units are provided, the structure can be as high as 13 stories or 184 feet. 

A pre-application conference has to go before the Board of Architectural Review because that body has jurisdiction under the Downtown Architectural Design Control District. 

“The Code does not proscribe what information must be presented for a pre-application conference,” reads the staff report. “However, the BAR has historically required at least a general representation of the location, context, massing and scale of the proposed building.” 

The BAR will also have to determine whether they will approve demolition. Heirloom Development was given permission to demolish what currently exists at 218 West Market Street for what was to have been a residential structure but is now being proposed as a hotel. 

Heirloom Development sold the property to Cavalier Hospitality LLC in September for $5.75 million. Plans for a certificate of appropriateness are also on the agenda of Tuesday’s BAR meeting. 

However, the BAR said they would grant a demolition permit for two structures in front of what is now Six Hundred West Main Street. Those two buildings were incorporated into the development just as buildings in front of the former Quirk Hotel became part of that project when the BAR declined permission. 

Materials submitted by Heirloom show a 184 foot tall building with 150 market rate units. These would take up ten stories. There would be four stories of parking and an “amenity podium” with a total of 140 spaces. 

The absence of affordable units means that principal Jeffrey Levien either anticipates getting an exception to the city’s new Development Code that would require ten percent of units to be affordable, or anticipates paying into the city’s affordable housing fund. 

That part of the discussion is not up to the Board of Architectural and it is uncertain how such an exception would be made. Guidance on how a payment-in-lieu fee would be calculated according to a table in the Affordable Dwelling Unit Manual adopted by City Council on February 5, 2024. 

The materials put together by the firm Kahler Slater include a disclaimer. 

“This is designed to assist City officials and other community members in a preliminary review of a potential real estate development in downtown Charlottesville and provide initial feedback thereto,” reads the fine print. “Everything contained in this presentation and the proposed transaction it refers to is confidential and not to be disclosed except to the extent it is already in the public domain or per express prior written consent by Heirloom Development . This presentation is provided subject to errors, omissions and changes in the information, and is subject to modification or withdrawal as due diligence advances.”

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