BAR wants a different design for proposed hotel for 218 W. Market Street

The appointed body charged with regulating the aesthetics of buildings in certain sections of Charlottesville said the design of a proposed hotel at 218 West Market Street has improved but more work is necessary to get their approval. 

“In seeing this, I was very disappointed with the design just mainly because of how special the site is and how special our Mall is,” said BAR member David Timmerman.

The BAR last saw a proposal for this site in mid-April when Jeffrey Levien of Heirloom Development asked what the body would think about that use as opposed to the residential building he had planned to build. 

“They have since changed the architect,” said Jeff Werner, the city’s historic preservation planner. 

The hotel would be a Marriott under their AC brand. 

The building is between two streets so the design has to address two different roadways.

“So it is five stories on Market Street and on Old Preston Avenue it would be six stories,” Werner said. 

Werner said that Neighborhood Development Services staff have said there are zoning issues with the project, but he wanted the BAR to be able to take a look. 

Levien said he is the principal owner of 218 West Market Street and he brought in a partner to run the hotel. He said the new design follows from feedback from previous meetings. 

“For example we did design the façade to break up the mass so it would not read like one large wall and that was important,” Levien said. “We also made the height not only to stay within lower-rise construction costs but to be more contextual and kind of me the smaller more modest   building of our neighbors Code and the Omni.”  

Levien said the project does include a pedestrian walkway through the building to connect the Market Street to the Mall. 

“This is a 24 hour hotel so if anybody wants to walk through that… people can come in and they can walk through to the different side,” said Nitkin Kulkarni, the architect for the project. 

All of the parking will be under the building and not visible from the streets. One BAR member liked what he saw on that aspect of the proposal. 

“I do appreciate that they’ve solved the parking in a much better way for the multiple approaches to the site,” said Breck Gastinger. “It’s on the ground floor and it is a better solution for Charlottesville.”

However, Gastinger said the rest of the building does not yet reflect nearby buildings and does not do enough to feel like a structure that belongs in Charlottesville. He took issue with the exterior insulation finishing system that has been proposed. 

Carl Schwarz, a member of the Planning Commission who is also on the BAR, said the proposed design seemed to degrade from the existing streetscape experience and he urged the applicant to adhere to the new requirements in the zoning code. 

“The proposed street experience is mostly a vehicular pull-off and a driveway and no sign of any street trees,” Schwarz said. 

Deanna Gould is the executive director of the Lighthouse which is adjacent to the property. 

“We teach a thousand students every year and screen films for people of all ages so I think we stand to be among the most impacted by this build,” Gould said.   

The conversation was a preliminary discussion and the item will return at a later date for a certificate of appropriateness. A  lingering issue is that NDS will have to sign off on the zoning separate from the design review. 

“I’m not a code official,” said Werner. “I don’t make zoning determinations. There are things I can look at. I’ll be honest. I don’t think it’s the BAR’s job to be evaluating and making officially a zoning determination.”

However, he said the BAR has long played a role in what ultimately gets built and this is one of the first tests of how the appointed body will function moving forward. 

Photo credit and caption for top picture: Aerial view of proposed hotel from Preston Avenue (Credit: Titan Management)

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