Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review to resume discussion of two residential towers

The final meeting of 2024 for the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review has the continuation of two pre-application conferences for major projects that will affect the urban fabric of the city. These are the residential building planned for 1000 Wertland Street and a proposal to redevelop the site of the Violet Crown with a building that would max out allowable height under the city’s new Development Code. (meeting packet)

But first, there will be a review of 1609 Gordon Avenue where an existing two-story building with five units built in 1963 will be replaced by one with nine units. This had been on the agenda for the October 15 meeting and was discussed.

“Due to an unresolved zoning issue, this item was pulled by staff from the agenda for formal action,” reads the staff report.

The zoning issue is not identified in the staff report.

The property is zoned Residential Mixed Use 5 and could have unlimited density within a much larger building. However if a developer builds more than nine units, one in ten must be affordable under the city’s affordable dwelling unit manual. That is a related topic and not one subject to the Board of Architectural Review’s discretion.

In total there are four pre-application conferences for Certificates of Appropriateness. The first two are for alterations for single family homes with one at 606 Lyons Court and the other at 745 Park Street.

The third is for 1000 Wertland Street which is one of three sites where the University of Virginia and the UVA Foundation are donating land for affordable housing projects. A group called Preservation for Affordable Housing is taking the lead on this one which the BAR last saw in May as I wrote at the time.

The Development Code allows up to 11 stories at this location if all of the affordability bonuses are met but the design from Grimm + Parker Architects anticipates only six levels. For future reference, this presentation offers a primer on what the city’s affordability levels are.

“At the Base Level, 10 percent of dwellings in residential projects require rents be affordable to tenants earning 60 percent of [Area Median Income] for 99 years (or fee-in-lieu),” reads one of the slides in the presentation. “At the Bonus Level, 10 percent dwellings in residential projects require rents be affordable to tenants earning 50 percent of AMI for 99 years or (fee-in-lieu).”

This proposal anticipates 180 rental units with all of them affordable. There would be a parking garage below the building with 83 spaces and 16,000 square feet of retail.

The final item on the agenda is a resumption of the pre-application for 200 West Main Street. Heirloom Development went before the BAR in November as I reported for C-Ville Weekly and in the December 16, 2024 newsletter.

“The applicant has requested an opportunity to share during the meeting “an expanded shadow study [as requested by the BAR on November 19] so we can continue that conversation about the effects [the] height and stepbacks have on shading and views,” reads the staff report. “[And] present that in conjunction with the information [related to the Wolf-Josey Mall Tree Study] and tie it together. [The applicant is] seeking feedback on the proposed stepbacks in the presentation and advice on what BAR may want to see next.”

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the December 16, 2024 Week Ahead edition of the newsletter.