Charlottesville Area Transit to end bus service to Fashion Square Mall

For decades, Fashion Square Mall has been an important destination for people who ride Charlottesville Area Transit. That ends in less than a month.

“Due to the closing of Fashion Square Mall, Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) will remove the Fashion Square Mall bus stop from service starting Friday, February 28, 2025,” reads an announcement sent out this morning.

This will affect Route 5, Route 7, and Route 11 but the exact way each may be rerouted is not yet known.

“We were aware that CAT was looking to adjust their routes, as they should as the transit provider,” Abbey Stumpf, Albemarle’s Director of Communications and Public Engagement. “It’s important to remember that MicroCAT serves that area along with fixed routes.”

A request for comment from Fashion Square Mall was not returned by publication time.

This isn’t the first time service to commercial shopping center has stopped. In June 2021, the manager of Rio Hill Shopping Center notified the City of Charlottesville that buses are no longer welcome.

“Not only are the buses a safety hazard for the customers crossing the main drive lanes to get to the stores, but the weight of the buses is also causing significant damage to the asphalt resulting in wear and cracking,” wrote Jim Paulus, the center’s manager. (read the rest of the story)

The ownership of what has traditionally been called Fashion Square Mall is fragmented. In all there are 55.5 acres split between three entities:

• Home Depot owns the interior section as well as the land where they are constructing a new store. This has an address of 1600 Rio Road East according to the website.
• Seminole Trail Management owns the former J.C. Penney which is rented out to Albemarle County for public safety fleet maintenance and operations. This has an address of 1639 Rio Road East.
• Belk Stores of Virginia LLC owns a department store on the western side of the complex. This has an address of 1581 Rio Road East.

In August, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors entered into a public-private partnership with Home Depot in which the latter guarantees to have the store open by December 24, 2025. That is being built at the site of a now-demolished Sears.

The Facebook page for the overall mall states opening hours begin at 11 a.m. The cover photo was last updated on January 30 with an image that says “Let’s Shop!”

On January 31, Albemarle County issued a permit (MECHC-2025-00003) for work to “install RTU’s, fans, ductwork, & grilles” with work valued at $270,550. An RTU is a roof-top unit and there will be seventeen of them with eight exhaust fans, seventeen returns, and 50 duct supplies. This is for the “Old Sears at the mall 1600 Rio Rd E.”

Before you go: This article was originally sent out as part of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter in the February 6, 2025 edition. Both are functions of Town Crier Productions. You can support the work by purchasing a paid subscription or contributing monthly through Patreon. You can also send in a check or send an email, but drop me a line first!