UVA Finance Committee endorses transfer of Virginia Guesthouse, expansion of mail pharmacy

The Finance Committee of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors met on March 7, 2025 and took action on many items of interest to the future of the community.

One is the transfer of a future hotel and convention center known as the Virginia Guesthouse from UVA back to the UVA Foundation.

“We are slated to open this facility in late 2025 and this facility will be approximately 223,000 square feet with 214 rooms and 28,000 square feet of conference space,” said J.J. Davis, executive vice president and chief operating officer at UVA.

The UVA Foundation has slowly been purchasing land in the Emmet / Ivy Corridor to accumulate control for future use by UVA. However, officials have determined that UVA itself should not operate the hotel.

“It is our belief that this is not one of our core competencies and as such we’re recommending the University of Virginia Foundation oversee the Virginia GuestHouse management and operations,” Davis said.

The Foundation owns and operates the Boar’s Head Inn.

UVA will continue to own the land and the Foundation will enter into a ground lease. The improvements will be owned by the Foundation but will revert back to UVA after 80 years.

The Finance Committee approved the transfer.

New construction as well as the fitting out of new space at the University of Virginia is guided by the Major Capital Plan. The Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board of Visitors has to vote to make amendments to the list, and the Finance Committee has to approve the spending of money.

On March 6, the Buildings and Grounds Committee agreed to add two projects to the plan slightly off of the cycle. One of them is a $6 million project to expand the pharmacy that UVA Health uses to fulfil mail order services. This would be at the North Fork Discovery Park.

One member who serves on both committees asked whether this project would be financially self-sustaining.

UVA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer said it would be beginning on day one.

“Growth in the pharmacy initiative is obviously a key revenue enhancer for UVA Health,” Davis said. “The pharmacy program makes millions of dollars each year for UVA Health.”

The Finance Committee signed off on this initiative as well.

Before you go: Where do stories come from? This one comes from a meeting of a committee of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors. In any given week, I record about a dozen hours of meetings to sift through for stories. For this time around, I’m determined to get to the end of the March 2025 meeting. This is the eighth story from that meeting to be posted here. This story was originally published in the March 12, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement.