While Charlottesville seeks permission from a judge to restore a new zoning code adopted in late 2023, there are still several projects that are allowed to be evaluated under the zoning code in 2003.
One of them is an apartment building with 267 units planned for 1185 Seminole Trail. That is currently the site of the Hibachi Grill. As I reported for C-Ville Weekly in late June, Brownwood Properties has filed plans that take advantage of the Highway Commercial zoning in the old code.
To move forward, they need a Certificate of Approval from the Planning Commission, an appointed body that also serves as the city’s Entrance Corridor Review Board.
“This COA request is for the redevelopment of a 4.04-acre site on the east side of Route 29, approximately a mile north of the 250 bypass,” said Jeff Werner, the city’s preservation planner. “There’s an existing single story commercial building there that was built in 1995 and it will be razed to accommodate construction of a multi-story, 267-unit residential building and a parking structure.”
The building will be five stories on the U.S. 29 side and six stories on the Hillsdale Drive side. Werner said the building will be aligned east to west and the applicant still has some decisions to make about some of the architectural choices. A civil engineer working on the project explained the existing conditions.
“Primarily it’s a large parking lot, relatively flat,” said Chuck Rapp with Collins Engineering. “There are two entrances off of Twentynine and one secondary entrance off of Hillsdale.”
Rapp said one of the challenges is the project is accommodating an existing natural gas line that runs through the property.
One member of the Planning Commission noted that this will be unlike anything else in the city.
“I do think that this is going to be new for us,” said Betsy Roettger. “You know, we’re obviously hoping U.S 29 will become a more walkable place and and we need housing. I. But I think it looks pretty clean.I think the materials are nicely laid out.”
Commissioner Rory Stolzenberg said he was glad to see a pedestrian connection to Hillsdale but also noted that there is a project just to the north in Albemarle County. Last year, the Albemarle County Planning Commission recommended approval of a rezoning at 1193 Seminole Trail for a 165-unit apartment complex but the project is currently stalled.
If that project comes back, Stolzenberg said he wants interconnectivity.
“I think if two large buildings do end up next to each other, people are going to know each other, be walking between the buildings,” Stolzenberg said. “But you do also have that Wawa at the corner that people are going to be walking to.”
Werner said it would be difficult to create a condition requiring such a connection given that Albemarle County is a separate jurisdiction, but a recommendation could be made as part of the resolution.
The PC as ECRB passed a resolution approving the Certificate of Appropriateness.
Before you go: This story was first published in the July 24, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement and then posted here the next day. For more information about Town Crier Productions, take a look at this page!
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