For nearly 30 years, the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council and a precursor organization have worked to help make this region a destination for start-up firms and others to grow and thrive.
“The Downtown Mall is such a key player in that happening because the Downtown Mall is where collisions of conversations take place,” said Hope McCutcheon of the firm Cville Capital Partners. “It’s where people go to get coffee, have lunch, have conversations, have chance introductions. And these conversations turn into companies, they turn into opportunity.”
On March 17, CBIC held a panel discussion on the next 50 years of the mall as part of their Charlottesville Entrepreneurs and Espresso series.
Before the discussion, the group heard from Greer Achenbach. She’s the executive director of the Friends of Downtown Cville, a relatively new organization created to serve as an advocate for the business community. That includes creation of a website with events and a map of downtown that includes a new logo.
“The new brand and the URL [of downtowncville.com] are going out as many places as we can possibly put it with the hopes that we’re driving people to all of these events and shopping, dining, things like that,” Achenbach said. “I really believe that arts, culture, entertainment and dining is now a humble competitive advantage. That is the thing that makes us unique and different.”
The event was moderated by Shawn Mulligan of the firm Design Clarity who noted that most pedestrian malls created in the late 20th century did not last.
“Fifty years ago Charlottesville closed the street and made a bet that people and not cars would be the center of our civic health and that a city’s downtown could be a place to gather, to create, encounter each other unexpectedly,” Mulligan said. “And by most measures, that bet paid off.”
Mulligan wanted to know what the panelists thought is needed to build an ecosystem that can last into the future.
Charlottesville Mayor Juandiego Wade said not a day goes by that someone does not mention the Downtown Mall and he recalled the vote last September to end consideration of an ordinance that would have made it a misdemeanor to camp on city property.
“What I felt from the residents, from the comments, not just what was at the meetings, that we want something done, but we, you know, if you’re going to say you can’t be on the Downtown Mall, you’re going to need a place for them to go,” Wade said. “And so we as a Council and particularly staff said we need to find a place.”
Since that vote, Council agreed to purchase 2000 Holiday Drive for $6.2 million and on March 25 got a preliminary briefing on what it will take to upfit the space for 80 beds.
Mariane Asad Doyle, executive director of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, said one reason some do not go to the Downtown Mall is because of a perception it is too expensive.
“I have two children who are 12 and 19, and they don’t see themselves on this Mall because there are not enough of those kinds of price points, whether we’re talking about retail or food,” Doyle said. “And so they don’t tend to gravitate here.”
Michael Allenby, the creative director and general manager of Vault Virginia, said the Downtown Mall is an example of something analog at a time where everything is increasingly digital. He said the physical infrastructure of several blocks for pedestrians is an asset in these times as a way to get people together.
“I think people are really seeking intimacy, seeking connection,” Allenby said. “We are in this post-Covid phase of disorientation and AI is coming and it’s going to try to keep us disoriented. But as a community, I think we have an opportunity to utilize this infrastructure, populate the infrastructure.”
Take a look at the entire event on YouTube.
Before you go: The goal of Town Crier Productions is to increase awareness about what is happening at the local, regional, state, and federal government levels. Please share the work with others if you want people to know things. Paid subscribers cover the cost of conducting research for this article which was originally published in the March 30, 2026 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. You can either subscribe through Substack or make a charitable contribution.
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