New owners of historic Nicholas Lewis House buy two adjacent properties for $2.45 million and 32 other Charlottesville property transactions from January 2026

This might be the quickest I have published one monthly summary of property transactions with eight days between December 2025 and January 2026. My quest is aided by a relatively slow January as well as a need to get at least one of the months from the first quarter written up before the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors publishes a report on Monday.

Their report will offer many more trends than this summary. The main purpose I do these anecdotal reviews is because I am looking for stories either for this newsletter and for C-Ville Weekly. One way to do that is to just dig as much as I can through material available to me and sort the information accordingly.

For much of the six years of this newsletter, this summary each month was beyond a paywall for a week before being posted to Information Charlottesville. Because I am far behind, I’ve dropped that for now but I may go back to that soon. I require revenue through paid subscriptions or charitable contributions to keep going.

Everything you see here is the result of a publicly available search. I want more people to be able to do this kind of research. I want more people to know they can ask questions. I still have so much to learn.

Some thoughts for this edition:

• The 2026 Land Book for Charlottesville is not yet available but I want to continue to point out the very sharp increase in valuation since 2020. The City of Charlottesville is able to spend a lot more money because of the rise in values. What might happen if those values go the other way?
• There seem to be a lot more transactions below the assessment than usual. If you’re in the business, what are you seeing?
• The implementation of the Development Code has definitely begun to shift and at some point there was a move away from the “Major Development Plans” that was the original way I was tracking in-fill development. I hope to have an update later on in the week.
• This work is not intended to talk up the market or affect it in any way. I disclose I own a property in the city and have no plans to use my knowledge to do anything except inform members of the public. Perhaps I am naive but I hope I am seen as having integrity.
• What education efforts are in place for people who own properties in the Neighborhood Residential-A district? Pay close attention to the Orangedale properties this time around.

With that, on to a very quick month! Please share this with others you think might be interested.

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January 6, 2026

• Two properties on Roosevelt Brown Boulevard that house the Korner Restaurant sold for $900,000. That’s 19.95 percent above the combined 2025 and 2026 assessment of $750,300. (Corridor Mixed Use 3, 0.283 acres)
• A single-family attached house on Orangedale Avenue sold for $300,000. That’s 22.15 percent above the 2025 assessment of $245,600 and 19.57 percent above the 2026 assessment of $250,900. The assessment in 2020 was $139,200. (Residential Neighborhood A, 0.086 acres)
• A single-family attached on Prospect Avenue also for $300,000. That’s 19.24 percent above the 2025 assessment of $251,600 and 16.73 percent above the 2026 assessment of $257,000. The assessment in 2020 was $139,200. (Residential Neighborhood A, 0.086 acres)

January 7, 2026

• A three bedroom house on Bollingwood Road built in 1922 in the Lewis Mountain neighborhood sold for $1.31 million. That is 3.42 percent above the 2025 assessment of $1,266,700 and 5.11 percent below the 2026 assessment of $1,380,500. The assessment in 2020 was $630,500. (Residential-A, 0.36 acres)
• A five bedroom house and a three bedroom cottage on Blue Ridge Road in the Barracks / Rugby neighborhood sold for $2.25 million. That’s 4.12 percent below the 2025 assessment of $2,346,700 and 10.32 percent below the 2026 assessment of $2,509,000. The 2020 assessment is $1,886,900. (Residential-B, 1.36 acres)

January 8, 2026

• A two bedroom house and a one bedroom cottage in the 200 block of Raymond Avenue in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood sold for $635,000. That’s 3.47 percent above the 2025 assessment of $613,700 and 3.55 percent below the 2026 assessment of $658,400. The assessment in 2020 was $294,000 but the cottage had not been built yet. (Residential-A, 0.172 acres)
• A single-family attached house with three bedrooms at 966 Rock Creek Road in Orangedale sold for $215,000. That’s 8.42 percent below the 2025 assessment of $234,300 and 10.23 percent below the 2026 assessment of $239,500. The assessment in 2020 was $133,900. The purchaser is 966 Rock Creek LLC of Charlottesville. (Residential Neighborhood A, 0.09 acres)

• A two bedroom house built in 1995 in the 900 block of Locust Lane sold for $435,000. That’s 15.85 percent above the 2025 assessment of $375,500 and 12.11 percent above the 2026 assessment of $388,000. The assessment in 2020 was $237,900. (Residential-A, 0.13 acres)
• A one bedroom condominium with 660 square feet in the Charlottesville Towers at 511 1st Street North sold for $264,000. That’s 14.88 percent above the 2025 assessment of $229,800 and 11.49 percent above the 2026 assessment of $236,800. (Residential Mixed Use 5, N/A)
• Chilton Trust Inc. bought an office building at 414 3rd Street NE for $770,000. That’s 5.86 percent below the 2025 assessment of $817,900 and 7.59 percent below the 2026 assessment of $833,200. The assessment in 2020 was $677,800. Here’s the company website. (Corridor Mixed Use 3, 0.11 acres)

January 9, 2026

• A three bedroom house built in 1948 in the 1400 block of Dairy Road in the Barracks / Rugby neighborhood sold for $821,800. That’s 3.5 percent above the 2025 assessment of $794,000 and 3.6 percent below the 2026 assessment of $852,500. In 2020, the assessment was $512,400. (Residential-A, 0.54 acres)
• A three bedroom townhouse built in 1990 on Brandywine Court sold for $345,000. That’s 8.18 percent above the 2025 assessment of $318,900 and 3.88 percent above the 2026 assessment of $332,100. In 2020 the assessment was $250,100. (Residential-C, 0.071 acres)

January 12, 2026

• Lily Honey LLC now owns an office building at 525 Meade Avenue in the Martha Jefferson neighborhood. The sales price was $550,000 and that is 11.38 percent above the 2025 assessment of $493,800 and 10.02 percent above the 2026 assessment of $499,900. (Corridor Mixed Use 5, 0.23 acres)
• A four bedroom house built in 1956 in the 1500 block of Westwood Road in the Barracks / Rugby neighborhood sold for $616,500. That’s 24.23 percent below the 2025 assessment of $813,700 and 27.62 percent below the 2026 assessment of $851,800. (Residential-A, 0.36 acres)

January 14, 2026

• A four bedroom house built in 2002 on Kelsey Court in the Barracks / Rugby neighborhood sold for $675,000. That’s 0.67 percent above the 2025 assessment of $670,500 and 3.6 percent below the 2026 assessment of $700,200. In 2020 the assessment was $510,000. (Residential-A, 0.074 acres)

January 16, 2026

• A two bedroom condominium built in 2006 with 1,093 square feet at 215 5th Street SW sold for $134,333. This is a sale within a family so the sale will not have an effect on next year’s assessment. The 2026 assessment is $386,800. (Residential Mixed Use 5, N/A)
• A firm called Compatible Development LLC purchased a newly created vacant lot at 208 16th Street NE in the Woolen Mills neighborhood. The company paid $75,000 which is 27.33 percent above the 2026 assessment. (Residential-A, 0.051 acres)

January 20, 2026

• The City of Charlottesville closed on its purchase of two properties on Holiday Drive to serve as a future homeless shelter. The city paid $6.2 million and that is 30.17 percent below the combined 2025 assessment of $8,879,3000 and 6.62 percent below the combined 2026 assessment of $6,639,200. There was a previous deed from November 20 in which no money changed hands. In Late March, City Council heard from three nonprofit organizations that will provide services in the building. Here’s that story. (Node Mixed-Use, 3.94 acres)
• A four bedroom house in the 2400 block of Jefferson Park Avenue in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood sold for $845,000. That’s 42.17 percent below the 2025 assessment of $1,461,300 and 4.2 percent below the 2026 assessment of $882,700. (Residential-A, 0.74 acres)

January 23, 2026

• A 1,200 square foot commercial condominium at 107 West Main Street sold for $410,000 to CDZ Holdings LLC. That is 18.31 percent below the 2025 assessment of $501,900 and 19.28 percent below the 2026 assessment of $507,900. In 2020 the assessment was $271,000. (Downtown, N/A)
• A four bedroom house built in 2020 on Paynes Mill Road in the RIdge Street neighborhood sold for $900,000. That’s 26.9 percent above the 2025 assessment of $709,200 and 16.34 percent above the 2026 assessment of $773,000. (Residential-A, 0.18 acres)
• A vacant lot on Leonard Street in the Belmont-Carlton neighborhood sold for $256,200. That’s 127.53 percent above the 2026 assessment of $112,500. The previous owner had tried to install a commercial sign there but the permit was withdrawn. (Residential-A, 0.144 acres)
• A three bedroom house built in 1994 in the 400 block of Riverside Avenue in the Woolen Mills neighborhood sold for $300,000. That’s 0.83 percent below the 2025 assessment of $302,500 and 4.49 percent below the 2026 assessment of $314,100. The assessment in 2020 was $172,500. (Residential-A, 0.108 acres)
• A 2,553 square feet condominium at 218 West Water Street with two bedrooms sold for $1.55 million. That’s 10.28 percent below the 2025 assessment of $1,727,600 and 12.12 percent below the 2026 assessment of $1,763,800. (Downtown, N/A)

January 28, 2026

• A four bedroom house in the 1500 block of Trailridge Road in the Johnson Village neighborhood sold for $340,000. That’s 34.84 percent below the 2025 assessment of $521,800 and 36.6 percent below the 2026 assessment of $536,600. (Residential-A, 0.232 acres)

January 29, 2026

• A five bedroom house built in 1962 on Shamrock Road in the Johnson Village neighborhood sold for $555,000. That’s 13.13 percent above the 2025 assessment of $490,600 and 3.24 percent above the 2026 assessment of $537,600. In 2020 the assessment was $367,100. (Residential-A, 0.24 acres)
• Cavalier Hospitality LLC bought the property at 210-216 West Market Street that for many years was home to Brown’s Lock and Safe. The price was $1.01 million which is 5.99 percent below the 2025 assessment of $1,074,400 and 5.06 percent below the 2026 assessment of $1,063,800. Cavalier Hospitality LLC has plans to build a hotel at 218 West Market Street and I’ll have an update on that in the coming weeks. (Downtown, 0.13 acres)

January 30, 2026

• A four bedroom townhouse built in 2016 on Almere Avenue in the Ridge Street neighborhood sold for $685,000. That’s 11.76 percent above the 2025 assessment of $612, 900 and 7.23 percent above the 2026 assessment of 638,800. The assessment was $509,700 in 2020. (Residential-C, N/A)
• An 1,193 square foot condominium with two bedrooms built in 2007 at 211 Cream Street sold for $449,900. The assessment did not change from 2025 to 2026 so the transaction is 8.54 percent below the figure of $491,900. (Residential Mixed Use 3, N/A)
• One person bought three townhomes in a block of four built on Brandywine Court in 1990 leaving one of them under a different owner. They paid $1 million which is 4.92 percent above the 2025 combined assessment of $953,100 and 2.71 percent above the 2026 assessment of $973,600. (Residential-C, 0.259 acres)
• Praxis 31 LLC bought 1007 St. Clair Avenue and an undeveloped lot next door in the Locust Grove neighborhood for $700,000. That’s 12.87 percent above the combined 2025 assessment of $620,200 and 10,76 percent above the 2026 assessment of $632,000. In 2020 the two properties had a combined assessment of $410,800. There is a bedroom house built in 1960 on one of the parcels. (Residential-B, 0.265 acres)

• A three bedroom townhouse built on Danbury Court in the Belmont / Carlton neighborhood sold for $275,000. That’s 16.72 percent below the 2025 assessment of $330,200 and 19.02 percent below the 2026 assessment of $339,600. In 2020 the assessment was $188,100. (Residential-C, 0.05 acres)
• The same company that purchased the Nicholas Lewis House and another property in the Little High neighborhood in November 2025 has bought two additional parcels. Sycamore Lane LLC of Tampa, Florida, purchased 306 Farm Lane and 308 Farm Lane for $2.45 million. That is 135.69 percent above the combined 2026 assessment of $1,039,500. One of the properties is vacant and the other is a three bedroom house built in 1927. (Residential-A, 0.536 acres)

The sales pitch at the end!

This work is the result of one person determined to write as much as possible about the community, continuing reporting that began over twenty years ago when I was freelancing for public radio and trying to jump-start a career. In 2005, I created a website called the Charlottesville Podcasting Network and in April 2007 I went to work for Charlottesville Tomorrow. There I spent eleven years getting to know how things work and covered a lot of the deliberations that went behind various decisions.

In 2020 I went independent after two years away from reporting and launched this newsletter. I’ve been able to keep going as an independent voice for six years thanks to paid subscribers and charitable contributions. As a person who think more like a reporter than a business person, I try not to oversell the work.

But I do need your support to continue this experiment, an experiment which includes stories that would likely not otherwise be told. Stories about how Charlottesville ended up with the current Development Code. Stories about the ascendancy of economic development in Albemarle County.

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Before you go: A major research interest for Town Crier Productions is property research in Charlottesville. While all of the information is eventually posted publicly, paid subscribers of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter occasionally get a first look. This edition for January 2026 was originally posted through Substack on May 3, 2026 and to this website on September 21, 2026 but then back dated. 

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