Tuesday night, Charlottesville City Council voted unanimously to purchase two pieces of property in Belmont for a possible homeless shelter and housing project.
Council will spend about $4.2 million to acquire the connecting properties, located at 405 Avon St. and 405 Levy Ave. at the foot of the Belmont Bridge, from the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. That includes the $4 million total price of the properties plus closing costs, something Council agreed to in a previous meeting.
City Manager Sam Sanders said during the meeting that the vote was simply the final step in a real estate transaction — not a vote on what the site would be used for. “The goal would be for the city to take ownership of this site,” he said. Only after that can city staff start planning anything concrete for the site.
He has some ideas for it, though. He said his first step will be to work with Albemarle County to pay for an evaluation of what the community needs in general, but specifically how many shelter beds and what types of homeless services are needed, and whether this site could provide them. Sanders said he’s open to “whatever else might come out of the conversation about what a site like this might be able to do for our city.”
Mayor Juandiego Wade also emphasized in the meeting that the vote was a real estate transaction that “gives us options in the future.” He said that he’s already heard from some residents about what they think the city should, and should not, do with the site, and he promised to keep hearing from residents.
“Before anything is done, we’ll have a public hearing. We will get public input on what to do with it,” Wade said.
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You can watch the full meeting and discussion of the purchase beginning at 1 hour and 33 minutes at this link. Wade and Sanders also talked about possible uses for the site — including homeless services and supportive housing — on the In My Humble Opinion Talk Show on Sunday, Jan. 28.
“I think this can be a positive thing for everyone, for the folks downtown, for the folks in Belmont, if we do this right,” Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston added.
When asked by Councilor Michael Payne about a timeline, Sanders said he doesn’t have one yet. His goal is to have a funding commitment for a study from Albemarle County by spring, and to pull “a national partner in the homeless services space” for the needs evaluation by late summer.
“But that’s more a shot in the dark at this time,” Sanders said.
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Read more about the Belmont site
City Council will vote Monday on purchasing land in Belmont for possible homeless shelter, affordable housing development
“For a city that’s 10 square miles, when an opportunity like this comes up, you have to try to take advantage of it,” said Mayor Juandiego Wade.
City manager will ask Council to buy a $4 million Belmont property and build a new homeless shelter
“All I’m doing right now is getting control of a site to do whatever it is we need to do,” said Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders.
Avon Street possible location for Crossings II
A partnership is in the works to build a “Crossings II” — a project like The Crossings at Fourth and Preston that could help end chronic homelessness in Charlottesville.
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