Development Digest: Dunlora residents continue to oppose Parkway Place apartment proposal

Virginia Beach-based Kotarides Developers would like to build nine three-story apartment buildings at the intersection of the John W. Warner Parkway and East Rio Road, but before the company builds, it needs the county to rezone the property.

At a Thursday neighborhood meeting, the “Parkway Place” rezoning application met stiff opposition from residents of the Dunlora neighborhood, who questioned the traffic impacts of the project in conjunction with other buildings being proposed and under construction in the area.

However, the number of apartments proposed is well within Albemarle County’s vision articulated in its Comprehensive Plan, which county officials and staff generally use to determine whether a rezoning is appropriate. The county has envisioned this kind of density in this area for years, county staff explained, to accommodate population growth while preserving its rural areas.

“This is why we haven’t seen so much urban sprawl here in Albemarle. We do have a rural character as you get farther away from the city, and that’s always been an intentional thing,” said county planner Cameron Langille.

Kotarides Developers already has decreased the number of apartments from 414 units to 328 to alleviate neighborhood concerns. The developers also pledged to widen and improve Rio Road and build a public entrance to the area’s trails, complete with parking, an art installation and a gazebo.

address: 878 E. Rio Road, known as the Wetsel property
scale: 328 apartments on 27 acres
rent estimate: comparable to nearby one- to three-bedroom apartments, or $1,275 to $2,035 per month on Zillow
next steps: Albemarle Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors public hearings

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville is redeveloping the Southwood Mobile Home Park into a mixed-income neighborhood. Credit: Credit: Submitted rendering

Southwood redevelopment

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville is redeveloping the Southwood Mobile Home Park into a mixed-income neighborhood. The Albemarle Board of Supervisors voted in June to contribute up to $3.2 million to the project if the nonprofit creates a non-displacement plan and 155 affordable units, along with meeting several other benchmarks.

The county’s contribution is going through its Economic Development Authority, which discussed the project on Tuesday. The EDA is in favor of the performance agreement but postponed signing to add additional legal protections to its role.

address: 699 Old Lynchburg Road
scale: 700 to 800 units, 125 acres
next steps: Albemarle Planning Commission public hearing on July 23 and Board of Supervisors public hearing

Barnes Lumber redevelopment

Milestone Partners is redeveloping the former Barnes Lumber property into a mixed-use extension of downtown Crozet. Albemarle supervisors voted to contribute $3.2 million to the project through its Economic Development Authority and tax rebates to support the developer’s construction of a public plaza. The EDA on Tuesday delayed signing the performance agreement for the same reasons as the Southwood performance agreement.

address: 5755 The Square, Crozet
scale: 52 units, 153,000 square feet of commercial space, 20 acres
next steps: Albemarle Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors public hearings

Stonefield apartments

Fairfax County-based developer The Christopher Cos. is proposing a six-story apartment building at the intersection of Kober Way and Inglewood Drive in the Shops at Stonefield. The Albemarle Architectural Review Board has already approved the building with some conditions.

On Tuesday, the ARB decided that the developer has not met the conditions and must update several images to show that the building will work with the scale of the neighboring town houses.

Castle Hill Gaming is a potential first-floor tenant of the apartment building and has announced that it is expanding in Albemarle. The EDA decided on Tuesday to match a state grant with $200 of its own funding per job created.

address: 2023 Kober Way
scale: 160 apartment units, 20,000 square feet of office space
rent estimate: $1,400 to $1,700 per month
next steps: ARB work session on Aug. 5

Greenscape Development Partners is proposing to build a four-story apartment building on Rio Road West across from The Daily Progress. Credit: Credit: Greenscape Development Partners

Rio Road apartment and storage facility

Utah-based Greenscape Development Partners is planning to build a four-story apartment complex on Rio Road with a storage facility and multiuse path behind to align with the county’s new Rio29 Small Area Plan.

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors decided to defer rezoning the property on Wednesday and asked the developer to find a way to guarantee that if the storage facility is built, the apartment complex will be built somewhat soon afterwards.

address: 664 W. Rio Road
scale: up to 112 apartments, 3.3 acres
next steps: to be determined

Woolen Mills Light Industrial Park

Elemental EcoTech has approval to build an 113,000 square-foot industrial park across Franklin Street from Charlottesville’s Belmont-Carlton neighborhood. On Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Elemental EcoTech’s application to rezone some steep slopes on the property, which company representative Kevin O’Brien said would allow him to move forward with his project.

address: southeast corner of the intersection of Franklin Street and Broadway Street
scale: 113,00 square feet of building, 14 acres
next steps: construction