Charlottesville Tomorrow Blog

Albemarle Place preliminary site plan approved

On August 15, 2006, the Albemarle County Planning Commission approved the preliminary site plan for the Albemarle Place development located near the intersection of Hydraulic Rd. and US 29.  The vote was 5-0 in favor of approval with commissioners Bill Edgerton and Jon Cannon absent.

Much of the questioning by the commissioners related to future connections of the site to the Comdial property, the retaining walls around the Sperry Marine site, and transportation plans for a future grade-separated interchange at Hydraulic Road and US 29. 

Not all aspects of the site plan have been reviewed by the Architectural Review Board.  In the future, they will give consideration to Block D which is currently on hold.  Block D is the area with the tallest proposed buildings.  Preliminary plans showed 10-story residential buildings at 150' in height.  Any building exceeding 90' in height will require a modification to the original rezoning.

Developer Frank Cox informed the Commission that his team had been working for many months on the parameters for a grade-separated interchange at Hydraulic and US 29.  While the interchange will not be constructed as part of Albemarle Place, Mr. Cox is funding the design study for this future VDOT project.  Wayne Cilimberg, the County's Director of Planning, stated that before the final Albemarle Place site plan can be approved, the County's official map has to be updated to show the ultimate interchange improvements authorized by VDOT.

Podcast produced by Charlottesville Tomorrow * Player by Odeo

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20060815-AlbemarlePlace.mp3

Brian Wheeler

Albemarle Place clearing begins

Clearing has begun on the Albemarle Place property as a mixed use development that will be the size of two Charlottesville Downtown Malls gets underway.  At the June 5, 2006 meeting of the Albemarle County Architectural Review Board (ARB), another half block of the project was approved near the location of the future Whole Foods grocery store.  The ARB still has to give consideration to the final Whole Foods building drawings and to Block D, the area with the tallest proposed buildings, which is currently on hold.

According to Wayne Cilimberg, Director of Planning for Albemarle County, the grading permit was approved, even though a final site plan is not yet under review, because early grading is allowed when it is consistent with the previously approved rezoning or application plan.  Developer Frank Cox continues to receive feedback from County staff and VDOT on his preliminary site plan which has not yet been scheduled for review by the Planning Commission.

The first signed tenant for Albemarle Place is Whole Foods which will anchor a spot between Sperry Marine and the old Comdial facility along US 29.  Jeffrey Metzger, publisher of Food World, describes the Charlottesville grocery market as "absolutely overstored" in a Daily Progress article about Kroger's efforts to renovate its stores in town.  When asked this week about the new Whole Foods by Charlottesville Tomorrow, Mr. Metzger predicted it would have a cannibalizing effect on the existing grocery stores.  He said, "there are too many stores getting built and they are selling too many like products, and this is all outpacing population growth."

Click here to read all our postings about Albemarle Place.

Brian Wheeler

Another block of Albemarle Place approved by ARB

The Albemarle County Architectural Review Board (ARB) met today continuing its review of the Albemarle Place development approving Block F which is a portion of the development between  Sperry Marine and the old Comdial facility.  Block G on US 29 between Sperry and Comdial still requires approval from the ARB and, while it was discussed heavily at today's meeting, the volume of changes led Board members to request the plans for this section be resubmitted at a future meeting.  Block G is the location of the future Whole Foods grocery store and, according to developer Frank Cox, they are currently the only signed tenant in Albemarle Place.

With expectations for 700-800 residential units, the new Whole Foods store, a movie theater, a hotel, and 616,000 sq.ft.of retail (about 2x what is already built at Hollymead Town Center; more than the 540,000 sq.ft. of retail proposed for North Pointe), all within 64 acres, Albemarle Place will equal roughly the size of two Downtown Malls.

In this site plan image (click to enlarge), you can see the location of the Whole Foods store which will be accessed via a new traffic signal and intersection near the current US Postal Service (USPS) facility.  Block D (top left on site plan) is still on hold but will also require review by the ARB.

A new version of the Albemarle Place preliminary site plan is currently under review by planning staff.  Unlike North Pointe and Biscuit Run which are rezoning requests before the County, Albemarle Place was rezoned for this type of development in 2003.

Brian Wheeler

Two reports released on local growth

I have not done an analysis of these two reports yet, but I wanted to provide a link to them both since Coy Barefoot just had me on WINA talking about them.  I expect they will be widely discussed in the community.  More analysis to follow.

Free Enterprise Forum [website]
Locked Out: The Impact of Local Regulation on Affordable Housing [Revised version] [Original]
Update: Revised version posted on Free Enterprise Forum website May 10, 2006.

"Albemarle County ranks lowest in housing affordability in the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) according to a new report issued today by The Free Enterprise Forum.  The “Locked Out” report finds that just 16% of Albemarle homes are available to families earning median income. The report also finds Albemarle County has the largest planning department staff, the largest comprehensive plan and the longest approval time for subdivisions. Fluvanna County had the highest percentage of homes available to families earning median income."

Southern Environmental Law Center [website]
Too Much of a Good Thing? Retail Overload in Albemarle

"Albemarle County has approved or is currently reviewing plans for at least 3.3 million square feet of new shopping centers and other retail space – an over 70% increase in existing retail space and about 2.5 to 3.5 times what its own staff and consultants say the community can reasonably absorb, according to a report released today by the Southern Environmental Law Center. This explosion in retail development could have severe consequences for existing businesses, traffic congestion, air and water pollution, and quality of life in the region."

Brian Wheeler

Albemarle Place: Four trees, a twenty foot wall, and national security

The Albemarle County Architectural Review Board (ARB) met today continuing its review of the Albemarle Place development approving Blocks A & B which includes the area south of Sperry Marine running to the 7-Eleven at the intersection of Hydraulic and US 29. 

County staff also informed Charlottesville Tomorrow that a new preliminary site plan was submitted late last week by developer Frank Cox.  The timeline for ground breaking will be heavily dependent on the feedback County planners and VDOT provide on this new version of the plan.  It could go to a vote by the Planning Commission or it could once again be pulled from consideration by the developer for additional modifications.

The Albemarle Place project is divided into seven major sections or blocks (A thru G). Blocks A, B, and C have now received preliminary ARB approval.  Blocks F & G (between Sperry Marine and old Comdial facility) will be reviewed on May 15th.  Block D, the area with the tallest proposed buildings, is on hold.  Preliminary plans for Block D showed a 10-story residential building that, at 150’ in height, would require a modification to the rezoning. Block E, directly behind Sperry Marine, is not visible from the entrance corridors and thus will not get ARB review.

The most interesting aspects of today's discussions related to the preservation of four trees along one of the buildings fronting US 29 and the security concerns of Sperry Marine (a division of defense contractor Northrop Grumman).  You might not expect four trees on a development the size of two Downtown Malls to be noteworthy, but ARB Chairman Candace Smith used them to make the point that the developer needed to reconsider the location of the utility easements.  As presented, the utility easements along US 29 would have eliminated space for street trees between the building and the highway.  When Ms. Smith insisted on reconsideration of that point in order to improve the view along the entrance corridor, the developer conceded the utilities could be run through the building internal to the site.

Next, the ARB heard from a representative of Sperry Marine about the details of a barrier that will reach 20 feet in height to protect the Sperry Marine facility.  While the exact nature of the threats was not very clear, the only examples the ARB members discussed were vehicular in nature.  Sperry would like a 10 foot earthen berm topped by a 10 foot wall.  The ARB members pointed out that the stormwater retention pond along part of the planned wall was quite a deterrent in and of itself.  Thus, the wall is now proposed to be shorter along that stretch until reaching its full height deeper into the property.  Sperry staff also indicated they wanted to see some green (the earthen berm) on the other side of their parking lot once the forest is cleared for the development.

Click here for all weblog postings on Albemarle Place.

Brian Wheeler

The Albemarle County Architectural Review Board (ARB) met today continuing its review of the Albemarle Place development approving Blocks A & B which includes the area south of Sperry Marine running to the 7-Eleven at the intersection of Hydraulic and US 29. 

County staff also informed Charlottesville Tomorrow that a new preliminary site plan was submitted late last week by developer Frank Cox.  The timeline for ground breaking will be heavily dependent on the feedback County planners and VDOT provide on this new version of the plan.  It could go to a vote by the Planning Commission or it could once again be pulled from consideration by the developer for additional modifications.

The Albemarle Place project is divided into seven major sections or blocks (A thru G). Blocks A, B, and C have now received preliminary ARB approval.  Blocks F & G (between Sperry Marine and old Comdial facility) will be reviewed on May 15th.  Block D, the area with the tallest proposed buildings, is on hold.  Preliminary plans for Block D showed a 10-story residential building that, at 150’ in height, would require a modification to the rezoning. Block E, directly behind Sperry Marine, is not visible from the entrance corridors and thus will not get ARB review.

The most interesting aspects of today's discussions related to the preservation of four trees along one of the buildings fronting US 29 and the security concerns of Sperry Marine (a division of defense contractor Northrop Grumman).  You might not expect four trees on a development the size of two Downtown Malls to be noteworthy, but ARB Chairman Candace Smith used them to make the point that the developer needed to reconsider the location of the utility easements.  As presented, the utility easements along US 29 would have eliminated space for street trees between the building and the highway.  When Ms. Smith insisted on reconsideration of that point in order to improve the view along the entrance corridor, the developer conceded the utilities could be run through the building internal to the site.

Next, the ARB heard from a representative of Sperry Marine about the details of a barrier that will reach 20 feet in height to protect the Sperry Marine facility.  While the exact nature of the threats was not very clear, the only examples the ARB members discussed were vehicular in nature.  Sperry would like a 10 foot earthen berm topped by a 10 foot wall.  The ARB members pointed out that the stormwater retention pond along part of the planned wall was quite a deterrent in and of itself.  Thus, the wall is now proposed to be shorter along that stretch until reaching its full height deeper into the property.  Sperry staff also indicated they wanted to see some green (the earthen berm) on the other side of their parking lot once the forest is cleared for the development.

Click here for all weblog postings on Albemarle Place.

Brian Wheeler

Albemarle Place Takes a Step Forward

The Albemarle County Architectural Review Board (ARB) met today and spent three hours discussing the Albemarle Place development ultimately approving Block C which includes the theater and a 5-story office building along Hydraulic Road.  The Albemarle Place project is divided into seven major sections (A thru G) and the remaining sections will be reviewed at meetings on May 1st and May 15th.

Update 4/18/06: Blocks A & B (south of Sperry Marine and closest to intersection of Hydraulic and US 29) will be reviewed on May 1st. Blocks F & G (between Sperry Marine and old Comdial facility) will be reviewed on May 15th.  Block D, the area with the tallest proposed buildings, is on hold.  Preliminary plans for Block D showed a 10-story residential building that, at 150’ in height, would require a modification to the rezoning.  Block E, directly behind Sperry Marine, is not visible from the entrance corridors and thus will not get ARB review.

The ARB focused their attention on aspects of the project that could be viewed from the Hydraulic Road and US 29 entrance corridors.  Details discussed included such items as glass types, brick color, door colors, landscape plantings, and cornice treatments.  Burrell Saunders, an architect with CMSS Architects, described the goal of creating a town center with a variety of buildings types and designs.  ARB members seemed generally pleased with the form of the development in this section of the project.

While ARB approval was certainly good news to developer Frank Cox, he informed the Board today that he has still not yet submitted an updated site plan for review by the planning staff.  Thus the ARB worked off of conceptual drawings and preliminary plans for the 12 buildings and parking garage in Block C.  Mr. Cox indicated he wanted to get any significant input from the ARB before a new plan was finalized. A final site plan will have to be approved by Albemarle County before the development moves forward.

Click here for all weblog postings on Albemarle Place.

Brian Wheeler

Albemarle Place Update

The Albemarle Place development is still on deferral in Albemarle County pending submission of a revised site plan by the developer Frank Cox.  This morning, Board of Supervisors Chairman, Dennis Rooker, appeared on WINA's Charlottesville Live with Dick Mountjoy and Jane Foy, and spoke about the project.

February 2006 Concept of Albemarle Place as viewed along Hydraulic Rd at Swanson Drive.  Tallest building in distance is near Commonwealth Drive. Image source: Public record from County ARB.

In his comments on Albemarle Place [audio podcast below], Mr. Rooker described the approval process that would take place should the developer seek to have buildings greater than 90' in height.  Both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors would weigh in on such a request to amend the 2003 rezoning agreement which sets a 90' limit.  The plan under review by the Architectural Review Board in February 2006 showed multiple buildings over the 90' limit, including a 10-story building with the roof at 150' in height (125' to the parapet).  For comparison, the Hotel Monticello downtown in Court Square is 114' to the parapet.

Mr. Rooker also shared that traffic studies on the zoning that existed on the property before the Albemarle Place rezoning could have resulted in a worse traffic situation for this area around US 29 and Hydraulic Rd. as it allowed for more intense industrial and office uses.

In February, Charlottesville Tomorrow's weblog discussed traffic issues related to the Albemarle Place development.

Listen to podcast from today's WINA interview: Download 20060307-WINA-Rooker.mp3

Brian Wheeler

Albemarle Place and Charlottesville Tomorrow on WINA

The upcoming development Albemarle Place, at the intersection of US 29 and Hydraulic Road, was the subject of the WINA radio program "Charlottesville Live" the morning of February 14th.  Charlottesville Tomorrow's Brian Wheeler and Albemarle Place developer Frank Cox sat down in the studio with hosts Jane Foy and Dick Mountjoy to discuss the project, which is now near the end of the final site-planning stage.

Because of its sheer size, location, and planning process, Albemarle Place development is a critical project in a number of ways.  With expectations for 700-800 residential units, a major grocery store, a new movie theater, a new hotel, 616,000 sq.ft.of retail (about 2x what is complete at Hollymead Town Center), and all within 64 acres, Albemarle Place will equal roughly the size of two downtown malls.  And because it will be situated at the intersection of US-29 and Hydraulic Rd., there are significant traffic implications for an already congested area.  Albemarle Place is also what Cox called, a "test case" for the area's new planning regime under the "Neighborhood Model" concept. 

Although many questions remain as to how Albemarle Place will impact Charlottesville/Albemarle, Cox hopes to be ready to break ground during the summer.

Listen to the podcast: Download AlbemarlePlaceonWINA20060214.MP3

Previous postings on Albemarle Place:

• 2/7/06: Albemarle Place meets the ARB
• 2/2/06: Albemarle Place and the Hydraulic Intersection

Albemarle Place: More than traffic under review

At this week’s meeting of the Albemarle County Architectural Review Board (ARB), there were a lot of questions about the next steps for Frank Cox’s Albemarle Place project.  This was the second worksession held by the ARB to help the applicant refine their site plan before it is submitted for a formal review.  Albemarle Place is a very large project occupying an area about the size of two downtown malls (Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall is about 18 square blocks between Omni, the Pavilion, Water St. and Market St.).

County staff have raised questions about several aspects of the current plan which deviate from the concepts approved at the time of the rezoning in October 2003:

• Buildings are being proposed that would exceed the 90’ height limit for residential/mixed use at this location (current plan has a 10-story residential building that tops 150’ and would require a modification to the rezoning);
• There are no roads shown on the preliminary site plans connecting the development to Commonwealth Drive as desired by the County and required, in part, in the proffers.
• A theater is in the site plan along Hydraulic Road (County prefers original plan that had townhouses and offices along Hydraulic instead of a long brick wall created by the theater building--image at right)

A few of the highlights from this week’s ARB meeting:

• Because US 29 is an entrance corridor, the ARB is going to have to take action to approve a development plan before construction begins.
• Albemarle Place developers really want to get the clearing of land started and a site plan approved before the May 2006 International Council of Shopping Centers annual convention in Las Vegas.  This is when they say the deals will be made for new tenants which will occupy Albemarle Place.  Miss this window and they believe they will face a one-year delay to get tenants lined up.
• Candace Smith, ARB Chairman, informed the applicant that to get in two rounds of ARB review completed (preliminary and final), the soonest the applicant could receive ARB approval would be June 5, 2006.  At present, the preliminary site plan is on indefinite deferral and County planners are waiting for Mr. Cox to resubmit an updated plan.
• The applicant expressed frustration about the challenge of getting approval, all at once, for all aspects of a massive urban project like Albemarle Place.  They explored with the ARB as to whether an overall concept could receive their approval with details to follow on building specifics in the future.  Candace Smith responded that the applicant needed to thoroughly complete the application checklist and get all the necessary materials in front of them for a formal review.  As an example, she pointed out that the ARB would not want to approve a concept for a grocery store and parking lot buffered by a strip of trees along US 29 if the utility right-of-way was going to later be found to be underneath that buffer, thus making the plantings impossible to implement and requiring the set aside of additional land for buffers that may impact the building or parking locations.
• ARB member Paul Wright indicated he wanted to see the results of a “balloon test” so the Board could review the impact of the proposed residential tower on Hydraulic Road.  In a “balloon test,” photographs of a balloon, floated at the height of the proposed building, are taken from various perspectives so that decision makers can review the impact of buildings on the surrounding landscape.  The applicant stated they would bring the building in low enough in their plan so that it could be easily approved and then they would come back later and seek approval for greater height.
• Paul Wright also indicated that he would meet personally with members of the Board of Supervisors to secure additional staff resources to get ARB’s review of this plan completed in a streamlined fashion.  He shared his view that the County had a lot at stake financially with this development and thus the County should ensure it moves forward on a timely basis, while at the same time not bypassing steps required by any applicant.

Brian Wheeler

Albemarle Place Update

Last month, Charlottesville Tomorrow unveiled our Transportation Matrix, a comprehensive listing of the area's major road and transit projects.  However, one project you will not find on that list yet is a long-term plan for the intersection of Hydraulic Road and US 29. It has been studied in the past and always comes up when the Albemarle Place development is mentioned (concept drawing at left).  Albemarle Place is proposed to be a mix of retail, office and residential development surrounding the Sperry Marine site.

Charlottesville Tomorrow spoke recently to VDOT, the County of Albemarle and developer Frank Cox about the status of the Albemarle Place preliminary site plan.  Officially, the preliminary site plan is on indefinite deferral while Mr. Cox works on feedback provided by VDOT and the County.  Mr. Cox expects to resubmit a revised site plan within the next month.

In December, VDOT asked for a design of an upgraded interchange at US 29 and Hydraulic Road, including the provision of the right-of-way on neighboring property in the City and County.  The Albemarle Place site plan, according to VDOT, would only meet with their approval if VDOT and local government accept a plan for long-term improvements. In the short-term, Mr. Cox has proffered to design and build for Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville intermediate improvements to US 29 and Hydraulic Road to support Albemarle Place.

On the question of a long-term grade-separated interchange for US 29 and Hydraulic (i.e. Hydraulic road traffic would pass over US 29), Frank Cox says he has come to an agreement with VDOT and the County to fund the preliminary engineering for a design.  This interchange design would then become part of the “official map” and thus a clearly defined transportation project.  That, however, does not guarantee any funding or a specific timeline for construction.  An interchange plan would allow Mr. Cox to move ahead with development of Albemarle Place as the right-of-way line would be designated allowing him to finalize building locations. 

[Photo simulation looking South along US 29 towards Hydraulic Rd.  Through traffic on US 29 at left is shown on ramp which would pass below a Hydraulic Rd overpass. Click image for enlarged view.]

The US 29-Hydraulic interchange is also under review as part of the Places29 Master Plan process and the US 29 North Corridor Study.  However, the interchange is not currently on the list of transportation projects identified as a priority by the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).  A recent review of these priority projects by Leigh Middleditch’s Transportation Funding Options Working Group (appointed by MPO) put the total cost of unfunded local priority projects at over $100 million (one-third of that total is intended for transit and walk-bike projects). The MPO received only $4.2 million from the state for FY 2006 as part of the Six-Year Improvement Program.

Improvements at Hydraulic and US 29 would add to the funding gap.  As Albemarle Place is evaluated, these transportation issues will be increasingly important for the community to monitor.

Brian Wheeler

Note: Design concepts for this intersection are from the 29H250 Phase II study located on the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission website.