Charlottesville Tomorrow Blog

The changing face of the UVA medical center

On March 4, 2008, the University of Virginia Medical Center hosted a community briefing to inform the public about the changing needs of medicine and the new hospital facilities being built at UVA.

Edward Howell, Vice President and CEO of the UVA Medical Center since 2002, described an existing hospital facility busting at the seams but eager to take on the challenges of 21st century medicine. 

“We need facilities for two reasons.  Facilities to deal with the increasing number of patients who come to us for care and facilities that recognize and have the capacity to adapt to this new 21st century molecular age of medicine,” said Howell.

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Howell described four major building projects intended to meet these challenges.  Three of the facilities will be completed during the next 3 ½ years (by 2010-11).  Several will transform the landscape in and around the “new hospital” which was opened for business in 1989 off Jefferson Park Avenue. 

The four major hospital building projects are:

• Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center at JPA and Lee Street (site of the hospital’s West parking garage)
• Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH) at Northridge on Route 250 W
• A new 72-bed six-story tower to be added to the face of the “new hospital”
• Barry & Bill Battle Children’s Hospital (near the intersection of JPA and West Main Street)

Ground breaking begins on the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center on April 12, 2008.  Named in honor of former State Senator Emily Couric, this five story building across the street from the main hospital will replace the West parking garage which is closing on April 1st.  According to Howell, UVA has 41,000 cancer patient visits a year today, a number expected to double in the next few years.

“When Emily Couric was diagnosed with cancer [she] went from a transfusion and diagnostic room here…to San Antonio [for further treatment].  She was probably the most articulate spokesperson I can think of for having 21st century medicine in Charlottesville under one roof, and this facility will allow us to do that,” said Howell.  Couric died in 2001 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 54.

While the Couric facility begins the transformation of the main hospital grounds starting next month, UVA’s Northridge campus will see a ground breaking this summer for a new 50-bed Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH).  LTACH will serve patients with profound illnesses and often multiple organ failures who require hospitalizations of over 25 days.

“These patients are in our hospital today,” said Howell.  LTACH, he said, will free up beds in the main hospital and allow all patients to receive improved care.  The facility is expected to add 200 employees to the medical center workforce.

The most visually dramatic of the new buildings is the 72-bed six-story tower to be added to the face of the “new hospital.”  The addition will integrate with the three towers of the main hospital which opened in 1989. 

Howell guided the audience through a virtual “fly by” of the main hospital campus.  From some angles, it appeared as if the techies responsible for the proliferating “Hoo Vision” screens at the University’s athletic facilities had affixed a large flat screen on the front of the mammoth white hospital building.

Luis Carrazana, Senior Facility Planner in UVA Office of the Architect, said the design of the new buildings was about creating “a community for healing and a community for hope.”  Carrazana said lots of glass is being incorporated in the building designs.  “It’s not because of an architectural statement… it’s because of the nature of what is happening in the building and the people.”  Each patient room in the new main hospital tower will have floor to ceiling glass facing Lee Street.  The Clinical Cancer Center also includes a lot of glass, terrace courtyards, and landscaping.  “We are trying to make a connection to the outdoors.  We are trying to bring light into the building…to create a healing environment,” said Carrazana.

The fourth new facility is the Barry & Bill Battle Children’s Hospital (near the intersection of JPA and West Main Street)  Howell described this as largely an outpatient facility.  Its construction will not begin until 2011 after the other projects are complete.  Whether it will require the demolition of the Towers building is a decision that will not be made until later in 2008.

Taking it all in were about a dozen citizens from surrounding neighborhoods who raised concerns about issues such as traffic, parking, and the phasing of construction.

Fifeville resident and former Charlottesville Mayor Nancy O’Brien expressed concern about traffic to and from the hospital for patients, employees, and construction vehicles.  “While its very nice to have the [new West Main Street] parking garage with its 1,000 spaces, it’s getting the people to and from the parking garage that the neighborhood is concerned about.  From a [patient] care standpoint, this looks very nice.  From a neighborhood standpoint…it’s a sort of scary thing to envision because there is going to be more traffic,” said O’Brien. 

O’Brien encouraged UVA to increase its efforts to use satellite parking.  Thomas Harkins, the Medical Center’s Facilities Planning and Capital Development Administrator, said that over 2,000 employees already park remotely at Scott Stadium and University Hall and catch a bus to work.

Fry's Spring resident John Santoski asked if the Medical center was taking into account the fact that the JPA railroad bridge, near his City neighborhood, would be taken out of service for replacement during the construction of these buildings.  Santoski suggested traffic would be forced through other City neighborhoods and into the middle of the construction projects as vehicles navigate towards the University.  Harkins said he was unfamiliar with that project, but pledged to get information from City officials.

Highlights of Audio

• 1:20 - Introduction by Ida Lee Wooten, UVA's Director for Community Relations
• 9:00 - Presentation by Edward Howell, Vice President and CEO of the UVA Medical Center
• 15:25 - Howell describes Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center
• 18:38 - Howell describes Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH)
• 21:42 - Howell describes 72-bed six-story tower to be added to the face of the “new hospital”
• 25:43 - Howell describes Barry & Bill Battle Children’s Hospital
• 26:55 - Howell guides the audience through a virtual “fly by” of the main hospital campus.
• 35:22 - Presentation by Luis Carrazana, Senior Facility Planner in UVA Office of the Architect
• Podcast concludes with audiences questions answered by Howell, Carrazana, and Thomas Harkins, the Medical Center’s Facilities Planning and Capital Development Administrator

Brian Wheeler

Neighborhood stops sidewalks, warned of future road connections

A divided Planning Commission releases Beights from sidewalk project

Developer Gaylon Beights promised in his original sub-division plans for Mosby Mountain on Old Lynchburg Road to include asphalt paths along the neighborhood streets.  However, the paths were not built at the time the homes were constructed in 2005-06.  Residents bought their homes and moved in with accompanying mailboxes and landscaping projects along the streets.  When Beights came back in 2007 to install the paths, the neighbors asked why they were even needed.  County staff waived the requirement for sidewalks in part of the development, but insisted that plans move forward on two of Mosby Mountain’s cul-de-sacs.

Residents learned that a corner of the development was in the County’s designated growth area and came with expectations that residential streets there should have sidewalks.  The twenty homes in this part of Mosby Mountain are in what is known as Neighborhood 5 of the County’s southern urban growth area.  The rest of Mosby Mountain is in the rural area. [see map above]

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The Mosby Mountain residents on Hatcher Court and Turnstone Drive strongly favor eliminating the proposed paths and asked Gaylon Beights to intervene with the County and get authorization to stop the project.  Attorney Valerie Long presented Beights’ case for a waiver request before the Albemarle County Planning Commission at their meeting on January 15, 2008.

Long said her client was trying to be responsive to the neighbors’ concerns and argued that because the streets were short, did not connect to anything else, and had a limited number of homes, the sidewalks were unnecessary.  Against the County staff's recommendation, the Planning Commission agreed to support the developer’s request and granted the waiver by a 4-3 vote (Edgerton, Joseph, and Morris against).

Mosby Mountain's Hatcher Court

One of the residents who signed the petition opposing the paths was Donald Mitchell.  Mitchell said that it was his understanding from the time he purchased his lot that there would not be sidewalks in the neighborhood.  When he saw them starting to be built last year, he was one of the residents that started asking questions.  According to Mitchell, neighbors were concerned about their mailboxes being moved and landscaping being disturbed.  He also wasn’t pleased with the choice of asphalt over concrete.  “They’re ugly.  They are completely ugly,” said Mitchell.  Mitchell said he has lived in Mosby Mountain for three years and has never had a safety concern for his family’s use of the street in the absence of sidewalks.

Tom Loach (White Hall) asked Mitchell if he would have objected to the sidewalks if they had been made of concrete and been a clear expectation or already in place at the time he purchased his lot.  Mitchell responded that it would have been different, “had they been concrete poured, aesthetically pleasing, as opposed to just paved asphalt that could be lumpy, bumpy, not completely straight…. Asphalt is not very appealing.”

Long said that the developer also wanted to support the neighbors’ request for a cohesive look to all of Mosby Mountain.  Loach is a Crozet resident and contributor to the committee that recommended to County the adoption of the Neighborhood Model.  The Neighborhood Model specifically calls for pedestrian oriented neighborhoods with sidewalks on both sides of streets.  Typically the sidewalks are separated from the roadway by a planting strip for trees and vegetation.  The Neighborhood Model also calls for neighborhood roads to be interconnected to each other.

There are two good examples of how the sidewalk requirement has been met in new developments in Crozet at both Wickham Pond and Waylands Grant.  The first photo show the construction of Wickham pond in mid-2007 with the sidewalks, planting strip and street trees already in place ahead of the homes.  The second photo shows a completed street in Waylands Grant.

Click images to enlarge Crozet's Wickham Pond in mid-2007 (left) and Laura Lane in Waylands Grant (right).

Long said the developer chose not to install the sidewalks in the beginning because he did not want them to be torn up by subsequent construction.  Eric Strucko (Samuel Miller) said that he was concerned the developer was avoiding his obligation and not replacing it with an alternative amenity for the neighborhood. 

Bill Edgerton (Jack Jouett) also expressed sympathy for the neighbors, but he could not support making an exception, in part because of the history of neighborhoods changing their minds on sidewalks, particularly when faced with the prospect of a new neighborhood being connected to an existing development.  “The developer had an obligation to make sure that the people on Hatcher Court knew that the sidewalk was coming in,” said Edgerton.  “I can see at a later date Hatcher Court connecting with other properties to the north.  At that time, the sidewalk is going to become very critical.”

Several Commissioners expressed serious concerns about setting a precedent by relieving Beights of the obligation to build the paths.  However a motion to support the staff recommendation and deny the waivers failed by a vote of 3-4.  Then Eric Strucko said he would "very reluctantly" make a motion to approve the waivers.  That passed by a 4-3 vote.  After the vote that stopped the sidewalk project, Mitchell said he was very pleased.  “They listened to us as homeowners.  Mr. Beights has also been very supportive.”

Mr. Mitchell was, however, quite surprised to learn that, at least in the view of some of the Planning Commissioners and staff, his cul-de-sac was seen as accommodating a road interconnection to future development adjacent to his property.  “I am very surprised,” said Mitchell.  “My lot backs up to the land and there is probably not much development potential there.  That’s why I bought my lot.”  Mitchell said that if the County ever tried to connect Hatcher Court he would both be opposed to it and try to buy the land behind him.

Brian Wheeler

Top-10 Growth & Development Stories of 2007

In my weekly appearance today on WINA AM 1070 on the Charlottesville Right Now program, Coy Barefoot and I counted down Charlottesville Tomorrow's top-10 growth and development stories of 2007.

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Charlottesville Tomorrow's Top-10 Growth and Development Stories of 2007

1. County Elections 2007—Ann Mallek elected Supervisor in White Hall District
2. 4,800 new homes approved at Biscuit Run, Hollymead Town Center, and Rivanna Village
3. Wendell Wood’s projects around National Ground Intelligence Center on Route 29N get new scrutiny by media, public, and local government
4. Albemarle Supervisors set new cash proffer expectations
5. Proposed rural area protection ordinances stalemate Board of Supervisors
6. Lack of rain leads to drought warnings
7. City Planning Commission debates ethics, communications with the public and developers, impartiality, and starts holding pre-meetings off camera
8. Water and sewer infrastructure needs get increased community attention
9. City approves another nine-story downtown building and receives recommendations to limit future building heights in some areas
10. Major capital projects continue facility improvements at the University of Virginia

Brian Wheeler

UVA asks City-County for $2 million in transportation funding

Supervisor Ken Boyd and UVA's Leonard Sandridge

As UVA Architect David Neuman walked into the August 16, 2007 Planning and Coordination Council (PACC) meeting, he grabbed Supervisor Dennis Rooker and jokingly asked, “How are you doing with my bridge?”  The railroad bridge near Ivy Nursery just off Route 250 West was recently damaged by a passing train and the County, VDOT and railroad officials are trying to determine how it can fund a long term repair.  For a couple days last week, Neuman and other Flordon residents faced a painful detour and learned that their bridge was not rated to support fire trucks.

However, Neuman and Leonard Sandridge, UVA’s Chief Operating Officer, had other transportation infrastructure matters to bring before the City and County officials in their quarterly PACC meeting.  Neuman asked the City and County each for $1 million for an Ivy Road Gateway Enhancement Project.  The University would match it with $1 million of their own if the City and County pursued matching funds from VDOT bringing the potential funding pool to $5 million.  UVA is not eligible for state matching funds.

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UVA officials want to dust off some of the recommendations from a 1994 joint study of the Ivy Road area because this entrance corridor is being used for an increasing number of visitors to the new John Paul Jones Arena and UVA’s future arts district being built at the Emmet Street intersection.

Neuman outlined the following project objectives:

• Enhance pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access and safety
• Calm traffic speeds in certain areas
• Create a more aesthetically attractive entrance corridor for thousands of visitors

Albemarle County has a lengthy list of primary and secondary road priorities.  For the past couple of years there has been an intense effort by Albemarle officials to redirect all available local funding towards just three roads: the Meadowcreek Parkway; Georgetown Road; and Jarman’s Gap Road.  There is not a lot of money to go around.  Albemarle is expecting to receive only $3.7 million from the state this year for all secondary road projects. 

Both of Neuman’s presentations to PACC this year have outlined a vision for the community’s future, and assessments of the significant dollars required to make those dreams a reality.  In February, Neuman gave a presentation of active UVA construction projects costing over $385 million and intended to address, he emphasized, “space deficiency” issues, not to accommodate growth in needed employees or additional students. 

Often when City and County officials see those presentations by developers, they are trying to angle for cash proffer contributions as part of a rezoning request.  Despite the scale of these projects at UVA, proffers are not part of the equation for land being redeveloped by the University.  On land owned by the UVA Foundation, however, the City and County are hoping for a proffered contribution for a piece of the Fontaine Avenue-Sunset Connector.  That road will be used largely by UVA employees and other local commuters, not visitors to Charlottesville.  At this meeting, UVA made their case that enhancing Ivy Road should find a place on the community priority list.

Mayor David Brown and Supervisors Ken Boyd and Dennis Rooker all voiced support for efforts that would include improvements for bicycles and pedestrians in the corridor.  However, as the local leaders dealing with annual transportation funding challenges, and pressure from new development in the County on City roads, they were clearly in no position to promise any funding. 

Supervisor Boyd said, “I certainly agree this is a worthwhile project to move forward with.  Unfortunately all of these when taken by themselves look like great projects for us to do and collectively it creates a real financial burden for us….We have to consider, how this [compares] in priority to all the other things we have going on.  It should be explored…”

Rooker also reflected on the funding challenges and suggested the community and UVA consider an “events tax.”

“There is obviously a funding tension between the various demands in the community.  On the one hand, we have projects that the City and County have a joint interest in, the Eastern Connector, the Southern Parkway, and roads like that that we are trying to get to a point where we can [fully] fund.  Our growth areas, which themselves have high demands for infrastructure….Then we have what I would call the normal road projects that are either putting down or creating new connections, new roads, widening, or repairing older roads.  All those are competing for money.  One thought might be, I’ll just put this on the table…kind of thinking out loud let’s say, would be the possibility of an events tax.  With the money from an events tax earmarked for transportation projects of mutual interest to the City, County and University.”

While they did not agree on a source of revenue, the PACC members did vote unanimously to send the Ivy Road project to their technical review committee for further study.  Rooker suggested an events or admissions tax should be a topic at a future PACC meeting.

Brian Wheeler

Public gives input on Water Street Design Competition

More than forty people attended the first public meeting of the Water Street Design Competition, an "open ideas" event to get bold thoughts on what to do with the downtown area's last remaining open space.  Input from the public will shape the competition’s search for entrants who may create designs for uses including commercial space, housing, parking, the City Market, and new parks.   

"This is exactly why we have this design center, to have an open forum for public input on projects in Charlottesville," said Jane Fisher, the new director of the Charlottesville Community Design Center. The CCDC won a contract from the City to conduct the competition, which is being funded with City dollars. They also handled the Sunrise Trailer Court competition, which received 164 entries from all over the world.

John Semmelhack, CCDC’s competition coordinator says the competition is open to anyone, professional or non-professional. While the winning entry will not necessarily be built, the finalists will receive a cash award. The exact guidelines for the competition will not be finalized until after a second public meeting in mid-May.

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The area under the scope of the competition consists of the two blocks between the east-west corridors of South Street and Water street, and between the north-south corridors of 2nd Street SE and 2nd Street SW. The first block contains a city-owned parking lot with just over 100 spaces, a small private lot owned by Charlottesville Psychological Associates, and a building on the lot that is currently occupied by H.R. Block.

The second block is wholly owned by the Charlottesville Parking Corporation, which operates a 125 space parking lot.  Last year, media reports that CPC was considering selling the lot prompted community members to request City Council proactively develop a community vision for the area.

"It became very apparent that people have a lot of ownership over the city lot, and what's going to happen with it," said Tim Michel, a Realtor with McLean-Faulconer.

The city turned to the design competition approach out of a recognition that the community is highly vested in the outcomes of development of the spaces. "These are incredibly important blocks," says Aubrey Watts, the city's director of economic development.

Watts says the City Council is primarily concerned with two elements. What will happen with the City Market, and what will happen the parking spaces?

"The council has always felt that in taking a look at a solution to this, they did not want to jeopardize the ability of small businesses to have access to parking for their customers," said Watts. He added that council wants to see some fresh ideas.

"Everybody that's involved in this is really looking to try to say what can we do that would be a little different that would really make this an exciting part of downtown," Watts said.

Semmelhack says the CCDC hopes to get submissions from all over the world, and staff are preparing a multimedia package to help designers who are not familiar with Charlottesville appreciate the site's importance. The animation places the two lots in perspective, including the slopes involved between South and Water streets.

After viewing the animation, the forty or so attendees at the event broke into three focus groups, each of which was tasked with giving feedback on one of the three challenge questions.

First, entrants will need to design an urban mixed-use development that fits in with the context of Charlottesville’s downtown. That is, it will need to serve as a bridge between the pedestrian mall and the rapidly developing area south of the railroad tracks.

Second, the design must use green building principles, and should plan for both affordable and market rate housing.

And finally, entrants will be asked to create a plan that “actively engages the community life of the city.” In other words, the CCDC wants plans that factor in the fate of the City Market, provides places for pedestrians, while coming up with opportunities for public and private parking.

These questions lead to spirited discussions over the future of the whole downtown core, and not just the two blocks in the scope of the competition. The questions lead to other questions and possibilities, such as: how to add a north-south orientation to a downtown where east-west pedestrian access is the norm? Could the city lot become a park with underground parking? And, might the streets that currently end at the mall become a new home for the City Market, or possibly, multiple City Markets?

One of the concerns raised by attendees is over the market value of the private lots. For instance, What happens if CPC decides to sell the lot before the competition is over?

"All of the individual component owners know that they all are better off and gain by having a really coordinated design for the entire area," said Watts. But, he also said that he can't make any guarantees.

CCDC staff will now collate the feedback received at the meeting and use it to help shape the final entry guidelines and questions. A second public meeting will be held in mid-May, and the competition will open in early June. Entrants will have three months to create their submissions in time for an early September. A jury consisting of designers, architects, citizens and Realtors will then pick three finalists, which will be on display in October.

Sean Tubbs

Albemarle examines cost, benefits of green buildings

Watch the PowerPoint presentations with audio

Albemarle County is one of several dozen jurisdictions around the country that are beginning to change policies to make way for green building practices such as the LEED certification. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, was created by the U.S. Green Building Council to help measure the environmental impact of using such practices such as the use of recycled materials, and the use of better plumbing to eliminate the waste of water.

In December, the Albemarle County Planning Commission passed a resolution of intent to amend the comprehensive plan to encourage builders to adopt green techniques. County planner Sean Dougherty says the Board of Supervisors is generally supportive of green building practices, "as long as budgetary impacts are kept in check."  That resolution led to a February decision by the County Board of Supervisors to have its future public buildings be LEED certified.

Last March, the Commission heard from Jason Hartke, Manager of State and Local Advocacy at the U.S. Green Building Council. He told the commission LEED-certified buildings practices can reduce energy bills by up to thirty percent by reducing water use and preventing heat loss. In his presentation, Hartke addressed the costs of such benefits.

"We know that green buildings increase property value, they also decrease liability, but they also have a huge impact on health and well-being." He even says green buildings can increase productivity and reduce absenteeism by providing healthier places to work and learn. But, he told the commission the dollar value of such improvements are hard to quantify.

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To become LEED-certified, builders must use materials that are more expensive. Architects and engineers must also spend more time integrating the building practices into their designs. He points to a 2003 study produced by Greg Katz of the firm Capital E which says green buildings cost an average of 2 percent more than traditional methods. Hartke says the extra spending will pay dividends, with savings up to twenty percent of the construction costs over the lifetime of the building.

"An initial upfront investment of up to $100,000 to incorporate green building features into a five million dollar project would result in one million dollars over the life of the building," Hartke told the commission, reading from the Katz report. The report also demonstrates that LEED-certified buildings use 30 percent less energy.

The idea is catching on. Hartke said the General Services Administration is now requiring its new buildings to be LEED certified. He says ten other federal agencies now have similar requirements.

"But it's really the local level where there's been a laboratory of innovation," Hartke said. "More than twenty jurisdictions have developed incentives for the private sector, in the form of tax credits, density bonuses, expedited permit reviews, and grant programs."

"When folks have a public ordinance in terms of requiring LEED they usually see a lot of savings," says Hartke. He says San Diego has recently begun an initiative to push development towards the LEED-Gold status.

Sean Tubbs

Albemarle County commits to green buildings

On February 7, 2007, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors received an update on an initiative to foster environmentally friendly or “green” building approaches and actions that could be taken to better support the sustainability goals in the Comprehensive Plan.  Last December, the County Planning Commission passed a resolution of intent encouraging the Board to consider amending the Comprehensive Plan to improve the community’s commitment to green building and sustainability. 

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The update from staff touched on: public education efforts on the benefits of green building; opportunities to work with the local development community to promote green building; work within the County’s own operations to improve energy efficiency; and the goal of amending the Comprehensive Plan to support this green building and sustainability.

The Supervisors reached consensus that future County buildings should, pending review of budgetary impacts, be green buildings and pursue a LEED certification.  LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and represents the efforts of a coalition including the US Green Building Council to establish a nationwide standard for constructing “green” buildings.  The new library in Crozet is expected to be the next County building designed with this approach.

County Executive Bob Tucker told the Board that staff would move forward with their feedback and support.  He noted:

“We’ve heard for the first time… a consensus among all of you that you are ready to move forward… on our buildings… and provide green building initiatives and follow the LEED certification.  That’s something we haven’t heard from the full board.  We’ve heard it anecdotally and from some members, but now I am hearing it from all of you.”

Brian Wheeler

City considers limits on future building heights

How tall will future buildings be in Downtown Charlottesville?  Would 9-story buildings create a canyon removing sunlight from the pedestrian mall?  That was the topic of a joint meeting between the City Planning Commission and the Board of Architectural Review on January 25, 2007.

Charlottesville Tomorrow dropped in to hear City officials review feedback from a newly formed advisory committee developing recommendations for Charlottesville’s downtown building shapes and heights.

The committee’s goals are to ultimately make recommendations that:

• Preserve the unique character of the Downtown Mall
• Preserve existing historic buildings
• Allow for reinvestment and redevelopment of Downtown Mall properties
• And to preserve adequate sun light in certain areas downtown (click on image at below to view sun angle proposal)

From this link you can download the staff report and the sun angle diagram that informed the committee's preliminary recommendations as one file.

No decisions were made and City staff asked for time to review the evening’s feedback.  The advisory committee is expected to return later in the year with another round of recommendations.

This podcast represents a test of a new story approach for Charlottesville Tomorrow.  It is a 15 minute recap of some important points in the meeting. Please send me feedback if you like the condensed approach for long work sessions of this type.

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Brian Wheeler

A design competition for Water Street lots

The City of Charlottesville has issued a request for proposals seeking an organization to manage a design competition for the Water Street parking lots [Download RFP].  All proposals are due by 2:00 PM tomorrow.  Entries for the competition will be due at a later date after the City engages a manager for the competition.

The metered lot, home to the City Market, is owned by the City of Charlottesville.  The other parking lot in front of the Live Arts building is owned by Charlottesville Parking Corporation which has been trying to sell the property for some time.  This area was the inspiration for a letter sent by sixteen community members to Mayor Brown in July 2006.  This design competition is a response to our call for the City to begin an "open discussion and launch a proactive process for rendering a shared vision for this critical tract and its surroundings..."

The material below is excerpted from the RFP.

Brian Wheeler

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The successful proposal will manage an 'open ideas' competition for the Water Street Parking Lots.  An 'open ideas' competition is defined as follows:

An open ideas competition invites architectural and urban design teams locally or nationally to submit creative ideas for the development of a site.  The competition can be national or local and the cost is closely tied to that decision.  The program requirements are crafted and vetted by a group of local stakeholders and the winners are selected through a facilitated jury process.  The composition of the jury generally reflects diverse perspectives including architects, landscape architects, green building experts, urban designers, developers, transportation professionals, City officials, and citizens.  The winner of the competition generally receives a cash prize.

An open ideas competition generates excitement and publicity for a project while bringing the highest degree of creativity to the process.  Some proposals stretch the boundaries, but aim to provoke thought and provide a vast array of alternatives.  A good example of an open ideas competition is the Urban Habitats Design Competition for the Sunrise Trailer Park, organized jointly by the Charlottesville Community Design Center and Habitat for Humanity (see www.urban-habitats.org).

The considerations guiding this process are as follows:

• Prioritizing the highest and best use of a limited public and private asset.
• Increased connectivity in the rapidly-developing corridor south of the mall and with the mall.
• A demonstration of the city’s commitment to affordable services and workforce housing.
• Continued public desire for a civic space south of the mall.
• The critical need for a comprehensive parking plan for downtown.
• Accommodating current and future public transit possibilities.
• A commitment to architectural excellence and multi-use, environmentally-friendly building.

Parking lots and the City's vertical growth

Writing in his blog today Charlottesville's Mayor David Brown discusses the challenge of our community's vertical growth.

"A lot of controversy in Charlottesville revolves around development - infill development, increased density, tall buildings. Partly this arises from people wanting to live here, and the market responding to demand; part is due to rising prices making it feasible to build on difficult parcels (many times, in my opinion, parcels that never should have been zoned for development in the first place), and finally because of the zoning ordinance passed 3 years ago (before I joined council), allowing more density"

The recent approval of a nine-story mixed-use complex near Lewis and Clark Square between South Street and Water Street, proposals for several additional tall buildings, and citizen concerns about plans for two downtown parking lots (photos) all have public officials talking about the City's vertical future.

The two parking lots between Water Street and South Street are of particular interest to a group of community members that recently sent a letter to Mayor Brown and City Council [download letter as PDF].  The metered lot, home to the City Market, is owned by the City of Charlottesville.  The other parking lot is owned by Charlottesville Parking Corporation which has been trying to sell the property for over a year.  I was one of sixteen people that signed the letter to Mayor Brown which begins:

"The purpose of this letter is to open a dialogue with you and other city leadership about the accelerating development of Charlottesville's city center and the Water Street Corridor.  We are particularly focused on the City Market site, though our goal is to consider this property in the larger urban context of downtown Charlottesville.  We would like to encourage the city to begin an open discussion and launch a proactive process for rendering a shared vision for this critical tract and its surroundings, rather than be in a reactive mode to private development proposals."

You can download the letter to read about the issues we suggest should be considered in a visioning process for this area (Note: Page three of the PDF version is a list of all the residents that signed the letter, in case you can't make out the signatures). 

The 2001 Comprehensive Plan describes the City's goals for this area as follows:

Water Street:
Two blocks, bordered by West 2nd Street and East 2nd Street, represent the last large development opportunity in the historic downtown area. The urban design plan here illustrates 1st Street divided to create a public green between the two blocks. The plan calls for the existing structures across South Street and Water Street to complete the edge around this space. Retail uses should line Water Street and 1st Street; with the 1st Street green being an ideal spot for restaurants and cafes. Ideally, these two blocks would develop simultaneously so a shared parking facility under 1st Street could be constructed as part of the whole scheme. If such holistic development is impossible, then development on the western block should still line South Street and partially line West 2nd Street. Architecturally, care should be taken that the development along these blocks does not appear to be monolithic; continuous facades spanning the length of a block should be avoided. The façade and overall structure, or massing should be articulated individually and the details and scale of openings should change along the length of the building.

Brian Wheeler