August 6, 2024: VDOT opens Hydraulic roundabout a week early; Kindlewood financing subject of public hearing Thursday in Richmond
Plus: The beginning of coverage from Charlottesville City Council's August 5, 2024 meeting
The good thing about a digital newsletter that gets sent out through internet pipelines is that it will be in front of readers within a minute of hitting send. The bad thing is that there is nothing that can line your birdcage. This is Charlottesville Community Engagement, now in its fifth years of seeking to write as much as possible. I’m Sean Tubbs, and if you cut me, words will spill out.
In today’s installment:
A contractor working on the roundabout at Hydraulic and Hillsdale will get a half million bonus for opening up a detour earlier
Analysis of real estate trends from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors remains more of the same
There’s a public hearing on Thursday for bond financing for affordable housing complexes, including over $53 million for the second phase of the Kindlewood project in Charlottesville
Coverage of last night’s Charlottesville City Council meeting begins with a closed session and a proclamation for Farmers Market Week through August 10
Free subscriber alert: You can now take a look at the June 2024 property transactions here
First-shout: Rivanna Conservation Alliance and Re-Leaf team up
In what I believe is the first combination shout-out, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance has recently partnered with a Green Team put together by Re-Leaf to help implement the Rivanna River Forest Health and Resilience Project. The Green Team consists of high schoolers who participate in a two-week training program about the value of trees, the impacts of climate change, tree maintenance and tree planting. This time around, they learned about the importance of tree canopy to our watershed, including benefits for climate resilience and stormwater management. Learn more about the program here!
VDOT to open Hydraulic/Hillsdale roundabout a week early
The first of four transportation projects planned in the vicinity of the Hydraulic Road and U.S. 29 intersection is now open, a week earlier than originally planned.
The Virginia Department of Transportation has announced that progress towards construction of a two-lane roundabout at Hydraulic and Hillsdale Drive is sufficiently completed to open to traffic.
When the firm Curtis Contracting began work on July 8, they closed the intersections to through traffic. Their task was to replace the traffic signals with the roundabout. They are eligible for a $500,000 bonus for completing the work early.
The other projects in what has the title “Hydraulic Road and U.S. 29 transportation improvements” include a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 29 and alterations of Hydraulic Road’s intersections with Brandywine Drive and Michie Drive. The fourth is a reconfiguration of the U.S. 29 intersection to eliminate left-hand turns from Hydraulic Road onto U.S. 29. That project will also add a signalized pedestrian crossing where one currently does not exist.
Have you been through today? I’d love to get some first-hand accounts via email or comment on this newsletter.
CAAR report: Fewer sales, higher prices, and more homes on the market
So far 2024 has moved through seven months and the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors has completed its review of the second quarter. Their analysis reveals a continuing trend of fewer homes selling but those that do are at at higher prices.
“There were 1,100 homes sold region-wide in the second quarter, which is 48 fewer sales than a year ago, reflecting a four percent decrease,” reads the report.
For perspective on how the market has cooled, there were on 1,545 homes sold in the second quarter of 2022.
That region includes Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson and there is data in the report for each. The median sales price in all six localities in the second quarter was $460,050, up three percent from the same period in 2024.
The median sales price in the second quarter of 2020 was $331,500.
The number of sales dropped five percent in Nelson, fell eight percent in Albemarle, and went down 12 percent in Fluvanna. They were 15 percent lower in Charlottesville. Sales were up 14 percent in Louisa and 19 percent in Greene.
The median sales price region-wide was $517,057 up 14 percent over 2023. That figure was $429,083 in the second quarter of 2020.
All six localities had an increase in their median sales price with Albemarle’s being the lowest from $530,000 to $533,700.
The highest increase is in Nelson where the median sales price increased 28 percent from $320,000 to $409,000. Fluvanna County has the lowest median sales price with $360,500. The median sales price increased eleven percent in Charlottesville from $470,000 to $520,000.
Another trend is toward more properties being listed as active with a ten percent increase over 2023.
The report also notes that new construction is flat overall, but there are more building permits being requested for single-family detached houses and fewer townhomes and multifamily units.
Public hearing in Richmond Thursday for affordable housing funds
As the cost of housing continues to increase in Charlottesville and Albemarle, many different entities are working to either create or maintain th e numbers of places with price points that are affordable for those with lower incomes.
These projects are all financed through multiple sources including bonds issued by the Virginia Housing Development Authority. The agency has rebranded itself as “Virginia Housing” and will also hold a public hearing this Thursday in Richmond on the issuance of up to $847,205,000.
The public notice for the hearing notes that the funds will “retire and refund certain multi-family notes and bonds and/or to provide additional funds to purchase or finance multi-family rental housing developments for low and moderate income persons and families, including in some cases group facilities for persons with physical or mental disabilities.”
Those who purchase bonds are paid back over time with interest.
There are over two dozen projects across the Commonwealth of Virginia that are involved with these projects. One of them is the second phase of Kindlewood being developed by the Piedmont Housing Authority. Technically the $53,415,000 in bonds would be floated for FC Phase 2 LLC as each project often has its own corporate entity. The public notice states 110 units would be constructed in this phase.
On June 17, Council agreed to a forgivable loan related to Phase 2. In the staff report, the unit breakdown is listed this way:
54 units will be subsidized through project-based federal Section 8 vouchers
A minimum of 46 units that would be designated for rent to households making between 30 percent and 80 percent of the area median income (AMI)
A minimum of four units would be made available for sale under the land trust
Note that the unit counts are not consistent between the 110 listed in the public notice and the 104 minimum listed in the description and the staff report.
Earlier this summer, I asked for a breakdown of how much city funding has gone into Kindlewood so far.
$350,000 – Friendship Court Master Planning
$75,000 – PHA Friendship Court Community Wealth Building Initiative
$5,940,000 – Friendship Court/Kindlewood Phase 1 redevelopment (CIP)
$5,750,000 – Friendship Court/Kindlewood Phase 2 redevelopment (CIP)
Funding from the city is considered non-bondable, which means those are direct payments of cash from Charlottesville to the Piedmont Housing Alliance.
There are two more phases to go.
The hearing will be held at 11 a.m. at the offices of the Virginia Development Housing Authority at 601 South Belvidere Street in Richmond. (meeting info)
Second shout out: Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards walk at Preddy Creek
In today’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards has a mission to support rural and urban forests and to promote knowledge and understanding of the value of trees for present and future generations. Toward that goal, they offer the occasional free class.
On Wednesday, August 21, Tree Steward Mary Lee Epps will lead a guided walk at Preddy Creek to see a remarkable array of trees, some of which are not often seen in Albemarle County, such as American wild plum, shingle oak and butternut. The walk is mostly on partly or fully shaded well established trails with one staircase over an elevated bridge.
The free walk is limited to 20 participants so sign up today! Please register in advance at charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org
An explanation before the Council summaries begin
Before I begin the rest of this newsletter, a peek behind the production. I am a one-person operation that manages to produce a lot of stories. I’m able to do that because I have systems in place in order to help me go through a lot of raw material, systems I’ve been able to build because reporting is my sole work.
One internal critique is that I do not get to every item I want to write. I record every meeting that I can, but I find processing it all to be more difficult. I lack a refined system for documenting what happens at each meeting and know that building one will help be more efficient.
The story I want to tell the most from last night’s Council happened at the very end. I do not listen to the meetings live because by that point in the work day I am in my recharge and downtime phase. So, I begin coverage of the Council meeting with that in mind, as well as an important tip to always listen to the tail of the work session to find out why they’re going into closed session.
Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston read the one for August 5, 2024, just after a work session on the development of a transition plan to become compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In closing the meeting to the public, Pinkston invoked §2.2-3712 of the Virginia Code as well as specific exemptions authorized in §2.2-3711.
“For discussion and consideration of assignment, appointment, performance, demotion, and salary discipline in a resignation of a specific named employment of a public body,” Pinkston said.
Pinkston said they would also be interviewing candidates for vacancies on the Planning Commission and the Police Civilian Oversight Board.
Then they went into closed session, and would come back for a full meeting at 6:30 p.m. that lasted just under two and a half hours. Will that closed meeting item be explained?
I have a question out, but I’ll also go through the meeting. Only one story in this edition, but there will be several in the next.
Council recognizes Farmers Market Week through August 10
Charlottesville City Council has officially recognized a non-profit group that operates a farmers market that competes with the one run by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Market Central has expanded from an organization formed to help bolster the city-run market to one that now operates year-round independently.
“Market Central was established in 2003 as a non-profit that educated the public about farmers markets and supported customer food access by providing a transaction point for low-income customers to use their SNAP dollars to buy from the market,” said Brian Pinkston while reading a proclamation declaring Farmers Market Week in Charlottesville.
For many years, Market Central worked alongside the city to improve the market run by Charlottesville in a municipal parking lot but the non-profit began to put their efforts elsewhere.
“Whereas Market Central originally hosted by the Charlottesville City Market in April to November, Market Central branched out in 2018 to develop a winter market from January to March at the Ix Art Park to provide a site for farm sales and local food access,” Pinkston said.
Market Central was able to get permission to stay open during the pandemic and now the organization operates at Ix Park year-round. A representative accepted the proclamation and explained it is part of a nationwide event.
“It’s the 25th National Farmers Market Week put on by the Farmers Market Coalition,” said the representative, who was not identified at the meeting. “The Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, also made the proclamation. Our governor did, and mayors and governors all around the country have done so, so we appreciate it that you have done it too.”
The organization is hosting a Farmers Market Forum at 4 p.m. today in the JMRL Central Library in the Swanson Room. Representatives from the City Market will also be present at the event. You can RSVP here.
The City Market operates on the surface lot owned by the Charlottesville Parking Center and rented to Woodard Properties. Woodard Properties had the winning proposal in a request from the city for proposals for a redevelopment project that would include the market.
After receiving a rezoning approval from City Council in April 2018 for a ten-story building, Keith Woodard later abandoned the project after the Board of Architectural Review rejected changes made to the design. The Cavalier Daily had that story.
I’ll have more from Council in the next newsletter. Your paid subscription keeps me paying attention.
Reading material for #714
Caribbean Youth Ambassadors to arrive in Charlottesville, Sharra Klug, CBS19, August 2, 2024
New Transportation Chief for Schools Ready to Roll, Lisa Martin, Crozet Gazette, August 2, 2024
Swimmer Kate Douglass Is First Hoo To Win Individual Gold in Paris, Jane Kelly, UVA Today, August 2, 2024
Endnotes for #714
There is a lot more to go through from the Council meeting and I will be getting to that as quickly as I can. Production on #715 begins as soon as I hit publish on this as I try to go through and figure out what happened and document it.
Why do the Farmers Market story first when there were other items that should have been covered? Because agriculture is a crucial industry and I’ve spent many years trying to write as much as I can. I was assigned many stories on the topic at Charlottesville Tomorrow and feel there’s a lot more to be told. I wish I could assign a reporter to go cover that forum today, but I’ve got my work cut out for me for the next four days.
I have several questions out for some of the stories listed above, and I’ll add more detail as I post these stories to Information Charlottesville. There are flaws in my process and room to improve, but with every new paid subscription to this newsletter I am fueled to work that much harder.
In any case, if you do pay through Substack, Ting will match your initial payment whether it be $5 a month, $50 a year, or $200 a year. Questions? Let me know.
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A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
Multiple grammatical errors were corrected in the CAAR segment. I regret these and must find a way to engineer time for a copy-editor to assist.
Thanks for the map of the roundabout! I've been wondering how it will work. Now I'll feel prepared when I next head that way.