Trader Joe’s is Coming to Charlottesville! (Maybe)
Maybe. Trader Joe's may be coming to the Shops at Stonefield (formerly Albemarle Place). Of course, in December 2005 I wrote "Albemarle Place ... is almost upon us." ... "Almost" is a relative term. From the press release: (bolding mine) Located at the intersection of…
Good Fences And Non-Conforming Use in Albemarle
I'd like to think that we can all get along. If the choice were to come down to more houses, more (consistent) traffic, more (consistent) noise, more roads and more of a drain on the environment, which would you choose? First, the Blue Ridge Swim…
Au Revoir, Forest Lakes & Hydraulic Markets?
I try to not trade in rumors, but this is one that has been confirmed by two three sources. Charlottesville may soon have two fewer Markets, and two more national chains. The homogenization continues. What a loss for Charlottesville. The beauty of the Markets -…
What do Real Estate Assessments Mean?
What do Real Estate Assessments mean? It's the value on which you (and I) pay taxes. C-Ville interviewed the Bubble Bloggers: (update December 2017: C-ville seems to have broken the link, and might have deleted the story - I can't find it.) What do the…
Four Positive Signs about the Charlottesville Real Estate Market
1 - Stabilizing real estate assessments - some are legitimately up, some are legitimately down; while they are irrelevant to market value - they do affect consumer sentiment & perspective. 2 - Unemployment has declined to a two year low. (more) 3 - I am…
Albemarle County Assessments are Online
My real estate assessment went up. By 1%. Yours? Check them out on the Albemarle County GIS site. I'm checking my clients' assessments now. Thanks to the Charlottesville Bubble Blog for the heads' up. Last year they were released, with a press release, on 28…
More Fiber in Charlottesville – Fiberlight
Fiber internet is good, so I hear (I live in Crozet, so have heard only rumors) ... I wrote about FiberLight in August of 2010 about the prospect of more fiber coming to Charlottesville. Internet is the new infrastructure. This can only be good for…
Radon – It’s Bad, But Understand the Context
NPR had an insightful, non-scary story last week about radon and its dangers. Read and listen to the whole thing. "Radon is a heavy, radioactive gas that can seep out of the soil into basements and other parts of a house. There's no question that…
10 Ways to “What is the Best Neighborhood in Charlottesville?”
Best: 1 - excelling all others 2 - most productive of good : offering or producing the greatest advantage, utility, or satisfaction "What is the best neighborhood in Charlottesville?" is one of the more common search queries bringing visitors here. I have catalogued some of…
One Year Later, Taxpayers Know How Much Biscuit Run Cost
Last December Biscuit Run sold for $9.8 million, but no one knew the value of the tax credits. Now we know how much "we" paid. Sort of. Will Goldsmith continues his excellent reporting: Still, with $20 million at stake, the fight is not over, and…