An Albemarle County affordable housing project has been denied federal tax credits that officials have said may be key to making the project a reality.

City councilors agreed in principle Tuesday to spend $1 million from Charlottesville’s economic development fund in coming years to help build new affordable housing.

The city’s effort to exert more control over future development in downtown Charlottesville could backfire and deter growth, some developers say.
Charlottesville staff is seeking to decrease around downtown the number of units per acre a developer can build without getting special permission from the city. Last week the city’s Planning Commission endorsed setting new height limits on downtown buildings, in a bid to preserve the pedestrian-friendly character of the corridor.

The city is soliciting offers for two parcels it owns on the corner of Ridge Street and Cherry Avenue, potentially paving the way for a long-stalled housing and office project to be built on one of the only undeveloped tracts near downtown Charlottesville.

When Rydell Payne stares out at three acres of woodlands and grass between Fifth Street and Prospect Avenue, he doesn’t just see a ripe development opportunity; he sees a way to improve the lives of surrounding residents.

Alli Davis, a second-year University of Virginia student, broke down several cardboard boxes, lashed them together with duct tape and began building herself a shelter for the night.