When Greene County gets its 500+ townhomes, it will increase the number of attached housing in that county by many orders of magnitude. Townhomes and townhome neighborhoods in Northern Albemarle – Hollymead, Forest Lakes, Abington Place, Riverwood – to name a few, will be impacted by the entrance – and prospective entrance – of these homes to the real estate market.

For context, a quick look at the Charlottesville Area MLS shows that:

Over the past 21 years (in the MLS which is “accurate enough” for these purposes:

– 25 attached homes have sold.

– 1 attached home is currently on the market (and it’s under contract)

The Free Enterprise Forum reports (bolding mine):

The Greene County Board of Supervisors met with local developer Fried Companies, Inc., last week to hear the company’s consideration to build several hundred townhomes in the Ruckersville area. Mr. Steve Jones, chief operating officer representing Fried Companies, Inc., presented the developer’s ideas to the board regarding the possibility of rezoning the area proposed for the Creekside Subdivision, located on Seminole Trail/Route 29. 

The property is zoned R-1, which allows up to 800 single family homes, and according to Supervisor Jim Frydl (Ruckersville), the developer wanted to meet with the board to discuss possible rezoning to a PUD, or planned urban development. A PUD would allow the developer more flexibility in changing the planned development from 800 homes on one-acre lots to 1180 homes, 580 of which would be townhomes, and the remainder, single family homes on various-sized lots. Fried Companies is considering the change because of market conditions, which seem to favor townhomes and smaller homes in general that require less upkeep. In addition, Greene County does not currently offer new construction townhomes, and the belief is they would sell easily.

…

The developer also proffered a phased construction of 100 townhomes per year so as not to invade the market all at once.

See a large PDF of the proposed Creekside community in Greene County.

Features include:

Creekside is an 800 lot single family residential community located with three entrances on Preddy Creek Road. This planned community will have easy access to Route 29 and be within minutes of the NGIC/DIA facilities. The community will incorporate a community park with ball fields and walk trails. This project is approved and will be served by public water and sewer.