Charlottesville's Real Estate Blog. Buyer &/or Seller Representation, Real Estate News
Last December Biscuit Run sold for $9.8 million , but no one knew the value of the tax credits.
… Still, with $20 million at stake, the fight is not over, and the results might not be made public. … An appeal goes to the state tax commissioner, Craig Burns, and the results of such appeals are not public. If that appeal is denied, Forest Lodge LLC could appeal the ruling to circuit court.
It’s not often that I write here about something completely unrelated to real estate, but the following story form yesterday’s Washington Post was brilliant in both its recommendations and simplicity to reform our country.
…There is one common technique that has been used in successful legal overhauls, from Justinian’s recodification in ancient times to the Napoleonic code that is the basis of modern European civil law to the uniform commercial code adopted in the United States in the 1950s.
…But neither party, we now know after the lengthy debate on health-care reform, will take the political risk of challenging these wasteful practices.
Bringing this back to the political environment of the Central Virginia region, think about this statement in context of Charlottesville’s and Albemarle’s inability to build a road or address our water supply. (bolding mine)
Albemarle rejects meeting with DEQ and says it won’t compromise on water plan It’s such a shame that stagnation is continually chosen by both localities.
The Glenmore community has a single source of public drinking water, a 4-mile pipeline that runs along U.S. 250 east of Charlottesville. However, if Albemarle officials decide to add a backup storage tank, they will use $2 million of the county’s capital funds rather than ask the developers or Glenmore residents to pay for it.
“ It is not something that is needed to provide [water] for Glenmore,†said James Bowling IV, legal counsel for the Albemarle County Service Authority. “ It’s a convenience [but] one that you would certainly call a necessity if there was an emergency.â€
Councilors voted 3-2 — with Mayor Dave Norris and Councilor Holly Edwards opposed — to allowActing City Manager Maurice Jones to endorse the project’s draft memorandum of agreement, which lists the measures the city will take to lessen the negative consequences of building the two-lane road through one of Charlottesville’s largest parks. The proposed measures outlined in the memorandum are to establish two rain gardens that exclusively use native plants; have a landscape plan to integrate the city’s portion of the parkway into the setting’s existing natural features and minimize its influence on McIntire Park; install signage prohibiting truck traffic and posting a speed limit of 35 mph; complete photographic documentation of the eastern side of the park; and complete historical documentation of the McIntire Golf Course.
…I still wonder – if we were designing a transportation solution today rather than trying to implement a 40-year-plus plan , would we create the Meadowcreek Parkway?
… The relationship between the City of Charlottesville and the County of Albemarle is akin to that of divorced parents who really kind of hate each other but are able to keep it together justenough to keep the kids fed.
I stand by what I said in June of this year : Places 29 , Albemarle County’s plan for the 29 North Corridor is in its fifth year (at least) and public outreach meetings continue. Candidly, i suspect that this plan will continue to be yet another exercise is the County and county business leaders publicly demonstrating that their best interests are served by continuing the planning process while those citizens to actually drive 29 continue to lament the interminable planning and delays of the aforementioned “leaders.â€
…What I mean by this is that some parts of the city and county are becoming relatively ignorant of each other, as the residents don’t need to leave their respective worlds. As each neighborhood develops continues to evolve and develop and re-develop its own identity, residents may become more involved hyper-locally but less-so in the greater Charlottesville area.
Harrisonburg City grew by an astounding 4.59%, but we outpaced Albemarle, Charlottesville, Louisa, Madison, Orange, Fluvanna, Rockingham, Staunton, and Nelson.
…I suppose that quite a bit of that growth can be attributed to NGIC/DIA as well as the fact that now that Greene has a Lowe’s and Super Wal-Mart people are more inclined to stay in Greene rather than always have to go to Charlottesville. Also, I’d bet that that Hollymead Town Center – Harris Teeter and Target – derives a fair amount of their traffic from southern Greene County.
…If you want a small farm to keep a pony for the kids or a nice vegetable garden, going north may be the answer.