Landmark Owner, City Council in Talks About Securing Building

City of Charlottesville

“The owner of the Landmark Hotel on Charlottesville's downtown mall is in talks with the city about securing the crumbling structure. The negotiations are serious enough that City Council is delaying Monday night's scheduled discussion about the building's safety. Postponing that discussion will give city planners and a representative for hotel owner John Dewberry time to reach an agreement for Dewberry to shore up the structure.

Charlottesville City councilors tell us Landmark Hotel owner John Dewberry says he is willing to shore up the ten-story structure using his own money. ‘The landowner has hired an agent or has an agent now who is talking with the city, and the folks at City Hall feel that there is a good possibility that they will do it themselves, that the landowner will put up better fencing and secure the property,’ says council member Kristin Szakos. Until now, Dewberry refused the city's requests to make the structure safer and questioned the motives.”

~Writes NBC29

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Area populations increasing, UVa center says

Charlottesville Region

“All of the localities in the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission’s service area have experienced population growth over the last three years, with the city of Charlottesville having the biggest increase. That’s according to data released last week by the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia.

Charlottesville experienced a 7.2 percent increase since the 2010 Census to an estimate of 46,623 residents on July 1, 2013. Of that number, 791 were births and 2,357 were new residents. ‘Charlottesville did grow relatively quickly between 2010 and 2013, it was the 9th fastest growing locality in the state during the period,” said Hamilton Lombard with the Weldon Cooper Center."

~Writes Sean Tubbs of Charlottesville Tomorrow

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Extension of Water Street will include trees and other amenities

City of Charlottesville

“Growing trees and improving the environment are important enough to be included in the City Council’s vision statement. Yet new housing developments create challenges for the city’s vision of ‘a community with a vibrant urban forest, tree‐lined streets and lush green neighborhoods.’ At its meeting earlier this week, the council appeared to find a win-win, thanks to engaged residents and a willing developer…

The council unanimously approved a $356,525 streetscape plan for Water Street Extended that will now include more than 100 trees, bike-friendly tree grates and 17 parking spaces. The street and a pedestrian trail will extend toward the location of the Beer Run restaurant along the railroad tracks and near the coal tower.

A member of the city’s tree commission initially discovered the plan’s lack of street trees. The matter was then brought to the attention of the PLACE Design task force.”

~Writes Effie Nicholaou of Charlottesville Tomorrow

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Design that works: History lives in a modern workspace

City of Charlottesville

“There’s no architectural union more typically Charlottesville than the marriage of new and old. And the project of marrying a historical legacy to a fresh, modern sensibility isn’t limited to the residential world. At the Water Street offices of Signature, a financial management firm, past and present combine in an upscale office that honors its 19th century roots.”

~Writes Erika Howsare of the C-ville

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