Brother-in-law Jeff Gaffney went on NBC29 to express the family’s bafflement.
SCREEN CAPTURE

A 9:30am weekday phone call to his mother and a drive to his vacation house at Wintergreen are about the only clues in the Wednesday disappearance of prominent developer and country club president Michael Comer.

What initially looked like a simple search for a hiker took a bizarre twist the following evening when officials indicated they no longer think that the missing Glenmore Country Club president and former Kessler Group project manager would be found at Wintergreen Resort where the 45-year-old Comer allegedly went missing July 1.

NBC29 reports that the search has ceased and broadcast a subsequent report in which brother-in-law Jeff Gaffney expresses the family pain and puzzlement that Comer’s car, keys, and cellphone were found at Wintergreen.

—originally posted July 3 at 5:57am under the headline, “Mystery deepens in club boss disappearance”

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Will Charlottesville’s Hardy Drive go the way of St. Louis’ Pruitt-Igoe, the 33 buildings on 57 acres that St. Louis used to ghettoize its poor in the 1950s.
Photo: U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development

Charlottesville wants to redevelop its public housing projects. That means that everything from adding new foliage around the front doors to pulling a “Pruitt-Igoe,” i.e. demolishing all the stuff, is on the table.

As usual for Charlottesville facelifts, Philadelphia-based Wallace Roberts Todd, or WRT, is running the show, and the first community meeting is Monday, June 29 at 6:30pm.

Other meetings will follow Tuesday, and interested citizens can follow the situation on a special redevelopment website.

Why is demolition an option? Because, according to the minutes of a May 11 consultants’ meeting, maintaining the existing building inventory “will not be viable” for Housing Authority over the long-term.

In addition to finding that even wait-listed would-be residents won’t move into the Westhaven complex on Hardy Drive, the apartments owned by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority are “not comparable to what is available in the private marketplace, and that gap will continue to widen if the Housing Authority does not pursue rehab and/or redevelopment strategies.”

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The old stone Albemarle County Jail stands behind an 18-foot brick wall that surrounds the structure.
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

Now that the $20 million renovation of the old Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court is almost finished, another historic building in need of repair stands in sharp contrast to the new construction, boxed in as it is by a brand new parking garage: the old Albemarle County Jail. Although the J&DR court project was a joint venture between the County and the City, the price tag did not include any work on the old jail, and now it’s up to the County to figure out what to do with it.

According to Marc Wagner at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the deteriorating jail is of far more historical significance than the nearby J&DR court house.

“The courthouse is interesting,” he says, ” but the jail is really unusual.” Indeed, with its huge block stone walls and thin barred windows, it looks like something out of the Middle Ages. But believe it or not, the City was still using it to hold prisoners in the 1970s.

“I used the wall as a backstop for hitting tennis balls when I was taking YMCA lessons at the McIntire Tennis Courts, since reborn as a skateboard park,” says Antoinette Roades, a local preservationist and historian, whose family lived right next to the jail in the 1960s. “If I hit a wild shot over the wall, a prisoner would throw it back.”

The Albemarle County Jail No. 5, as it was originally called, was built by George Wallace Spooner in 1876. Spooner, who also happened to be city manager, also built the Mount Zion Baptist Church on Ridge Street and was tapped to rebuild the Rotunda after it burned in 1895, a job he would eventually lose to architect Stanford White. In 1886, Spooner added the brick jailer’s house that stands today.

Clearly, Spooner wanted his jail to send a message. In addition to three-foot thick stone walls, reinforced steel doors, and an 18-foot brick wall surrounding the prison yard, the jail also featured an iron “cage” on the ground floor (more)

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The University Car Wash on Ivy Road the morning it was leveled….
PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

Travelers down Ivy Road may have noticed that the old University Car Wash was demolished this week. Owned by the same folks who own the Clean Machine Car Wash at Pantops, the familiar building is coming down to make room for another car wash, one that looks like something from a sci-fi movie.

Indeed, we stumbled across some renderings of the new car wash on the website of Bushman Dreyfus Architects, the firm known for bringing us such stylish and contemporary designs as the City Center for Contemporary Arts, Splendora’s Gelato Cafe, and the interior of Metropolitan restaurant. So what is a firm whose guiding principles include phrases like “poetry of materials” and “integration of landscape” doing designing a car wash?

“The owners were very open-minded,” says architect Jeff Dreyfus, who says they allowed the firm to explore new design ground for the typically conventional structure, which can often be like driving into a dark cave. “They wanted to convey a sense of security and openness,” says Dreyfus.

…and the morning after.
PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

The result is something that looks like a cross between a greenhouse and a time portal. According to Dreyfus, the washing system will be totally “state-of-the-art” and will use recycled water. It should be up and running sometime in the fall, he says.

“We’ve never designed a car wash before,” says Dreyfus, “but it’s good when you design something for the first, because you end up exploring all aspects of the project.”

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After years of neglect, the circa-1883 Moon-Henderson House at 10 1/2 Street NW is finally being restored.
PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

Last November, local publisher Bill Chapman appealed a decision by the Board of Architectural Review to Charlottesville City Council, denying his demolition request for the Moon-Henderson House, a circa-1883 structure at 10 1/2 Street NW, and one of the few remnants of a once thriving African-American neighborhood along West Main. Chapman, who purchased the building with a partner in 2003, explained that it wasn’t financially feasible to preserve.

“I was hoping to renovate it into office/retail, assuming that Atwood’s building next door gave some life to the street,” said Chapman, referring to architect Bill Atwood’s plan to develop the near-by Under the Roof space, “but the cost estimate was over $300,000. Hard to make that work for a 1400-square foot building.” Chapman also explained that there was no room for an addition due to small lot size and required setbacks.

It wasn’t the first time the BAR had to come to Moon-Henderson’s defense. In 1997 and 1999, previous owners had also sought to have it demolished, but each time the BAR said no. Last November, City Council said no, too, telling Chapman it was an “historic treasure” and that they were “bothered” that it had been allowed to deteriorate due to neglect. (more)

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The Biltmore Grill on Elliewood Avenue was sold yesterday, but will re-open in August.

Biltmore Grill manager Katie Russell confirms that the Corner restaurant and bar, once named to a Playboy list of hot bars and home of the infamous Survivor Hour, was sold yesterday. After 14 years, it appears the poor economy prompted owner Tim O’Neil, who also owned the recently sold O’Neil’s Irish Pub, to throw in the towel.

“It was time to get out,” says Russell.

However, Biltmore fans needn’t mourn. Russell says the new owners plan on re-opening as the Biltmore Grill in August. Russell won’t say who the new owners are, but she does confirm that they are current Corner restaurant owners.

The building, long owned by Corner property owner Ann Albright, was built as a boarding house in 1945, then became a Mexican restaurant called Tortilla Flats in the 1970s. Later, it became the Coach House Inn and then Graffiti. In 1989, it was transformed into the Biltmore Grill by Dillon Baynes and a quiet North Carolina investor. Baynes is now a corporate developer in Atlanta, who happens to be spearheading Coran Capshaw’s Coal Tower development project.

On the heels of another Playboy mention in 1987, in which UVA was ranked the 10th best party school in the nation, Baynes oversaw the expansion of the building in the early 1990s, adding a ground level, a new back room upstairs, and solidifying its reputation as a place to party on the Corner.

–Last updated Tuesday, May 26 at 3:57pm

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On Friday, May 8, the Hook spotted this swarm of winged insects at the base of the wood facade at 111 East Main Street. “Those are termite swarmers,” says pest control expert John Ashcraft. “I’m one-hundred percent sure.” The building, owned by developer Keith Woodard, is one of several deteriorating buildings (Derriere de Soie moved into 105 East Main and spruced up the ground floor) he owns on the corner of First and Main Streets, where he has had a long-time plan for a 9-story development.

Neighborhood development chief Jim Tolbert said he was unaware of the problem, but said he would turn the problem over to his property maintenance staff and let the building’s owner know.

Woodard, too, says he was unaware of the problem, and thanked a reporter for bringing it to his attention. “We’ll take care of this,” he says.

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What the outside of the new Regal Seminole Trail Stadium 9 will look like .
COURTESY REGAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

Regal Entertainment Group announced May 1 the renovation of its four-screen theater behind Kmart, adding five additional screens and renaming it Regal Seminole Trail Stadium 9. However, the biggest shocker of this whole enterprise— besides the fact that America was so over-screened a decade ago that most of the major chains (including Regal itself) declared bankruptcy— is that this site has been targeted for a road.

Although technically still in the planning stages, the proposed $30.5 million Hillsdale Drive Extension has already claimed the old Terrace Triple Theater and the Detail Express Car Wash, which were demolished in 2007. The City has also been in talks with Whole Foods about building Hillsdale Drive’s Hydraulic Road entrance.

The latest design for the Hillsdale Drive project shows the proposed road running through the Regal Cinema property.
FROM HILLSDALE DRIVE PROJECT WEBSITE

According to a business impact study on the roadway, the Regal would be “negatively impacted the most by the new traffic pattern…with an estimated reduction of 20 percent in sales.” Most notably, a preferred pathway appears to run through the Regal and eliminate a third of the theater’s parking. In addition, the report says, the “increased traffic congestion will likely deter movie-goers.”

However, according to Regal marketing VP Russ Nunley, the company has been “looking for years” for a new theater location, but finally decided to improve on its existing location.

The new theater would include stadium seating, high-back recliner seats, a new lobby, an indoor box-office, kiosks for automated ticket buying, digital surround sound and  3D projection systems, and retractable cup holders to allow for “love seat” seating. Concerts, opera, Broadway shows, and sporting events might be added.

Of course, such plans could have strategic benefits too. While Nunley says that Regal has been aware of “some kind” of proposed road plan— information on the project, including the impact study, is readily available online at www.hillsdaledrive.org— he says the company has never been contacted about an approved design plan or a timeline.

“We got tired of waiting,” says Nunley.  “Since Regal owns the land, we can begin the process and apply for permits this month.”

Despite the findings in the study, Nunley expressed hope that the proposed road project would enhance access to the new theater. Nunley says that opening date will be determined by the local permitting process.

Floor plan for the new theater.
COURTESY REGAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

“The ball will be in their court,” he says. “We want to make this a reality as quickly as possible.”

According to Charlottesville Tomorrow, which first broke the story about the road grabbing at least part of the Regal back in November 2007, the state and federal funding that the City is counting on for the Hillsdale Drive project won’t be available until at least 2015. In addition, City development services manager Angela Tucker tells CT that the City isn’t yet authorized to acquire any rights of way.

“We are bound by a VDOT timeline for state and federal funding so this announcement [from Regal] makes the process more challenging,” says City spokesperson Ric Barrick. ” We have no plan submission to date so it’s not prudent to speculate on how we may need to adjust the current Hillsdale route.”

Public hearings on the design of the project are scheduled for later this year, Tucker told CT.

—last updated Tuesday, May 5 at 1:32pm

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Developer Wendell Wood.
FILE PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

What’s going on across from Kegler’s on Route 29, you ask? Well, developer Wendell Wood is at it again, breaking ground on yet another development.

This one is called Northtown Center, a 190,000 square-foot complex of commercial and retail space on 16 acres, which was approved by the Albemarle County Planning Commission last June. Wood says the site will be anchored by a StellarOne bank, a Country Inns & Suites hotel, and a restaurant to be named later.

Wood originally wanted to bring a Home Depot to the site, but County planners nixed that idea over “critical slopes” issues, including concerns about burying a stream, a decision Wood tried to overturn by filing a lawsuit.

Eventually, however, Wood came back with the Northtown plan, which was approved after he agreed to protect the stream and install redundant systems to control stormwater and sediment that might affect the nearby Carrsbrook neighborhood.

In the end, Wood claims, Northtown will actually have more total square-footage than the Home Depot would have.

Once again, Wood’s legendary patience seems to (more)

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A Charlotte, NC-based real estate company will be developing the old Martha Jefferson Hospital into a master planned community.
FILE PHOTO BY WILL WALKER

Old Trail Village isn’t the only master planned development making news. Martha Jefferson Hospital has selected a Charlotte, NC-based real estate company to handle the estimated $170 to $200 million development of its 14-acre Locust Avenue campus. The hospital is moving into a new 88-acre location on Pantops Mountain in 2012, after more than 100 years in its current location, and had launched a national search for proposals to develop what they’ll be leaving behind.

“More than 25 firms responded,” says MJH spokesman Steve Bowers, ” but we finally winnowed it down to Crosland. They totally get it all, and they have the experience and capital to create a place that could really please everybody.”

What Crosland appears to get, says Bowers, is that the MJH site will have to (more)

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In 2006, Old Trail Village in Crozet played host to director Tom Shadyac and his movie Evan Almighty, which called for building an ark on the development.
PHOTO BY DON ANDERSON

Wanna buy a master planned community? Old Trail Village, the massive mixed-use development located in Crozet is for sale, according to an email sent to area developers by corporate real estate broker CB Richard Ellis. Although no price is listed, area realtors contacted by the Hook said the 260-acre development could fetch as much as $80 to $100 million.

However, according to Old Trail’s developer, Gaylon Beights, it’s simply a marketing tactic, not a cry for help.

“We are not for sale in the sense of any urgency,” says Beights. “In tight markets, you simply have to try a broader approach.  This new email blast is an attempt to achieve a wider market.”

Beights says the last blast brought in the developer for a new Senior Community, one that will close on a 4-acre lot next week.

“In short, we have always been for sale, a lot at a time, groups of lots, as in the sale of nine lots to Craig builders in January,” says Beights. “We hope this new email blast interests (more)

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“It looked basically the same until five years ago,” says preservationist Steven Meeks of this fallen English ground barn, circa 1810.
PHOTOS COURTESY ACHS

Update 4/10/09: After reading this article on Sutherland Farm, it appears the owners of the property have decided not to demo the three historic structures on the property.

“I have talked with the owners and they have decided not to take down the house or the two standing barns,” says realtor Jim Faulconer, the listing agent for the 450-plus acre property, which currently on the market for $6.4 million. ” I will continue to market the property for sale, and hopefully the new owners will be able to preserve and make use of the existing structures.”

***

Unlike Charlottesville, which regulates everything from siding choices to paint colors, county historic preservation laws have about as much backbone as a nervous, drunken sheriff in a wild west town. In 2000, a historic preservation plan was adopted, but it has yet to be implemented.

Still, Margaret Maliszewski, the county’s historic preservation committee director, says they do their best to track and document historic properties. So when a demolition permit was filed for two barns and the main house at Sutherland Farm (down 29 South near the North Garden fairgrounds), one of a handful of historically significant properties the committee has been watching, the alarm was sounded in the preservation community. Apropos, we’d say, considering we’re in the middle of Preservation Week 2009.

“We have wanted to save the buildings on Sutherland Farm, particularly a barn that has since collapsed,” says Maliszewski, “but the whole property is important.”

Indeed, according to UVA architectural history professor K. Edward Lay, the main farm house, called Solitude, was built around 1810, and it is alleged that Thomas Jefferson brought his slaves to a doctor there for inoculations.

Lay says he documented the house not long ago, which sits on 457 acres, and believes thr many features that display the era’s construction techniques make it worth preserving. (Though Lay notes that the exterior porch, dormer, and asbestos siding came later and can be removed.)

The house has two double-ramped chimneys that exhibit the brickwork of the day, as well as a separate smokehouse and kitchen. It’s original owner, Henry Gantt of Maryland, won $40,000 in the Maryland  lottery in 1821 and returned home, says Lay, leaving the property to his son Dr. John W. Gantt, presumably the doctor who treated Jefferson’s slaves. In 1837, the son sold the property to Joseph L. Sutherland, and it remained in the Sutherland family until it was sold four years ago. (more)

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