Affordable Housing

Advisory Group Members & Charge

Advisory Group Members

J.J. Davis, Advisory Group Chair, UVA Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Jim Murray, Member, UVA BOV; Founder, Presidential Precinct; Managing Partner, Court Square Ventures
Danny Abramson, Member, UVAF Board of Directors; Principal, Abramson Properties
Robert Byron, Member, UVAF Board of Directors; Chairman & Co-Founder, Blue Vista Companies
Kevin Chavers, Member, UVAF Board of Directors
Harold Folley, Community Organizer, Legal Aid Justice Center; Liaison from President's Council on UVA-Community Partnerships
Lou Haddad, Member, UVA BOV; CEO/President, Armada Hoffler Properties
Eddie Howard, Executive Director, Abundant Life Ministries
Alex Ikefuna, Interim Director of the Office of Community Solutions, City of Charlottesville
Jen Jacobs, Executive Director, Albemarle Housing Improvement Program
Joy Johnson, Founder and Chair, Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents
Louis Nelson, Vice Provost for Academic Outreach
Stacy Pethia, Principal Planner for Housing, Albemarle County
Tim Rose, Chief Executive Officer, UVAF
Susi Yu, Principal, Head of Development, MAG Partners

Advisory Group Charge

The Affordable Housing Advisory Group (“Advisory Group”) will serve as a sounding board to help advance the affordable housing work, a priority that was identified in the UVA-Community Working Group’s 2019 report. The Advisory Group will provide guidance and expertise, and will review the recommendations of an internal staff work team and their consultants to then bring forward to the Executive Sponsor, President Jim Ryan, on the following: 

- Community Engagement: Work with the project consultant and internal staff work team to create effective communication with the local community, as well as with housing advocacy organizations, to ensure ample input and transparency.

- Target Population: Consider UVA’s role in addressing local housing needs in a way that is complementary to, and not duplicative of, the work of existing housing organizations. 

- Development Strategy: Review and recommend proposals for an approach to support the development of approximately 1,000 to 1,500 affordable housing units over the next ten years. Consider how to partner with public/private sector entities.

UVA has established a goal to support the development of 1,000 to 1,500 affordable housing units over a decade on land in Charlottesville and/or Albemarle County that is owned by UVA or the UVA Foundation.

This timeline is for the Piedmont and Wertland & 10th Street sites.
A North Fork site timeline will be provided once rezoning is complete.

April 19, 2023

• We received proposals on March 21, 2023 for the development of the Piedmont and Wertland & 10th St sites. Proposals from the following development teams are under review:
  • Piedmont
    • Community Housing Partners (CHP) 
    • Enterprise Community Development (ECD) 
    • Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA) 
  • Wertland & 10th St
    • AHC
    • Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA) 
    • Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) 
• The developer selection process requires extensive review. We are taking time to thoroughly evaluate each proposal’s:
  • Plans for community engagement
  • Project approach including alignment with our development principles
  • Financial and transaction approach including access to capital, financing creativity, and the proposed plan for achieving affordability
• We plan to select firms and negotiate final agreements by summer 2023. This timing is an estimate and could change.
• The partnership terms and the agreements will hold the developer accountable for creating high quality developments that will be affordable and well maintained.
• The timeline for construction will depend on the rezoning process and the financing.
• The RFQ for the North Fork site will be issued once the rezoning process for that property is complete. The rezoning process is currently underway.