Following backlash from Charlottesville residents — including during City Council and local community meetings — the developers responsible for a possible expansion to the Dairy Market have paused the formal application process for the project. The proposal, referred to as Dairy Central and informally introduced at a community meeting, will involve an expansion into over four acres of nearby lots for multi-use buildings of apartment and retail space.
Charlottesville residents are concerned that the proposed developments will force out local businesses and make the area unaffordable for residents of the 10th and Page neighborhood. Stony Point Development Group, the company behind the proposed development, is facing heavy criticism about the project’s potential impact on the community.
When the new expansion proposal was first unveiled at a July 25 community meeting held for local residents and the firms involved in the proposed project, many residents were concerned that the expansion would push the primarily Black and low-income residents out of the area.
At a City Council meeting Aug. 7, residents spoke out against the proposed expansion, despite the issue not being on the agenda. Charlottesville residents took to the meeting’s public comment section, arguing that the Dairy Central project will drive out long-term residents.
Gloria Beard, a Charlottesville local who has lived in the area for over 25 years, said that at a Council meeting in March that taxes increased for residents after the initial development of Dairy Central. Residents spoke negatively about a “hidden” tax increase largely due to an increase in assessed property values. Assessors often examine the local real estate market, including new developments, when making these decisions.
“Now I want to know why all these contractors are allowed to come into Charlottesville to build these high-rise apartments and houses that cost an arm and a leg,” Beard said. “The one I am most concerned about is the Dairy Market and the lies that were told to our neighborhood.”
Beard said the developer had promised to include affordable housing options in the development but only planned for four units.
In a related concern, many community members have expressed worries that the planned apartments will not be affordable for most current residents. Affordable housing has long been an important concern for many in Charlottesville — including locals and students in need of affordable off-Grounds housing — especially as the cost of living rises dramatically in Charlottesville.
Despite public comments at the Council meeting, Chris Henry, President of Stony Point Development Group, said that no formal applications for the expansion projects have been submitted to the City. He said the project is not moving forward with formal application processes until the company receives more community feedback.
“We are working with the neighborhood and gathering more feedback and having conversations before moving anything forward related to a future expansion of the Dairy Central project,” Henry said.
Developers broke ground in 2018 for the original Dairy Market project — which now contains office spaces, restaurants and apartments. The project included renovating the Monticello Dairy into a food-court style restaurant. The 1937 building was originally used as a milk processing plant and gathering spot for the local community.
Some Charlottesville residents who spoke at the Council meeting noted that they are unable to afford to eat in the Dairy Market and expressed concern that the proposed development would cater to wealthy new residents of the area, leaving current residents behind.
The planned expansion has also been compared to the 1964 razing of Vinegar Hill — a historically Black neighborhood that was destroyed and redeveloped as part of an urban renewal project. The Black residents of Vinegar Hill were forced out and many Black-owned businesses closed.
Richard Hunt, a resident of the 10th and Page neighborhood where the development would be centered, spoke out at the Aug. 7 Council meeting, where he said the City should focus more on improving the area’s tree canopy instead of building high-rise apartments.
“I love my neighborhood,” Hunt said to Council. “When I got the flyer that was sent to some of us regarding the Dairy Market I said, ‘Oh no, not again.’ We've been through this, my uncle's lost a business in Vinegar Hill.”
The existing business in the area that could be impacted by an expansion to Dairy Central include the Twice is Nice thrift shop and Preston Suds — a local laundromat particularly important to many local residents who don’t have washing machines in their homes.
No applications related to this proposal are currently set to be addressed in upcoming Council meetings.
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