West Main Development -- Entrepreneurs have been key in the "rebirth" and development of West Main Street during since public interest in the region of the city reemerged in the late seventies after it had become one of the most infamous areas of the city.

The following developers own property along West Main Street and the surrounding area. While differing in their visions for the corridor, they all have the desire to see the street become the major connector between the University of Virginia and the Downtown Mall area.

Gabe Silverman

Until recently, Gabe Silverman had a plan for developing his property around Union Station, the building that he renovated in the late nineties. He had wanted to build a development on the gravel parking lot next to the station. However, after having been unable to resolve a four-year conflict with the city over the ownership, the city council voted in June of 1996 to divert the grant elsewhere.

Aubrey Watts, Director of Economic Development for the City of Charlottesville, stated that negotiations with Silverman had reached an impasse since Silverman had wanted to be exempt from taxes and the city to finance the garage. He would not have been able to be exempt from taxes under Virginia state law, according to Watts.

The state and the federal government had given Charlottesville $4 million in grants to aid in the construction of the complex. All grants have time limits in which they need to be used. If the city had waited any longer, it would have lost the grant. Not wanting to loose the money, the council voted to divert the funds to the construction of a bus transfer station at the east end of the Downtown Mall.

Mayor Blake Caravati acknowledged that he would have liked to see the bus transfer station at Union Station. It would have been possible to for the city bus lines to connect with not only the Amtrak trains, but the university transportation system and the Greyhound buses as well. However, he declared that what Silverman proposed was not financially feasible.

According to Caravati, the government is not willing to give bonds fro development freely today as it had done in the early eighties (This was the case with the construction of the Omni on Vinegar Hill and much of the businesses on route 29 north of the city). Abuses of the system coupled with recession in the late eighties have made such funds increasingly more difficult to obtain.

A firm believer in capitalizing on the advances coming from the university, Gabe Silverman had wanted to help move information and bio technologies into the private sector - in office space in his building. He proposed retail businesses, restaurants and possibly residences in the space as well. In order to accommodate parking needs of the area while saving space, the parking garage would have been subterranean.

Silverman had hoped to work to develop the area with Corn-Capshaw, the development firm that owns land south of the railroad in Fifeville. Now that the city council has diverted funds from his project, he will pave the gravel lot and install paid parking. He hopes that Corn-Capshaw will continue to develop their property in order to create what he sees as the necessary link between Fifeville and West Main Street.

Reference: 7

Blake Hurt

Land developer Blake Hurt owns Republic Plaza and the Starr Hill Building. He sees West Main Street as a "natural extension" of the University of Virginia, creating a space in which students may interact with the surrounding community.

Since he purchased the property for Republic Plaza in 1987, Mr. Hurt's vision has been to create a space in which businesses could establish themselves and thrive from their proximity to the university. It seemed only logical to Hurt that businesses want to be next to be near a growing university with an enormous potential for clientele.

Since the completion of Republic Plaza in 1988, Blake Hurt has had much success in renting the space. A variety of businesses from a hair a salon to a restaurant inhabit the space. Capitalizing on the translation of university's technology to the private sector, Hurt has rented space to businesses like Hyperion Telecommunications as well. On the land that he owns adjacent to Republic Plaza, Mr. Hurt would like to construct another building to house more such community-friendly enterprises, such as offices and restaurants. He would like to do the same with a property that he owns on Star Hill.

As for future expansion, Blake Hurt believes that further growth on West Main will come with further development of housing, particularly that which is aimed at university students and graduates. If more people lived in the neighborhood, more goods and services would be in demand and therefore find West Main Street an ideal place to have a business. Mr. Hurt cites the Star Hill and the region proximate to Wertland Avenue as the superlative location in which to develop such housing.

Reference: 5

David Stoner

David Stoner and his associates purchased the former Albemarle Hotel property from Charles Hurt in 1999 and are planning to renovate the building. They would like to restore the exterior of the building in a style similar to what the Hotel flaunted a century ago while refurbishing the interior. Stoner plans to begin the restoration project in a year and a half. He believes that is important to maintain the historic nature of the district.

Stoner also owns three houses on 7th Street in the Star Hill neighborhood. He sees increased housing opportunities as essential to the growth of West Main Street and would like to take part in the creation of more residencies targeted at university students and graduates in the area.

Reference: 9

Author: Joseph Cheek, September 4, 2001