Because no one can afford a house in this town

Over the summer, we wrote about 15 housing and hotel projects on our radar, but in the blur of bulldozers and Tyvek coverings surrounding Fifth Street, we missed one. Almost directly across from the Albemarle County Office Building (and the police station—yikes!), 5th Street Place is now leasing one- and two-bedroom apartments. Looks like the sleepier side of town is starting to wake up.

Here’s the word:

Prices range from $1,240 to $1,725 for 13 available floor plans ranging from 740 to 1,210 square feet
Clubhouse with pool, shuffleboard and, most importantly,
life-size Scrabble
Resort-style pool, gym and yoga studio
Outdoor lounge with fireplace, grilling stations and al fresco dining areas
Apartment amenities include “chef-inspired” kitchens available in two finishes, classic subway tile backsplashes, granite countertops, walk-in showers and closets, private balconies, plank flooring, front door “valet” trash and recycling services and full-size washers and dryers
About a 10-minute drive to the Downtown Mall and a “short walk” to 5th Street Station, though there’s no sidewalk leading to the massive shopping center

Conflicting accounts

Fred and Cindy Warmbier, parents of the UVA student who was detained in North Korea, medevaced to America a year later and died shortly after, said on CNN September 26 that their son, Otto, showed clear signs of torture, and that it looked like pliers had been used on his bottom teeth. But a Hamilton County, Ohio, coroner said there were no obvious signs of torture and his teeth showed no trauma.

Dubious top 5

Of the 4.2 million Americans whose driver’s licenses are suspended because of unpaid court debt, Virginia comes in third behind Texas and North Carolina, with 977,000 of its citizens who can’t get a license because of what Legal Aid Justice Center, which has filed a federal suit, calls a “vicious court debt cycle.”

Kenneth Jackson. Staff photo

Quote of the Week:

I’m afraid to even go to a council meeting, and I’ve been going to them since
I was 15 years old. I’ve never been so disgusted, and there’s no excuse for it.

—Candidate Kenneth Jackson on recent City Council disorder at a September 27 forum

Alleged face-puncher arrested

Dennis Mothersbaugh, the bald and bearded Indiana man seen socking a man in the side of the head and striking a woman in the face in a cellphone video of the Unite the Right rally, was charged with assault and battery, arrested September 28 and extradited to Virginia. He has been charged at least twice before for threatening black men, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Pam Moran retires

The Albemarle County Public Schools superintendent since 2006, and the second-longest serving in the division’s history, will retire this June with accomplishments that include being Virginia’s superintendent of the year in 2015. Deputy superintendent Matthew Haas will succeed her.

Real expensive

Ian Dillard. Courtesy of the Scout Guide

The Scout Guide, the high-end, fancy catalog dedicated to “a beautiful, simple, well-curated life” by shopping at its upscale local advertisers, has named Ian Dillard its new editor. The guide, started here in 2010, now has more than 60 guide franchises across the country.

Marketing cool

Darden prof Lalin Anik did a case study on creating cool and defines the three essential traits to coolness: autonomy, authenticity and attitude. She cites the perennial personification of it—James Bond—and why that worked for a switch from martinis to Heineken.

Act of solidarity

“We need solidarity—not just unity—in the wake of August 12,” says Schyler Cunningham, one of three event organizers who met during the March Against White Supremacy last month, when a group of activists walked from Charlottesville to the nation’s capital. Back home, their first efforts to memorialize African-Americans were erased from the Free Speech wall, so Cunningham and about a dozen volunteers covered what they renamed the Solidarity Wall September 28 with the names of 1,500 black men and women killed in the United States by acts of police brutality since 2013. The event ended with a quiet reading of each name.

UVA rapes, stalking, hate crimes increase

In its recently published Fire Safety and Security Report, UVA offered no commentary on its uptick in several categories of incidents, including the six times as many hate crimes reported in 2016 as in the previous year.

Dennis Mothersbaugh

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