Albemarle County: Home Depot acquires former Sears building at Fashion Square Mall

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors announced yesterday a public-private partnership with Home Depot U.S.A. associated with the development of the county’s property at 1531 Rio Road East.

The property was most recently a Sears store at the Fashion Square Mall in Charlottesville.

The agreement requires that Home Depot U.S.A. receive a Certificate of Occupancy for the proposed Home Depot retail store before Dec. 24, 2025, actively market the free-standing restaurant parcel (the former Red Lobster), and work with the county to transfer the right of way for the proposed future realignment of Hillsdale Drive. The agreement provides a maximum of $750,000 in tax increment financing (TIF) to Home Depot in the next 10 years.

Home Depot’s redevelopment of the former Sears will invest more than $26 million into the property and is expected to create more than 100 new jobs. The existing building is currently assessed to be worth $1,000. The redevelopment will remediate the contaminated conditions associated with the former automotive center that had operated in the building. The county will benefit from the local share of sales tax revenue after the store opens and the increase in real property tax, once the terms of the agreement have been fulfilled.

“We are eager to welcome Home Depot to our area. This public-private partnership jumpstarts the first development with speed, cleans up environmental contamination present at the site, and significantly contributes to transportation connectivity through the Rio29 area,” Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Chair Jim Andrews said.

Albemarle County Executive Jeff Richardson said the property sits at one of the county’s most prominent intersections “and is ripe for redevelopment. As the first significant investment in this corridor, it carries unique challenges, but the County’s participation in this project helps to accelerate progress and mitigate those challenges, bringing renewed vibrancy to the property.”

The Hillsdale Drive Realignment was identified as a “transformative project” in the Rio29 Small Area Plan, adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2019, aligning Hillsdale to connect the major commercial destinations parallel to Route 29. Right of way acquisition was estimated to cost $3.3 million in 2018 for the full alignment, and the agreement secures the majority of the length of that road segment.

A TIF is an incentive tool where the increase in value of real property, due to investment or redevelopment of the property, above a baseline year results in increased tax assessments that are returned to a taxpayer according to a grant agreement to support investment into the site and expansion of commercial activity.

The vision for the Rio29 is to transform the area into a multimodal hub with vibrant and diverse mixed uses and a sense of place enhanced with sustainable and usable public spaces. The implementation section of the plan includes several strategies to achieve the vision and includes zoning, partnerships and policy, and transformative projects.