Strategically positioned on 5th Street, directly off Interstate 64, 5th Street Station, the newest shopping center in southern Charlottesville, Va., is setting new development standards when it comes to green building, walkability and sustainability.
The 87-acre 5th Street Station site, built to LEED green building standards, is notable for its extensive, 41-acre open space that was reforested and preserved with more than 5,000 newly planted trees.
“We’re trying to set a new standard for development in the county and the region,” said Dan Tucker, partner at 5th Street Station Ventures, a commercial real estate partnership that developed the retail center.
That included more than just green building practices for the center and involved working with local leaders to improve water quality in nearby Moore’s Creek, which contributes greatly to the region’s water supply.
“During our initial cleanup efforts, workers pulled an old refrigerator out of Moore’s Creek, and the effects of 60 years of pollution became crystal clear,” said Tucker. “It took months to remove all the debris, stabilize the creek banks and plant a “living” wall to prevent further erosion near the creek.”
The creek restoration was part of a multi-pronged effort to improve the environment around 5th Street Station, a 470,000-square-foot shopping district. The retail center will feature high-profile retailers like Wegmans, which will open in November; Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, opening in 2017; and Field & Stream and Dicks Sporting Goods, which opened last week, among many others.
“While the old model of development was really just sticks and bricks, that is changing,” said Jeff Garrison, a partner at 5th Street Ventures who works specifically with governmental agencies. “Municipalities and local governments are asking for more. They want a development partner who will work to improve and create open space, provide sustainable projects and enhance the communities where we build.”
Environmental efforts at the 5th Street Station site also include treating stormwater runoff along 12 acres of Interstate 64. Stormwater from that part of the interstate now runs through a treatment facility that uses plants and other filters to remove pollutants, like oil from cars. Then the cleaner water is released back into the creek.
“In the 1950s and 1960s, we didn’t control and regulate trash disposal as we do today, and on old properties like this site, trash washed down and got into the creek,” said lead project engineer Daniel Hines of Bohler Engineering. “Things were done differently then. Now we’re much more conscientious of impacts to the environment.”
Additionally 5th Street Station Ventures installed an irrigation cistern to collect rainwater runoff from the roofs of retailers. The cistern collects rainwater, filters it and reuses it for irrigating the landscape islands at 5th Street Station. Now a majority of the landscape islands are being irrigated with water from the 50,000-gallon cistern.
The developer is donating nearly 10 acres of open space to the Albemarle County Department of Parks and Recreation, which plans to use the land to create a trailhead park connecting several trails in the area.
“Creating walkable lifestyle environments that are active, connected and sustainable is our specialty,” Garrison said.
“The piece 5th Street Station Ventures is providing is like the hub of a wheel,” said Albemarle County Department of Parks and Recreation Park and Trail Planner Dan Mahon. “It provides the local community with a significant missing link to city and county trail-planning efforts.”
The trail will link biking and hiking routes from the University of Virginia to Piedmont Virginia Community College and connect the county’s neighborhoods that are isolated by the interstate with the city. The trailhead will also offer access to Biscuit Run State Park, a new state park in the works.
5th Street Station Ventures is also donating $250,000 to the Department of Parks and Recreation to fund the construction of the trail and park. A grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation that supports alternative forms of transportation will also fund the project.
“There’s a built-up demand for these trails,” Mahon said. “The public is crying for these to happen.”
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