Barracks Road Shopping Center could be getting a makeover

Charlottesville’s Barracks Road Shopping Center may soon be getting a facelift.

The proposed tweaks submitted to the city’s planning commission also hint at a possible new tenant, with a brewery mentioned but not named in the supporting documents.

Unlike cosmetic adjustments meant to make a project stand out, the plans drafted for Barracks would bring the 500,000-square-foot outdoor mall more in line with the city’s older architectural elements, including red brick facades and dark metal roofs.

Federal Realty Investment Trust, the mall’s Maryland-based landlord, has provided plans to the Charlottesville Planning Commission outlining the proposed changes. In them, Barracks’ neutral tones and concrete elements are replaced with brick exteriors, metal and wood columns, and dark metal canopies.

The city has so far only granted Phase 1 of the proposal a "certificate of appropriateness."

“The Phase 1 enhancements will modify the façades and sidewalks along an approximately 250-footlong segment in the middle of the strip center and at the NE corner of an adjacent retail building,” according to the proposal.

The biggest changes that are part of Phase 1 are planned for what Federal calls the "Main Street Facade," a block of storefronts starting at Fluffy’s Pet Shop and stretching to the edge of Panera Bread, including the Happy Cook, the Party Starts Here, Loft, Soma and Five Guys. A “pitched, standing-seam metal roof” is planned to go over the entryway to Soma adjacent to the outdoor seating area in front of Five Guys, and some additional seating and cosmetic upgrades also have been proposed for that seating area.

The building across the street which houses the Banana Republic Factory Store, the Virginia Shop, Rack Room Shoes, Greenberry’s Coffee & Tea Co. and J.Jill will also undergo some changes, including a "Welcome Everybody" sign to sit near J.Jill. But it could be more than signage that’s planned for the structure.

Federal has dubbed the stretch of storefronts across the street from its "Main Street Facade" its "Brewery Facade."

There is no brewery present at the location, however, though the real estate next door to J.Jill is sitting empty. Federal provided no further details in its plans and did not immediately respond to a Daily Progress inquiry.

The exposed brick and dark wood and metal elements seen in the Barracks plans drafted by Baltimore-based BCT Design Group are consistent with some of the city’s oldest extant architecture. The majority of the buildings at the University of Virginia and in the Corner and Downtown Mall shopping districts which date back a century or more are made of red brick — as opposed to the concrete and neutral tones that typify Barracks which was constructed in stages between the late 1950s and early 1980s.

Charlottesville has been reviewing what architectural and design elements it believes the city should adopt moving forward. The city’s Board of Architectural Review recently drafted new guidelines for what is permitted in outdoor dining spaces within the city’s designated historic districts, which emphasized metal and wood fixtures as well as a dark color palette — all of which can bee seen in the Barracks proposal.

Federal did not immediately respond to a Daily Progress inquiry regarding the project’s timeline and cost or whether any stores will have to close during the renovation.

Source: www.dailyprogress.com