Board backs revised Charlottesville-Albemarle regional jail expansion and financing plan after bids exceed estimates

Nelson County supervisors voted to approve a resolution (R2025-51) supporting a revised scope and financing plan for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Jail renovation and expansion after the project’s construction bids significantly exceeded earlier cost estimates.

Colonel Carl Coomer, presenting the project update for the jail authority, told the board bids for the work came in “significantly over what we expected.” Staff had previously estimated hard-construction costs around $39.9 million; the low bid received was about $53 million and the highest about $76 million. In response, the authority re-scoped the project to prioritize the planned expansion over a broader renovation of the older 1974 portion of the facility so the overall project could fit the previously anticipated total budget of roughly $49.3 million (hard and soft costs combined).

Under the revised scope, the project focuses on demolishing a 16,000-square-foot section and replacing it with 32,000 square feet of two-story expansion. The expansion will…