Albemarle staff outline Rivanna Futures site-readiness plan, aim to reach Tier 4 in 12–18 months

County staff and consultants presented the Rivanna Futures (Ravenna Station) conceptual engineering study and an outline for phased site-readiness work on the county—s 462-acre acquisition.

"We've been really focused on getting the county's property to a tier 4 level of readiness," JT, a project staffer, said during the presentation, describing Tier 4 as the level that gives confidence an end user could be operational in roughly 12 to 18 months. Staff showed a multi-phase approach that isolates about 100+ developable acres in several blocks and outlined Phase 1 infrastructure needs — roughly 650 feet of new roadway and several thousand feet of water and sewer pipe — plus stormwater basins sized under county code for illustrative office footprints.

Consultant Daniel (Daniel Hyer) said the preliminary jurisdictional determination and stream-delineation work is nearing completion and will be validated by Army Corps staff; once that work is finalized, certain blocks could move from Tier 3 to Tier 4 pending an approved site plan. Supervisors asked about resiliency and access; staff said extending the Boulders Road loop and identifying emergency access points would be a priority in subsequent design and grant applications.

The presentation tied the county—s work to statewide and federal programs: rezoning and a special use permit approved in June for 172 acres make portions of the property eligible for business-ready site grants, and staff said they will prepare to apply for Virginia Business Ready Sites and other state/federal funding to support site-readiness.