Officials from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville broke ground Oct. 6 for a $130.5 million hotel and conference center to be built in UVA's Emmet-Ivy entrance corridor.
Once complete, both the hotel and conference center, as well as the under-construction School of Data Science, will anchor the nearly 15-acre parcel that will serve as a central point to UVA's University Grounds, the college announced via its online news site.
University President Jim Ryan was joined by other UVA leaders and University of Virginia Foundation officials for the groundbreaking. Jennifer "J.J." Wagner Davis, the school's executive vice president and chief operating officer, hosted the ceremony, introducing the speakers to 150 attendees.
Modern Hotel, Meeting Place to Open in 2025
In 2021, the UVA Board of Visitors approved the designs for the 223,000-sq.-ft. hotel and conference center sited along the southwest corner of the existing Emmet/Ivy parking garage, defining the northern edge of the Emmet-Ivy Corridor landscape.
The university noted that the hotel construction is slated to be complete by spring 2025 with an opening planned for later that summer.
Once operational, the hotel and conference center will be open to the public and will host UVA events and gatherings. The 214-room hotel also will offer approximately 25,000 sq. ft. of conference center space and provide the university convenient, centrally located accommodations for visiting scholars and lecturers, prospective faculty members and students, returning alumni, career recruiters, and other visitors.
A 10,000-sq.-ft. ballroom will be largest meeting space in Charlottesville when the project is done. A junior ballroom, many meeting rooms and smaller spaces, and rooftop venues should increase statewide conference opportunities and provide local jobs. The hotel will feature a full-service restaurant, café, a grab-and-go eatery, and a welcome center among its amenities, along with four floors of guest rooms.
Colette Sheehy, UVA's senior vice president for operations and state government relations, highlighted the keys points of the hotel and conference center at the groundbreaking and cited the partners who had made the project possible, including several university departments and the UVA Foundation.
"We've partnered with a number of design firms, contractors and consultants to ensure the hotel is well-designed and built," she added, "and that it creates a welcoming and inclusive place where the UVA community, local residents and visitors can gather and interact."
A design team led by architects Deborah Berke Partners of New York and Norfolk, Va.-based Hanbury Architects, in collaboration with representatives of the Office of the Architect for the University, the UVA Foundation, and UVA Facilities Management, prepared the design of the hotel and conference center.
Built to Conform to UVA's High Standards
The facility's structure will be certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, and will conform with UVA's 2030 sustainability goals.
To that end, its roof has been designed to accept solar voltaic panels, and the building's stormwater runoff will be directed into a retention pond near the parking garage. A stream in front of the hotel and plantings will encourage biodiversity, including shade trees that will provide cooling in the summer.
In addition, the exterior of the hotel will feature red brick coordinated with the design of the nearby School of Data Science. White precast panels will highlight the meeting and terrace spaces on the third floor, outdoor dining on the second floor along the south facing façade, and the ballroom on the west façade. An event suite on the top floor will include an outdoor terrace space, affording views toward UVA's iconic Rotunda, designed by Thomas Jefferson, and first built exactly 200 years ago.
Project Seen as Crossroads for UVA
In his remarks to the assembly of guests at the project's groundbreaking, Ryan also spoke about the impact the hotel and conference center would have on the university and the Charlottesville community.
He noted the School of Data Science building being erected behind him, and the proposed building for the Karsh Institute of Democracy and a performing arts center that will begin taking shape over the next several years. He said the parcel will link Central Grounds and the North Grounds of the university.
"This will be a crossroads for the university — and the university's front door," explained Ryan. "The hotel and conference center will play an important role as a place where people can gather and stay — prospective students and their parents, [and where] data scientists [and] faculty from the Law School [and] Medical School [can meet]. This will be a bridge that makes the community stronger and brings worlds together in ways that are predictable and unpredictable."
Tim Rose, CEO of the University of Virginia Foundation, thanked many members of his team, past and present, and Pyramid Global Hospitality, which will manage the hotel and conference center's operations.
"The commonwealth has a long history of hospitality, and its flagship institution of higher education has embarked on a great and good plan which strives to make UVA synonymous with service," Rose said. "We appreciate the opportunity to provide a piece of this service to UVA's students, faculty and staff, our neighbors and visitors from outside our community."
The facility will be managed by the UVA Foundation and operated by Benchmark, which plans to develop relationships with local high schools, community colleges, and trade schools to prepare people for work in the hospitality industry, the university noted.
Today's top stories
