Groundbreaking Begins 501 Cherry Ave. Housing Project

Fifeville's long-vacant Cherry Avenue site will host 71 affordable units and a new home for the Music Resource Center.

Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Construction

Bold vector editorial illustration of a cleared urban lot with a partially built timber-frame housing structure, a low brick pavilion, and rolling green hills beyond. — Fifeville groundbreaking on Saturday launched a Charlottesville project adding 71 affordable units and a permanent Music Resource Center home on a site vacant for about 20 years. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Groundbreaking was held for the 501 Cherry Ave. development in Fifeville, Charlottesville, on Saturday. The project will include 71 affordable housing units, a permanent home for the Music Resource Center, and a commercial space for healthy food options.

Why it matters

The site had been vacant for approximately 20 years, and the project aims to bring new housing, services and opportunity to the Fifeville neighborhood. Its partners include the Fifeville Neighborhood Association and Piedmont Housing Alliance, reflecting a community-led approach to redevelopment.

The development will deliver 71 affordable housing units on a site that sat vacant for approximately 20 years. The extraction does not state a completion schedule or the income levels the units will serve.

The players

Music Resource Center

A Charlottesville nonprofit that provides young people with a space for music and creative work, and whose board is chaired by Lester Jackson.

Piedmont Housing Alliance

A regional nonprofit housing developer that works to create and preserve affordable housing across central Virginia.

The details

Community members, the Fifeville Neighborhood Association, Piedmont Housing Alliance, and the Music Resource Center joined project developers in celebrating the groundbreaking. The Music Resource Center's new home is intended to give young people a safe place to create.

Saturday: groundbreaking ceremony held at 501 Cherry Ave., Fifeville.

Industry Context

The project follows a pattern in Charlottesville of pairing affordable housing with community facilities on long-idle neighborhood parcels. It adds a cultural space and healthy-food retail alongside 71 units on a site left vacant for about two decades.

Residents in Fifeville may see new affordable housing options and a neighborhood music space once the project is complete. The extraction does not confirm when units will become available or how they will be priced.

The takeaway

Long-vacant urban parcels can become multi-use community assets when housing, cultural and food uses are planned together. Watch for construction schedules and affordability details as the Cherry Avenue project advances.