Martha Jefferson Hospital property sold

A local developer will be managing the redevelopment of Martha Jefferson Hospital’s main facility in Charlottesville and ultimately dictate the future of the property after the hospital relocates to Pantops next year.

A group of investors purchased the site and Charlottesville-based Octagon Partners will manage its redevelopment, hospital officials said. The local company has been involved in several other development projects in the area, such as the downtown Gleason condominium building, which comprises six stories and a mix of residential, commercial and office space.

Ron Cottrell, vice president of planning for Martha Jefferson Hospital, said the $6.5 million sale became final Thursday. He said the hospital’s main building, parking deck and surface parking lots on the more than 8 acres constituting its main campus are now Octagon’s property.

“We loved the idea of being able to work with a local firm,” Cottrell said. “They’re truly invested in this community. They already have a great investment in the Gleason project in downtown Charlottesville and so they’re truly invested in the success of the reuse of the Martha Jefferson property.”

Talks have gone on for years about the redevelopment of Martha Jefferson’s current home once the organization moves to its new hospital in Albemarle County. Before the deal that was made Thursday, the hospital had previously entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with North Carolina-based Crosland. But that developer pulled out of the project and a deal never manifested.

Martha Jefferson will lease the space it needs in its existing spot until it relocates out of the city and opens the new hospital on Aug. 28, 2011. The current facility will be turned over to Octagon no later than Jan. 1, 2012.

Cottrell said in a past interview that a large organization has eyed a move to the campus that sits right outside downtown Charlottesville, but would not give details. J.P. Williamson, principal at Octagon Partners, said the site’s future main tenant has not been figured out yet.

“We don’t have anybody currently signed,” he said Thursday.

In total, the hospital had about 14 acres in the city. What wasn’t included in the deal are several historic houses the hospital owns on Locust Avenue.

Cottrell said the hospital has committed to preserving them, something that neighbors living near the hospital have pushed for.

“Martha Jefferson continues to retain those real estate assets, and over the next several months we’ll be thinking through how to effectively transition those properties that we continue to own,” Cottrell said.

Martha Jefferson Neighborhood Association President Ellen Wagner said the neighborhood was very pleased to hear the news of the sale, and thinks the developer is a good one to work with for the site’s future, given its history of successful redevelopment projects.

“We’re very excited that they’ll be doing the same on the Martha Jefferson property,” Wagner said.

Wagner said the neighborhood’s overriding concern has been that whatever becomes of the Martha Jefferson site would fit in well with the existing neighborhood. Octagon Partners seems to have sensitivity to those concerns, she said.

“We’re all looking forward to hearing more specifics about what Octagon might have in mind,” Wagner said.