Residents are being kicked out of one of the area’s most affordable apartment complexes to make way for luxury units

Allison was homeless before moving into her apartment at Cavalier Crossing.

The little $560 per month room was the only place she could find in Charlottesville that she could afford on her salary — and she was happy to have it.

"I was thrilled about it," said Allison, who did not want to share her last name because of the stigmas surrounding homelessness. "I'm getting back on track."

She could be derailed again soon.

In May, Cavalier Crossing residents received a notice that the complex had been sold, and would undergo significant renovations. The plan, the notice said, was to turn the place into buildings with "luxury 2- & 3-bedroom units."

Shortly after receiving the notice, the company began informing residents that it would not renew their leases.

Charlottesville Tomorrow spoke with multiple residents who will lose their homes. Some had to be out July 31. Others have until the winter, or next year.

It's essentially a rolling mass displacement, said Elizabeth Stark, a tenant advocate with the Charlottesville chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

"Evictions are a key problem, but lease non-renewals is another way that people lose their homes and it's a real driver of housing instability," said Stark.

Every month there will be a new batch of Cavalier Crossing tenants whose leases run out "scrambling to find something that they can afford," Stark said. By renting individual rooms in apartments for about $560 per month, or an entire four-bedroom apartment for $2,300, Cavalier Crossing is one of the least expensive places to live in the Charlottesville area. Many of the complex's tenants say they cannot afford to live anywhere else.

Many, like Allison, are worried about where they'll go next.

Cavalier Crossing is located at 100 Wahoo Way in Albemarle County, just south of the City of Charlottesville's Fry's Spring neighborhood. There are 144 three- and four-bedroom apartments in the complex, with about 520 total bedrooms. The complex has a pool, a dog park, a gym, lots of trees, ample parking, and a bus stop.

The complex opened in 2003 and was touted as an off-campus option for UVA students — its entrance sign says "student housing." But in recent years, many — possibly a majority — of its residents have not been students. Rather, they're individuals and families with low incomes. Cavalier Crossing is the cheapest option around, said residents who spoke with Charlottesville Tomorrow.

It's hard to know the actual price of rent in the area at any given time because neither Charlottesville nor Albemarle County has a rental registry. Websites where landlords can list rental properties offer some estimates. Most sites, like Zillow, Apartments.com, and RentCafe.com, estimate the average rent in the Charlottesville area — for all home types and sizes — to be around $2,000 per month.

In July 2024, the average cost of a one-bedroom rental in the Charlottesville area was nearly $1,600 per month , according to Zillow. The average monthly rent for a home with at least four-bedrooms was $5,912 .

At Cavalier Crossing, rents, including utilities, are well below average: around $560 for one bedroom in a shared apartment, and $2,300 for an entire four-bedroom apartment.

But that's about to change.

Bonaventure Multifamily Income Trust acquired Cavalier Crossing in May 2024 for $20.5 million, according to the Albemarle County GIS system. (The previous owner, Pierce Education Properties, bought it in 2017 for $11.2 million.)

Bonaventure is based in Alexandria, Virginia, and owns close to 10,000 units across dozens of properties all around the Southeastern United States, including Richmond, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach, according to the portfolio section of its website. The November 2023 issue of Virginia Business said that the company has more than $2.3 billion in assets.

A news release that a public relations firm sent to Charlottesville Tomorrow on behalf of Bonaventure on May 22 detailed some of the company's plans:

"Located near UVA, Cavalier Crossing is set to undergo extensive renovations and repositioning," the email read. "Bonaventure plans to transform this older property into an upscale multifamily community, enhancing its appeal and value. This project promises to bring modern, high-quality housing options to the area, catering to both students and professionals."

Allison heard that if she wanted to move back in after renovations, her rent would be $1,600 a month, more than three times what it is now. Charlottesville Tomorrow was not able to confirm this — neither Bonaventure nor its public relations firm have responded to multiple requests for comment.

Residents who spoke with Charlottesville Tomorrow are discouraged by the plan.

"Where else are you going to find a place?" asked Takiesha Stewart. "It's just so unfair. They don't see us as people."

Stewart rented a four-bedroom apartment at Cavalier Crossing for $2,300 per month including utilities for her and her six kids.

Stewart found out in May that her lease — which was up July 31 — wouldn't be renewed. ( The Virginia Landlord-Tenant Act requires landlords to give residents 60 days' notice, which is to be noted in the lease, if the landlord will not be renewing the tenant's lease.)

That gave her just over two months to find another place.

It's been hard to look, Stewart said, and not only because she's up against a tight housing market. She has breast cancer and receives chemotherapy treatment every week. She hasn't been able to work her job — sterilizing operating room equipment at the University of Virginia hospital — while undergoing treatment.

By July 31, she still hadn't found a place, at least not one that was both large enough for her family and suitable for her budget.

Stewart and her six youngest children have moved in with her oldest daughter as Stewart continues her search. Besides price and size, she wants a place that is close enough for her to travel to work and in her childrens' school districts. One of her sons has autism, and changes in routine are very hard on him, she said.

She's more hopeful about the progress of her cancer treatment — which ends in September — than she is about finding a place to live.

Most of the Cavalier Crossing residents who spoke with Charlottesville Tomorrow said that after receiving the notice that the complex had been sold and that their leases would not be renewed, they have not heard anything else.

Allison received a notice saying that she would have to relocate to another unit for the remainder of her lease. "Our on-site team will be available to provide guidance and support every step of the way, including assisting with finding accommodations and assistance with facilitating the moving process," it read.

She said she's received no guidance and no support from management since receiving that notice in May.

It's been stressful for Allison, who spent seven weeks in the overnight congregate shelter run by People And Congregations Engaged in Ministry (PACEM) last winter before moving into her apartment at Cavalier Crossing.

"I had a hiccup in my life," she said. She was in a relationship that ended, and said she couldn't find anywhere to go other than the shelter.

She worked with a PACEM case manager to find a place that she could afford to rent on her own, and it wasn't easy. Allison works full-time at a dry cleaner.

Cavalier Crossing has been exactly what Allison needed. She takes the bus to work, and there's a bus stop at the complex's entrance. She has her own private bedroom and bathroom, and she's been able to decorate it the way she likes it. She shares a kitchen and living room with one other roommate, and she really likes her roommate. The apartment is clean, safe, and affordable enough that Allison has been able to put some money away for her future — something she's really proud of.

They're thinking about their pockets. They're not thinking about us.

—Kazim Nowriz, who is moving out of Cavalier Crossing

Another tenant, Raven Truslow, has no idea what's happening with her lease. Two of her roommates have already moved out, and she's unclear about whether she's supposed to move out, or move into a different unit for the remainder of her lease. She said she hasn't received any communication from property management about it beyond an initial notification. If she does have to move out, she said she'll likely be living in her car.

Truslow said she served in the U.S. Army before a foot injury sidelined her, and has been trying to get disability benefits for a slew of physical ailments she experiences. She's been unemployed for the past few months and has been focusing on finding a job, rather than an apartment.

Some residents have been able to find new homes.

Clara W., who didn't want to share her last name to protect her privacy, was already planning on leaving when she received the non-renewal notice. She found another place, but she'll be paying $1,100 a month — nearly double what she pays now.

Kazim Nowriz, who moved to the U.S. three years ago, lived at Cavalier Crossing because it was one of few places he could afford that also offered a private bedroom and private bathroom. Speaking with Charlottesville Tomorrow by phone through a Dari interpreter, he said he is very lonely in Charlottesville — his family lives in Afghanistan. He works a lot and struggles with depression. Nowriz's lease ended July 31, the same day as Stewart's. He was able to find a place at Eagle's Landing, which isn't far from Cavalier Crossing, but it is more expensive by about $70 per month.

"They're thinking about their pockets," Nowriz said of the company that owns Cavalier Crossing. "They're not thinking about us."

George Abudeeb, one of Nowriz's roommates, has until July 2025 to move out, so he's not feeling the pinch quite yet. He's liked living at Cavalier Crossing.

"It's a good place to rebuild yourself in a new community," he said. Abudeeb, an engineer of Syrian heritage, has struggled to find steady and well-paying work since coming to the U.S. seven years ago. Having a relatively inexpensive place to live makes the job situation less stressful, he said.

Besides upending the lives of some of the people who live there, the sale and renovation of Cavalier Crossing will eliminate hundreds of the most affordable housing opportunities in the area.

"It's going to dramatically curtail the affordable housing in our area," said Elizabeth Stark, the Democratic Socialists of America tenant advocate.

"It's a real tragedy for housing options," said Heather Kellams, women's case manager for People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry (PACEM).

Currently, two of Kellams' clients, including Allison, live at Cavalier Crossing. Both women used to tell Kellams how much they loved their apartment, how they got along with their roommates, how nice it was to have access to a gym, to a pool. How proud they were to have worked so hard to get out of the shelter and into their new homes.

That's not what Kellams has heard from them lately.

"They're having anxiety, they're struggling, they don't know what to do. They're scared," said Kellams. "These are people who are working hard, trying really hard to get their lives together, and now it's being taken away. And it's being taken away with no compassion, and with no communication," said Kellams.

Kellams uses a measure called the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix to help how her clients are doing. She said she recently did one with one of her clients living at Cavalier Crossing.

"Her scores went down, both in mental health and housing, because of this situation," Kellams said.

"These are folks who are trying to bootstrap it," said Liz Yohn, Interim Executive Director for PACEM. "And what this experience is reinforcing, is that maybe it's not worth it. And that's not good. It's not good to take away someone's hope."

Yohn, who does some case management in addition to her administrative duties at PACEM, has also placed a few clients at Cavalier Crossing. She called the redevelopment of the complex "a blow" to the affordable housing landscape.

Most places, including Cavalier Crossing, require tenants to make at least three times the rent in take-home income, Yohn said. Because monthly rent at Cavalier Crossing is relatively low — starting at $560 — so is the income threshold required to live there, about $1,700 per month. Therefore, the income level someone needs to meet in order to rent at Cavalier Crossing is a little over $20,000 a year in take-home pay, Yohn said.

"That sounds ridiculous, but it is a reality for a lot of people who are on part-time incomes, who are on disability-with-a-ticket-to-work kind of income, or who are stuck in low-wage jobs."

Some places in town are still advertising $14 an hour — barely $28,000 per year before taxes, for someone working full-time hours, said Yohn.

"You can tell someone to get another job, to increase their income," she added, but that doesn't always work. A $23 hourly wage results in an income of about $46,000 per year before taxes. "Some might call that a 'good' wage. I would argue that's not livable," said Yohn. On that wage, "you can't qualify for anywhere else, other than Cavalier Crossing."

There is just one exception she can think of: Eagle's Landing.

"It's really challenging to see options that were already limited, being taken away," said Yohn.

Like many of her neighbors, Allison has already started looking for another place to live when her lease is up in December. Also like many of her neighbors, she's going to try Eagle's Landing — but there are only so many apartments there.

"Where am I going to go?" Allison asked before exhaling a heavy sigh. She doesn't want to have another "hiccup" in her life. "Having to pick up and move and do that again, I'm anxious."