Looking back, was Cavalier Crossing Apts transitioning to Attain a success?
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I was always under the impression that Cavalier Crossing on Fifth Street Ext, was one of the few places in C'ville where lower-income people could rent a room instead of needing to afford an entire apartment. It gave a lot of people a housing option they otherwise wouldn’t have had. From what I’ve read, when it closed for renovation, hundreds of tenants were displaced.
Now it’s been renovated and remarketed as Attain, with more traditional two- and three-bedroom apartments starting around $1,896 a month plus utilities. I saw one estimate putting the real monthly cost for a two-bedroom closer to about $2,350 all-in.
Whenever I drive past there now, the parking lots look a lot emptier than they used to. I’m curious what other people think this change has done to housing availability and affordability around Charlottesville, especially since the area was already struggling with housing costs before this happened.
Curious if there was any way the county could have stepped in to help preserve this kind of affordable housing, or was this unavoidable once the property changed ownership?