CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — At the Albemarle General District Courthouse, officials from the county and city of Charlottesville gathered to celebrate the completion of the first phase of the $65 million construction and renovation of the Courts Complex Project on Thursday.

While this event officially marked the first phase’s completion, the new courthouse has been open since June, housing Albemarle’s District and Circuit Courts.

Following the second phase of construction, the building will house both the county and the City of Charlottesville’s General District Court starting in mid to late 2027, while the County’s Circuit Court will be moved to the nearby historic courthouse, following a renovation and small addition to that building as well.

“I’m really happy,” Senior Project Manager Walter Harris told Cville Right Now of the first phase. “I think there’s a couple little minor things we’re still working through. But overall, it’s a great product.”

The courthouse was a long time coming, as Harris said the planning for the project began all the way back in 2000, due to the project involving multiple jurisdictions, including the County, Charlottesville City and the Commonwealth Attorney, as well as the site needing a full evaluation. Construction finally began in 2023.

“We have a lot of different aspects that we had to take into consideration,” he said, “and then we have to take in this existing site, and this site is narrow. It’s very tight.”

The project also represented a major collaboration between the city and county. Charlottesville Mayor Juandiego Wade was on hand for the celebration. During his brief remarks, he reflected on his 34 years in the planning department of Albemarle County.

“I was in some of these meetings when we were talking about this,” he said, “but this is great to actually see it done.”

Throughout the event, officials from both the county praised the support provided by the city, with Harris echoing their sentiment afterward.

“They’ve been a good partner in this whole thing,” Harris said. “They’ve been right there by our side. We’ve been throughout design. They were there every step of the way.”

Still, with the building designed to cater to both entities, it led to some more amusing design differences. When giving the tour of the courthouse, Harris stopped in the courtroom that currently houses Albemarle Circuit Court, but will later house Charlottesville’s District Court. There, he asked the group of mostly local officials if they could spot the two differences between this courtroom and the County’s courtroom that sat next to it.

The first was that the tables housing the prosecution and defense were facing each other, but the second, which stumped the tour group, was that the two televisions on either wall were, by request of the city, two feet higher.

“I wanted to see if anyone would catch it,” Harris joked.