CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The City of Charlottesville is calling on the owner of the Dewberry property at 201 East Water St. to provide a plan for the unfinished building or put the property up for sale, City Manager Sam Sanders said.

“We’re of the mindset that we’re no longer interested in allowing the building to continue to sit in its current state of disrepair,” Sanders told Cville Right Now on Tuesday. “We would like to see a plan by him to turn it into something, or we would love to see him initiate a sale so that someone else can do something for the fact, that this city has suffered with that incomplete building project for all this time.”

Construction at the site, on the Downtown Mall, began in 2008. John Dewberry took ownership of it in 2012, according to the City, but the structure remains unfinished. In an Aug. 19 letter to Dewberry from City Attorney John Maddux, the City gave Dewberry 60 days to provide a written plan stating whether he intends to complete construction, sell the property or tear down the incomplete structure.

In its letter, the city asked for “specific milestones and target dates,” and for “interim measures” to secure the site.

“If there is a plan, we’d like to know it as well,” Sanders said.

According to the City, the last record it has of a structural evaluation of the building dates back to 2017. Charlottesville will conduct a new evaluation, according to a press release.

If Dewberry – who could not immediately be reached for comment – opts to sell, it’s unclear whether the city would be interested in purchasing the property.

“I don’t know that we’re ready to go that far,” Sanders said. “We would rather let the free market do what it’s supposed to do. But if there’s any conversation that he’s open to, I’m open to return that favor with a conversation.”

In a press release announcing its letter, the City said that, if the 60-day deadline isn’t met, it would investigate all options under Virginia law, including potentially seizing the property as blighted.