Elk Hill Charlottesville School Relocating and Expanding This Summer with $3.4 Million Acquisition of 321 Hillsdale Road
Non-profit organization transitioning to Elk Hill Charlottesville School and Family Center to reflect educational and counseling services provided to families facing mental health and behavioral challenges
Elk Hill has completed the $3.4 million acquisition of 321 Hillsdale Road with intentions to relocate its specialized private day school to this three-story, 26,600 square foot commercial office building in time for the start of the school year in August. The new building, Elk Hill Charlottesville School and Family Center, provides the non-profit organization’s Elk Hill Charlottesville School and Family Center with an all-encompassing space to house its comprehensive range of educational and community-based counseling services provided to families facing mental health and behavioral challenges. MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services (MCRES) brokered the sale of the building with Sam Orr, Executive Vice President, and Brian Thomas, Real Estate Advisor of the Charlottesville office handling negotiations on behalf of the school. The former owner was represented by Jenny Stoner and John Pritzlaff of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer represented the seller in this transaction.
The relocation and expansion will enable Elk Hill Charlottesville School and Family Center to bolster its educational offerings to approximately 50 students – representing a 10-student rise of the current population which also includes a waiting list. Equally as important, according to Dr. Laura Easter, Chief Executive Officer of the school, is the ability to house its community-based services including mentoring and supervised visitation programs, parent coaching, and outpatient counseling. Dr. Easter explains that three different locations in Charlottesville will be consolidated into the new building.
Elk Hill Charlottesville School and Family Center is part of Elk Hill’s 11-location network across Central Virginia which provides specialized private day schools for special education students in K-12, residential group homes, school-based mental health, outpatient counseling, outdoor programming, and therapeutic mentoring. Elk Hill’s mission is to provide educational, behavioral, and mental health services to enable children and families to transform overwhelming challenges into successful futures. The Goochland County-based non-profit receives public funding as well as private donations.
“Unfortunately, the need for mental health services is rising, as our children and families experience greater challenges to their well-being and dwindling access to much needed services,” Dr. Easter explained. “Families need help to navigate and find solutions to the challenges they face on a daily basis, and our school desperately needed more space to expand our services. We considered several locations, but the 321 Hillsdale Road provided a location that was accessible to the entire Charlottesville area, and the expansive floorplates that are conducive to classrooms and administrative offices. The natural daylight which streams into the interior provides a burst of energy and hope, which matches the tenor of the important work we do.”
321 Hillsdale Road is situated on a nearly two-acre site just off VA Routes 29 and 250 and is adjacent to The Shops at Stonefield, Seminole Square Shopping Center, Whole Foods Market and numerous sit-down and fast-casual restaurants.
MacKenzie’s Orr explains it was critical to identify a location that matched the exact requirements of the specialized day school given its unique audiences and stakeholders and offered a long-term real estate solution. “321 Hillsdale is in move-in ready condition, and will require a minimal investment to retrofit the interior in time for the start of the school year. The existing layout easily configures seamlessly to classrooms and administrative office space, and the exterior grounds provides the opportunity for students to enjoy the outdoors, which was an important consideration for this relocation and expansion.”
“The building has strong curb appeal and provides to the space to accommodate the school’s current needs and planned growth,” Orr added. “Elk Hill Charlottesville School and Family Center provides critically important services that makes our entire community a better place to live, and it was rewarding for the MacKenzie Virginia team to play role in this acquisition.”
The MacKenzie Companies operates five full-service divisions addressing all real estate asset classes including MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services, MacKenzie Management, MacKenzie Capital, MacKenzie Contracting and MacKenzie Investment Group. For additional information, visit Virginia | MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate
