Roanoke development

[mclawsdrive]

Two new projects on the green building front: 1 just completed, another just announced.

A new house was unveiled Thursday at 325 Gilmer Avenue in Gainsboro. It is Roanoke's first C2C (cradle to cradle) house. full story.

Icon development LLC plans to build a new 'green' community on 7 acres surrounding the Manor House, a 9 bedroom mansion in the Southwood section of SW City. Homes would be built in accordance with Earthcraft House standards. EarthCraft is a green building program, whose standards are also applied at the new Madison Field development and a subdivision called The Preserve at Two Ford in SW county. full story

[mclawsdrive]

A new Marriot hotel has opened next to the existing Marriot near the airport. Its a bit more expensive than I would normally pay, but seems very nice. story

[StevenRocks]

I met a few of the contractors for the Residence Inn. It's a well-built hotel, from what I can tell.

[mclawsdrive]

The Jefferson Motor Lodge will be the future site of the new Social Security Building. Now if they'd only build a taller building on a smaller footprint, I'd be thrilled. full story

[mclawsdrive]

A new brewery will open in South Roanoke (possibly by next summer).

full story

[bmedguy]

A new brewery will open in South Roanoke (possibly by next summer).

full story

I saw that. I hope they make it. That would add a little local flavor. Pun intended!

[mclawsdrive]

The old train station at the corner of Williamson and Jefferson may be restored sooner than I thought. A group has raised over $500,000 toward a project to restore the building to its original grandeur, and incorporate facitities for bikers/hikers traveling along the greenway between downtown and the river. full story

[VirginiaSportsReport]

The old train station would make a really cool restaurant, in my opinion.

[burt]

The City wants to sell the Market building to private developers according to this Richmond Times dispatch story:

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-co...01-26-0034.html

[StevenRocks]

I think the deal is pretty far along. I don't know how I feel about the proposal, but whoever ends up with the Market Building needs to sink some serious money into renovations.

[VaGuy1973]

This is certainly something completely different!

http://www.roanoke.com/business/wb/152405

[StevenRocks]

A bowling resort? Yeah, of course that'll work in Roanoke

[VaGuy1973]

The Commonwealth of Virginia has shelled out big bucks to lure VW to move its North American HQ to Fairfax County.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-...03-15-0118.html

I hope that Governor Kaine and others are aware of VW's plans to build a plant in the US and say, hey, we have a good place just a few hours drive from your HQ.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...6/1305/BUSINESS

[mclawsdrive]

The Commonwealth of Virginia has shelled out big bucks to lure VW to move its North American HQ to Fairfax County.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-...03-15-0118.html

I hope that Governor Kaine and others are aware of VW's plans to build a plant in the US and say, hey, we have a good place just a few hours drive from your HQ.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...6/1305/BUSINESS

Good call, VaGuy. I'd like to see it in either the Elliston Area or maybe Franklin County near the proposed I73. Although closer to Martinsville would certainly help the economy there.

[VaGuy1973]

Good call, VaGuy. I'd like to see it in either the Elliston Area or maybe Franklin County near the proposed I73. Although closer to Martinsville would certainly help the economy there.

I want to stress this is complete, idle speculation on my part. Like I said, I HOPE that Virginia and local officials are following up with VW. The only lingering question in my mind is why Virginia is spending so much to lure the HQ to Fairfax County where it's hardly needed or wanted by most locals given traffic. I'd expect that Hampton Roads and the Shenandoah Valley might be ahead of the Roanoke area and SWVA. Locally, Elliston could work since it has both good rail and road access. I doubt Franklin County would be a candidate since who knows when or if I-73 will be built. Pulaski County probably has the best site in the New Century industrial parcel, but I'd say Botetourt County might be most likely as it'd be closest to HQ. I'm not sure if there's a perfect site in Botetourt. There's the large, flat area near Buchanan visible from the James River bridge on I-81, but that's a flood plain.

[mclawsdrive]

New $20 million (+/-) plan for Center in the Square unveiled yesterday. Building would not expand beyond it's current footprint, but would expand exhibit space by shuffling some things around a bit. The historic facade of the building would be restored.

story

[StevenRocks]

It's somewhat telling that people are more concerned about whether the Wiener Stand will have to move than encouraging more people to use a great facility like Center.

[burt]

New Rail Sorting yard planned and approved for Montgomery County. The State says it could be a big boost for the Roanoke area bringing more than 2,000 jobs. The County of Montgomery strongly opposes the yard.

This is from The Richmond Times Dispatch and as you'll see, comments pro and con can be made at the end of the inRich story:

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-co...08-20-0151.html

[burt]

Montgomery County is not happy about the proposed railyard in their county:

From today's inRich:

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-co...08-27-0128.html

[StevenRocks]

An intermodal facility is not the most appealing development, but neither is not having the 2,300 jobs it will produce.

[electricmonk]

The Cambria Suites building under construction at Riverside Center is on hold. The contractors pulled off the job in early March and filed liens on the project. http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2009_1s...riaRoanoke.html That project seems to have been cursed from the beginning.

[calwinston]

A non profit is taking over the renovation of Roanokes City Market. The city council had to hand over the project to a non-profit to receive $2.6 million in tax credits.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/247201

[calwinston]

Construction is set to start on another phase of the Roanoke greenway and be completed in 2012!

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/249793

[calwinston]

Forest, VA is still going through a construction boom despite the recession

For a decade Forest has been one of Bedford County's -- as well as the region's -- fastest-growing areas. Houses, town homes and condominiums, and churches have supplanted farmland and hayfields. Now, the area on the county's eastern fringe is experiencing a commercial boom.

Bulldozers are scraping the grass off fields, laborers are hoisting cinder blocks and stores are opening. The newly suburban enclave is rapidly maturing into an urban area, seemingly impervious to the recession and its aftereffects.

"That's the one area of the county where, through the economic crisis, we've seen some commercial projects," said county planner Jordan Mitchell, adding that the development is in line with the county's plans. "Business growth is what we want.".............

"Everybody's so worried about the recession, they're waiting for things to change," Phelps said. "But it's my belief that things already have changed."

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/256507

[Lukepf]

https://www.roanoke.com/business/news/roanoke/more-developments-taking-shape-around-the-core-of-downtown-roanoke/article_68756c8e-1960-5145-a1b2-acfa13da5d96.html

A great article about all of the new development happening in downtown Roanoke. Mentions the new Mast General Store, which will be a huge draw for downtown, and a possible second location for Black Dog Salvage downtown, which would also be a huge draw.