Local Business and Economic Development
Developer Alexander Boone says his real estate company has worked with Roanoke County and VDOT to come up with a winning plan for requested rezoning that would see around 115 townhomes and a handful of single family houses come to the old Poage Mill Farm on Bent Mountain Road/US 221. The Poage Mill development would be designed with sidewalks, several pocket parks and small retail options says Boone.
The ABoone Real Estate proposal goes before the Roanoke County Planning Commission on January 7th. He invites residents in the area to an open-house style public meeting next Tuesday from 5 to 7pm at the South County Library.
Five Points Music Sanctuary is nearing the end of its capital campaign to purchase the building. AS WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno reports they hope to raise $100 thousand by the end of the year.
5PTS is nearing the end of a 3-year Capital Campaign to raise money to purchase the Sanctuary. As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno tells us the nonprofit hopes to raise more money to make a sizeable downpayment.
Lawson, a Norfolk Developer, has broken ground on an affordable housing apartment complex in Roanoke County. As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno reports the developer says the complex will have all the amenities of higher end developments.
Developers have broken ground on Smith Ridge Commons, a new affordable housing development. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more.
November 30th is Small Business Saturday. The day encourages people to shop local. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more.
We close out November with Small Business Saturday. Everyone is encouraged to support local small businesses. As WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno reports shopping local infuses money back into the local economy.
Friday may be a busy shopping day, but it is also one of the busiest for plumbers…so much so that plumbers coined the phrase “brown Friday,” for the day after Thanksgiving. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno explains.
Bedford County offers recycling kits. The collected cooking grease is then turned into bio-diesel. Find a link to the collection locations on our website. Denise Allen Membreno WFIR News.
Belmont Lofts
Preserving historic, cultural and natural resources in the Roanoke Valley. That’s been the goal of a local organization since 1988, much of it accomplished by shining a light on endangered sites. WFIR’s Gene Marrano on their annual meeting last week:
The 2024 Kegley Preservation Awards are as follows:
Cedar Hill Farm – Stewardship
Wheatland Manor – Rehabilitation
“Burrell Day” Life and Legacy of Dr. Isaac Burrell – Heritage Education
The LEAP Hub – Rehabilitation
Factory Flats (Former button factory) – Adaptive Reuse
Belmont Lofts (Former Belmont Baptist Church) – Adaptive Reuse
The 1947 Carvin’s Cove Filtration Building – Stewardship
Rupert Cutler, Ph.D. – Lifetime Achievement: Environmental Advocacy
Roanoke Civil War Round Table – Heritage Education
Boones Mill N&W Railway Depot – Restoration
Thomas (Tom) Klatka – Lifetime Achievement
Izzy Post – DRI.. C Palmer photo
Thanksgiving is this Thursday, and after that holiday gift-buyers will be out in full force. This Saturday smaller local retailers ask you to “Shop Small,” on Small Business Saturday. Live in studio to talk about that and Dickens of a Christmas this morning was Izzy Post, Director of Marketing & Communications for Downtown Roanoke Incorporated. Listen to the complete conversation below:
The “Strong Food and Farm Future” project that looks to build resilient food systems in the region – and attract more people to local producers – has just received a big boost from the federal government. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:
A Holiday tradition continues this weekend in the Historic Grandin Village. It’s time once again for the annual Children’s Parade. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno has more.
For more than 4 decades the Grandin Village Business Association and the Raleigh Court Neighborhood Association have hosted the Holiday Children’s Parade. WFIR’s Denise Allen Membreno tells us more about this local tradition.
The annual Restaurant Week has become “Shop Williamson Road Weeks” this time around, November 18th through the 30th – an attempt to showcase not only restaurants representing cultures around the world, but other retail and service shops. The story from WFIR’s Gene Marrano: