NW Harrisonburg sees revival with investment

Northwest Harrisonburg used to be a place to buy a tire. Beyond the 116-year-old City Produce Exchange building, which was converted into lofts in 2006, and the Local Chop & Grill House, which opened in the same building in 2009, there wasn’t much else to draw people to that corner of the city.

That’s changing, though. The resurgence of downtown Harrisonburg has spread from its core, bringing attention to what’s informally known as the “Bird District,” due in part to a partnership between local entrepreneur Kirsten Moore and real estate developer Bismarck, and several businesses with bird-themed names.

In 2017, Bismarck’s president, John Sallah, purchased a former tire store and garage along with an adjacent lot and a 21,000-square-foot warehouse along North Liberty and West Gay streets for a little more than $1 million. He approached Moore, who operated The Hub, a coworking space, with the idea of expanding her operation into the former tire store.

“I walked into the building and knew it could be so much more than a coworking space,” recalls Moore. In August 2020, she opened the Magpie Diner and the Bakery at Magpie in the space, and also moved her coworking hub, rebranded as The Perch, there too. The building is also home to Chestnut Ridge Coffee Roasters. Across the street, Sage Bird Ciderworks opened in 2020 in the garage Sallah renovated.

In October 2023, after a $2.5 renovation, Moore opened the Liberty Street Mercantile, a collection of shops and an event space, in the warehouse, the former home of the Harrisonburg Grocery, which closed in the 1970s. In December, the city’s first wine bar, Rootstock, opened in the mercantile.

More than $150 million was invested in the city’s downtown between 2004 and the end of 2022, says Andrea Dono, executive director of Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance, or HDR. (A breakdown for Harrisonburg’s northwest corner was not available.) 

HDR and the city are funding a public art installation in the northwest end of town to welcome people into the district. A bike lane along Liberty Street, funded by a $14.3 million federal grant, is also planned to open by 2029.

While the Bird District may not be an official spot on maps yet, Dono says, it’s an extension of local entrepreneurship happening across downtown Harrisonburg. “It’s authentic to us, [and] that’s what tourists like, too. It’s really the best of all worlds.”