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Thalhimer now sole principal for Diamond District redevelopment

Loop Capital is no longer affiliated with the development partnership working on the mixed-use development component of Richmond’s $2.4 billion Diamond District project, leaving Thalhimer Realty Partners as the development team’s sole principal.

The partnership, a limited liability company named Diamond District Partners, is developing the area surrounding the planned new baseball stadium for the Richmond Flying Squirrels for the first phase of the redevelopment. The entire 67-acre project is expected to include 2,800 residential units, 935,000 square feet of office space and 195,000 square feet of retail and community space.

In a statement issued by Dan Herbst, an attorney with Reed Smith representing Loop, the company said, “Although Loop had discussions with the city, Thalhimer and Republic about participating in the Diamond District development project, Loop never signed onto the project and currently is not involved in any capacity. … Loop engaged in discussions with Thalhimer and the city through April/May 2024 regarding participation in the real estate development project but did not sign onto the development agreement in May 2024.”

In a statement, Thalhimer said, “We can confirm that Loop is not affiliated with Diamond District Partners LLC. While Loop chose not to proceed, we continue to maintain a great relationship with them. The development program is in line with projects our team has completed over the last several years, and we’re excited to build a new, successful Diamond District community with the Squirrels, VCU and the city as our partners.”

Diamond District Partners includes Capstone Development, Pennrose, Maryland-based NixDev and M Cos., “as well as a deep bench of design and construction experts,” according to the Thalhimer statement.

Loop, Thalhimer, Diamond District Partners and four people have been named in a $40 million lawsuit from a former Diamond District development partner.

In May, the city of Richmond, Richmond Economic Development Partners and Diamond District Partners signed a development agreement.

In May 2023, Richmond City Council originally approved a development agreement with RVA Diamond Partners LLC, a joint venture that including Connecticut-based developer Republic Projects, Thalhimer Realty Partners, Loop Capital Holdings and San Diego venue developer JMI Sports. However, Republic Projects filed a lawsuit in July claiming that Thalhimer Realty Partners and Loop Capital cut Republic out of the development deal sometime between June and December 2023.

“Loop never signed onto any partnership agreement that is the subject of Republic’s lawsuit,” Loop said in a statement. “Loop maintains that it is incorrectly named in Republic’s lawsuit and has requested that Republic voluntarily dismiss Loop to avoid the need for further litigation. Republic has not agreed to dismiss Loop to date and, if necessary, Loop intends to file a demurrer to the complaint.”

According to the development agreement between the city, the EDA and Diamond District Partners, the development team must fund the first phase’s development, which now will be without Loop Capital’s involvement.

The three-part first phase of the project, according to the development agreement between the city, the EDA and Diamond District Partners, is 22.5 acres. The minimum capital investment for the total phase 1 is $567.45 million. Thalhimer has not said how much it has raised so far.

Under the agreement, the developer will buy the first section of the phase 1 property from the EDA. The purchase price for the phase 1A properties, which total 11.67 usable acres, is set at approximately $11.4 million. Diamond District Partners will also have “the exclusive option to purchase” the properties for phases 1B and 1C.

Under the development schedule, phase 1A is expected to be completed by 2032, and all of phase 1 is expected to be completed by 2034.

The Richmond Flying Squirrels is working with Texas-based development management consultant Machete Group for the stadium itself. In July, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building announced it and Chesterfield County-based Prestige Construction Group had won a contract to build the stadium. Having a separate development team chosen by the Squirrels for the stadium was a change from the original development agreement.

In August, the Richmond EDA’s board approved a 30-year lease and a stadium development agreement between the EDA and the Flying Squirrels. The Squirrels will pay $3.2 million in annual rent for the next 10 years, after which the rates will decrease.

Kuhn continues moving Loudoun projects forward

It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Chuck Kuhn lately as he tries to rezone land for flex industrial use in Leesburg and Purcellville.

The CEO of JK Moving Services and JK Land Holdings, Kuhn is one of Northern Virginia’s most prominent data center developers and land conservationists, having purchased swathes of property in Loudoun County to keep the land rural. But his reputation as a data center builder has run into growing opposition from residents who oppose more data center development in Northern Virginia.

In Leesburg, Kuhn has proposed to rezone and redevelop the 7.6-acre site of the shuttered Westpark Golf Club hotel and conference center into an 86,400-square-foot flex industrial building. The site neighbors a golf course that Kuhn sold to Loudoun County in 2022 to be turned into a public park.

Kuhn’s development proposal — approved 5-2 by the town council in July — faced scrutiny over the project’s scale and appearance, as well as truck noise levels.

Another concern was whether the building would become yet another data center; Kuhn’s team later changed the plan to exclude data centers as a permitted use for the land.

Work on the building’s site plan and design are underway, and in mid-August, Kuhn said he expects both proposals to be presented to the town for approval by late September. “We’re hoping that we’re demolishing the old building within the next six months,” Kuhn said.

Progress in Purcellville has not gotten as far.

Town council members there voted 4-3 in late July to continue gathering information before deciding on Kuhn’s application to annex and rezone land outside town to develop the Valley Commerce Center. Like Kuhn’s proposal in Leesburg, he has offered a plan that would not include a data center.

Concerns with the Valley Commerce project include water usage, location suitability and traffic increases, according to Purcellville Town Council member Caleb Stought, who voted against the application.

Kuhn’s project will add an estimated 3,500 trips per day to roads “that are already prone to significant congestion and gridlock,” Stought says.

Kuhn has also filed a rezoning application with Loudoun County. In August, JK Land Holdings purchased the 25-acre Telos Corp. headquarters site in Ashburn for $60 million — and that could be a potential space to develop data centers, although Kuhn hasn’t said what he intends for the site.  

Staunton Crossing industrial site gets ready for business

A $9 million state grant is helping Staunton reach the finish line on Staunton Crossing, its long-awaited industrial site.

The state Virginia Business Ready Sites Program (VBRSP) development grant awarded Aug. 8 will help pay for a 1 million-gallon water tower and water supply lines, which will help complete water and sewer access to the 300-acre site.

“It was the last big thing that we needed,” says Amanda DiMeo, Staunton’s economic development director.

Staunton Crossing is located at the junction of Interstates 81 and 64 with a mile of interstate frontage. The city and its economic development authority expect it will attract companies that will provide high-paying jobs, boost tax revenue and help “put Staunton on the map,” DiMeo says.

Target industries include light manufacturing; logistics and transportation; food, beverage and agriculture; professional services; data centers and IT; and industries using rail transportation.

“We’re hearing from the state that people are asking for Staunton Crossing, so our name is getting out there,” DiMeo says. “I think it’s because of the proximity to the different markets along the East Coast, and then what we have to offer here. It’s a prime spot.”

At Staunton Crossing, all infrastructure is in place or will be deliverable within 12 months, and all permitting issues have been identified. Some sections are ready for occupancy, and one company is in negotiations. Completing water and sewer access elsewhere will take time, so the site is being marketed as ready for development in 12 to 18 months, DiMeo says.

Staunton’s involvement with the property dates to 2009, when the EDA spent $15 million in a land-swap deal with Western State Hospital. The city sold the first 25 acres to Staunton Crossing Partners in 2016. That parcel now has two hotels, four restaurants and a 7-Eleven, and generated $4.35 million in tax revenue from 2000 to 2023, according to a county report.

“They just purchased a 4.9-acre triangular piece that will attach to what they already have, and they’re still working on more development there,” says DiMeo.

Staunton Crossing is “a very attractive product” for the Staunton-Waynesboro Metropolitan Statistical Area, says Shenandoah Valley Partnership Executive Director Jay Langston. “There is no doubt in my mind that we will be able to attract the kind of targets that we are after. The return on investment will be very good.” 

$1 billion data center campus moves forward in Pittsylvania

With more than 70% of global internet traffic flowing through Virginia data centers — mostly in Loudoun County — the commonwealth is the world’s undisputed data center capital. And Tom Gallagher’s development group wants Pittsylvania County to claim a stake in that action.

Gallagher represents Anchorstone Advisors SOVA, the developer planning to build a potential $1 billion-plus data center campus on a 946-acre tract in Ringgold. During its July 16 meeting, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to rezone the tract for heavy industrial use to allow for the project. Construction could begin on the project’s first phase by mid-2025 to early 2026.

Currently, the only hyperscale data center campus in Southern Virginia is the 1.1-million-square-foot Microsoft data center complex in Boydton, about an hour east in Mecklenburg County.

“I think it’s a golden opportunity for [Pittsylvania] to get in on the game,” says Gallagher, who is also a principal in a $550 million mixed-use development proposed for Pittsylvania’s Axton area.

No tenant has been announced for the data center campus yet, but Pittsylvania’s economic development director, Matt Rowe, hopes Anchorstone’s project will be “the tip of the spear” for attracting more data centers southward.

“We recognize there’s tremendous opportunity for Southern Virginia when it comes to attracting hyperscale data centers,” Rowe says. “Northern Virginia is pretty much tapped out from a power standpoint [and] from a land standpoint, so we … become the next best option,” due to the region’s available land, low tax rates and proximity to subsea high-speed internet cables in Hampton Roads and QTS’s network access point in Henrico County.

“Counties like ours need the types of direct [tax] revenue that come from these projects,” says Rowe, “and we have the available land mass and space where they can do it at scale without impacting a lot of adjacent property owners.”

That said, some residents did express concerns to the county about potential increases in traffic, light and noise that might come from Anchorstone’s data center campus, which is expected to receive its data center use permit from the county Board of Zoning Appeals by year’s end.

Anchorstone has agreed to comply with county noise ordinances and to reduce light pollution, says Gallagher, noting that the campus also will have direct access to U.S. Route 58, so it won’t impact residential roads. “Most [residents] won’t even know it’s there.” 

Richmond Flying Squirrels’ new stadium will be CarMax Park

With confetti flying and a DJ playing walk-up music for Richmond’s mayor and other luminaries, the Richmond Flying Squirrels announced Wednesday that Fortune 500 company CarMax will be naming sponsor for the Squirrels’ new ballpark starting with the 2026 season. The replacement for the Richmond Diamond will be known as CarMax Park, officials with the Double-A Minor League Baseball team revealed.

Although Squirrels President and Managing Partner Lou DiBella said that the deal with CarMax had been signed several months ago, few other details were revealed about the transaction, including the amount CarMax agreed to pay and how long the sponsorship will last.

“We haven’t disclosed the financial conditions for the contract, but what I will tell you is, we’re super thrilled to be able to ensure that the Squirrels are going to be here for a very long time,” CarMax President and CEO Bill Nash said following Wednesday’s news conference held at the Bon Secours Training Center, the former training location for the Washington Commanders. Nash also declined to say how long the naming rights will continue, but added, “We’re involved with them for a very long time in the future.”

In August, the Richmond Economic Development Authority’s board approved a 30-year lease and stadium development agreement between the EDA and the Flying Squirrels, in which the Squirrels will pay $3.2 million in annual rent for the next 10 years, with the rates decreasing after that point.

The mood Wednesday was celebratory, with former Squirrels CEO and current senior adviser Todd “Parney” Parnell serving as emcee and a crowd of fans, officials and others receiving hand towels printed with “CarMax Park.” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who shepherded the $2.4 billion Diamond District redevelopment project centered around the new baseball stadium, called the corporate sponsorship a “big freakin’ deal.”

The multiuse Diamond District project is planned to include 2,800 residential units, 935,000 square feet of office space and 195,000 square feet of retail and community space. A team known as Diamond District Partners is developing the project; it includes Richmond-based Thalhimer Realty Partners, Chicago-based Loop Capital, Pennrose, Capstone Development and multiple Virginia-based partners.

During the event, Parnell revealed new renderings of CarMax Park, which is expected to be finished by spring 2026; a ceremonial groundbreaking will take place Friday.

DiBella said that there will be several outdoor areas around the field in CarMax Park, with capacity for about 2,000 people standing, and 8,000 fixed seats. The venue also will host concerts and comedians when baseball games aren’t scheduled, and it will have indoor areas that can be used for community events, DiBella said, calling the park “a great social center for the community” that will have programming year-round, instead of just during baseball season.

But the park’s prospects weren’t always so sunny, as DiBella had sounded a warning bell in 2023 that he wasn’t sure that the new stadium — built to meet Major League Baseball’s requirements for all Minor League facilities — would be finished in time for the spring 2025 deadline, and could mean the departure of the team from Richmond.

Ultimately, the city received a one-year extension from MLB to finish the new stadium by 2026, which is expected to cost approximately $110 million and will be funded with $170 million in general obligation bonds issued by the city.

Speaking at the news conference, DiBella acknowledged the long wait for a new stadium, which dates back to 2010, the Squirrels’ debut season in Richmond, when city officials first promised to build a ballpark to replace the nearly 40-year-old Diamond that previously was home to the Richmond Braves Triple-A team.

Although CarMax’s involvement will not influence the funding structure for the stadium, its investment will be considered part of the team’s revenue stream, which is important, as the Squirrels’ rent has risen every year since the team has played in Richmond and is among the highest rents for any Minor League team, DiBella said.

Richmond Flying Squirrels senior adviser Todd “Parney” Parnell embraces team president and managing partner Lou DiBella as Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney looks on at a Sept. 4, 2024, news conference announcing the team’s new stadium naming sponsor, CarMax. Photo by Kate Andrews

On stage Wednesday, DiBella called the groundbreaking and pending start of construction “a miracle. … Fifteen years and something like $3 million in legal fees and multimillion dollars in consultancy fees, and I can’t tell you how many hours of work that got thrown away … during different [city] administrations. Frankly, an awful lot of meetings where you didn’t feel like there was honestly a commitment. I gotta say this, you gotta give credit to the people that got it done, and the people that got it done were this city council, this administration and the community leaders that are now our friends.”

In particular, DiBella cited Stoney and Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders for their roles in moving the stadium process forward, noting that “you guys got ‘MFed’ enough by me. Lincoln and I, it was so tense with us for so long,” DiBella said, “but I never doubted [Saunders’] commitment to this day. The biggest winners today are the citizens of Richmond.”

Stoney, a two-term mayor who is running for the Democratic nomination for Virginia lieutenant governor, noted that “15 years ago, the city made a promise to the Flying Squirrels, and fast-forward to 2024, we are keeping our promise, and with the 30-year lease, with the CarMax partnership, I am proud to say that the Squirrels are here to stay.”

The event was a bright spot for Stoney and Saunders, a friend of the mayor appointed as the city’s CAO in 2020, who have come under fire lately after reports in the Richmond Times-Dispatch revealed alleged misuse of procurement credit cards by some city officials, including former spokesperson Petula Burks, and a lack of transparency and timeliness in answering Freedom of Information Act requests for city documents.

There are still a few bumps in the road on the way to seeing the Diamond District become reality, including a $40 million lawsuit among current and former partners in the joint development team building the Diamond District, but DiBella said that he doesn’t expect the lawsuit to cause a delay in building the stadium, the construction of which the Squirrels team is overseeing. “It better not,” he said, laughing. “But no, I don’t believe it [will].”

Peter Woodfork, Major League Baseball’s senior vice president of minor league operations and development, said that beyond providing a new stadium with amenities for fans, the replacement of the Diamond is also an upgrade for players and others who work for the team. “This is an extremely important step for all of us … to have a facility that young men and women who work in baseball operations that allows them to do their job, anything from clubhouses to female facilities to batting cages,” he said.

Although Woodfork emphasized that “every expectation” is that the new ballpark will be open for 2026’s baseball season, “if something negative happened, we’d have to regroup on our side.”

Virginia 500: The 2024-25 Power List

Who are Virginia’s most powerful and influential leaders in business, government, politics and education this year? Find out in the fifth annual edition of the Virginia 500: The 2024-25 Power List.

Read more about how we assembled the Virginia 500 from our editor

Executives are listed in alphabetical order by industry.

Below you will find links to each of the 21 categories featuring the state’s top leaders this year:

U.Va. hotel, conference center expected fall 2025

To fulfill a need for a new comprehensive conference space in Charlottesville, the University of Virginia is set to welcome the Virginia Guesthouse hotel and conference center in fall 2025.

The new facility will feature 214 guest rooms, including nine suites.

The approximately 224,000-square-foot Virginia Guesthouse will offer close to 29,000 square feet of conference and meeting space, 15,000 square feet dedicated to food and beverage services and around 12,000 square feet of public spaces, including an expansive lobby living room on the first floor and a rooftop gathering space. The ground floor will serve as an area for students to study and socialize and also will have a welcoming center.

“It’s not designed to just simply be there for the betterment of U.Va. It is designed to be for U.Va. and the surrounding region,” says J.J. Wagner Davis, U.Va. executive vice president and chief operating officer.

The UVA Foundation will operate the hotel, which U.Va. is financing and building. Foundation CEO Tim Rose says the project reflects the university’s response to a critical need identified by U.Va. President Jim Ryan’s hospitality task force.

“It was determined that there was a significant need for conference facilities that could serve the faculty, be within walking distance and offer large enough meeting rooms to host conferences right here at the university,” he says. “Additionally, that it could be done at a price point that made sense for the broader academic community.”

The project replaces the old Cavalier Inn on Emmet Street, though it’s in a different location.

Construction began in October 2022 and has faced challenges, including supply chain issues and rising construction costs, which pushed the budget from its initial estimate of $130 million to $168 million. Nevertheless, the project has progressed, with the addition of the $3 million rooftop amenity.

The Virginia Guesthouse addresses the needs found by the university task force by providing an accessible and affordable option compared to other facilities such as Boar’s Head Resort, which, although also owned and operated by U.Va., is more expensive and not within walking distance of the main campus, and The Forum Hotel, which primarily serves Darden’s executive education program.

As part of the Ivy Corridor, a 14.5-acre parcel and entry point to U.Va., Virginia Guesthouse will be strategically located near other developments, including the newly opened School of Data Science and the Karsh Institute of Democracy, expected in 2026.  

Military Circle plans shift in new direction

The fate of Norfolk’s closed Military Circle Mall has yet to be determined, but city officials are considering how the property could leverage sports tourism and offer retail and housing options.

The city bought the 54-year-old, long-declining mall building and the surrounding 73 acres in 2020 for $11 million. As Norfolk seeks to repurpose the building and property, the city has commissioned a $200,000 study from Washington-based consulting firm Gensler to determine if a mixed-use family sports complex with retail, lodging and residential components would be the best fit, says Sean Washington, Norfolk’s economic development director.

“We want to bring in outside money and these families, when they travel for their competitions, they spend money in restaurants and hotels,” Washington says.

The proposed development’s mixed-use portion, including housing, would provide an economic anchor, he says: “With the current housing shortage, we want to help people to get affordable home ownership. This study will determine if this is the direction we want to go in.”

The study is essentially a reboot for the city’s Military Circle plans, following a prolonged competitive bidding process that saw proposals submitted from three groups of developers, including a team led by music and fashion icon Pharrell Williams, who proposed a development to be known as Wellness Loop that would have included a 15,000-seat arena, 1,100 housing units, office space and a hotel. Despite negotiating with Williams’ team, the city never officially approved that proposal, and in February, the city Economic Development Authority issued a new request for proposals for redeveloping Military Circle Mall.

With Sentara Health occupying the mall’s former JCPenney store, the new development will have a health and wellness emphasis, Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander says, and the sports complex will not just be for tourism, but also for the community. “Everyone keeps telling me to put in pickleball courts,” Washington says.

Another question is what type of housing is needed, Alexander says, adding that the city needs to determine if its schools can handle additional children or if the housing should be for seniors.

The study also will address whether the mall and surrounding outparcels can be repurposed instead of being demolished, as was originally planned.

“The question is how to use the box stores and readapt them,” Washington says. “Nothing is off the table.”   

QTS finishes $137M purchase of rezoned Henrico tech park land

QTS Data Centers has secured ownership of all 622 acres of the recently rezoned site for the White Oak Technology Park II project in Henrico County’s Sandston area for approximately $137 million.

On June 28, a limited liability company belonging to QTS bought the remaining portion of the site that it hadn’t yet acquired — about 397 acres — for $118.8 million from a limited liability company belonging to Richmond development company Hourigan, county records show. Hourigan shepherded the land through its county rezoning process to light industrial.

The LLC owned by Hourigan purchased the land that day, buying about 223 acres for $38.05 million from Atlantic Crossing and 174 acres from Vienna Finance for $20.5 million.

“[QTS] came to us with a vision and a plan for eastern Henrico that allowed them to have complete control of that entire site,” said Hourigan founder and CEO Mark Hourigan, “and in evaluating all the options and ways that we might be able to consider moving forward with that, we thought that was the best long-term outcome for the county and for that site, is to have someone with a proven track record [and] the capital behind them to be able to make that kind of investment.”

QTS previously acquired the other approximately 225 acres of the site and some 4 outlying acres from Harmon Properties, Brenda H. Sargent and John C. Harmon in several December 2023 transactions totaling $18 million.

The Kansas-based company already has a data center campus in the original, adjacent White Oak Technology Park and announced in 2022 plans for a 1.5 million-square-foot expansion. Also in that park is QTS’ network access point, which connects, through Virginia Beach landing stations, to three subsea internet cables originating in Europe and South America.

A company spokesperson said QTS was unable to share details of its project plans at this time.

Hourigan said, “It is a fabulous opportunity for Henrico County and to drive this region forward, and allows QTS to continue their business plan, and I think a great solution for everyone that was involved.”

Project past and future

During the rezoning process, which began with initial filings in late 2023, county residents raised concerns about environmental impacts and losing part of a Civil War battlefield. Ultimately, the county planning commission recommended approving the rezoning in April.

The Henrico County Board of Supervisors voted to rezone the site on May 14. On May 16, the board announced the county was establishing a $60 million affordable housing trust fund that would be funded by unbudgeted local tax revenue from data centers.

“We are incredibly excited about the industrial development that is happening and that will be happening in eastern Henrico,” said Anthony Romanello, executive director of the Henrico Economic Development Authority. With the establishment of the affordable housing trust fund, “developments like what’s happening in White Oak, like what QTS is doing, are really helping to make Henrico an even greater community.”

Now that the site has been rezoned, Romanello said, next steps include installing infrastructure such as water, sewer and power lines at the site by 2026. According to county documents, Hourigan will install sewer infrastructure for the project, while the county will handle water infrastructure.

Dominion Energy had to apply to the State Corporation Commission for approval to install two 230-kilovolt power lines to the site and expand its existing White Oak substation. In October 2023 testimony, a Hourigan representative referred to the proposed project, then consisting of about 320 acres, as the VAH Data Center Campus, referring to the property owners at the time: Vienna Finance, Atlantic Crossing and Hourigan. The SCC approved Dominion Energy’s application in March.

“I think we’ve had a very strong industrial base in Henrico — and I’m including data centers in industrial — and it’s getting a whole lot stronger with the investment that Hourigan and QTS are making,” Romanello said.

Brent Godwin contributed to this article.

Roanoke developer pivots from office space to downtown park

Sometimes the best decision a builder can make is not to build.

That’s the conclusion Lucas Thornton, managing partner at Hist:Re Partners in Roanoke, recently reached, although his plans for an office building may happen in the future.

Thornton’s downtown mixed-use development, The Bower, was set to open by late June with 90 one- and two-bedroom apartments atop first-floor retail space at 17 Campbell Ave. SW, the site of the former Campbell Court bus terminal. But he’s put the second phase — an 82,600-square-foot office building on Salem Avenue Southwest — on hold. Instead, Thornton intends to construct a $500,000 park where the office building would have gone. It should be ready later this summer, he says.

“The reality is that COVID has cast a long shadow over the office market. Multitenant office buildings now are difficult” to market, Thornton says, but demand for residential and retail remains solid. About 30% of the apartments in his $25 million project are pre-leased. He also has retail tenants lined up for three out of four spaces, though Thornton says he’s not ready to make those plans public.

As in the rest of the state, the office space market in Roanoke remains uncertain. In its 2023 annual survey, Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group estimated downtown Roanoke’s office occupancy rate at 86%, down a couple points from 2022 and below an ideal rate of 90%.

Poe & Cronk President Matt Huff has seen Roanoke’s occupancy numbers as low as 80% and as high as 94%.

“I think [Thornton] looked at the economic landscape and correctly decided it’s probably not the time,” Huff says, but both are confident offices have a future.

“As corporate America sort of settles on its priorities,” Thornton says, “a site like ours we believe will be very attractive because more traditional formats and footprints might not work as well.”

Making room for The Bower required the demolition of the Campbell Court Transportation Center, which Valley Metro, the Roanoke Valley’s public transportation provider, had operated out of since 1987. Third Street Station, an open-air bus station, opened in June 2023 and serves as Valley Metro’s central transfer hub.

Thornton hopes The Bower’s park will give Roanokers and visitors another place to spend time. “I can imagine everything from an ice rink in the winter … to concerts in the summer.”