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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 […]
A practical plan for U.S. 220
Picture an hourglass: Flip the timer over, and the sand at the top funnels through a small opening to pool in the wider receptacle at its bottom. Now imagine if that hole in the middle were wider; sand would flow more freely. That’s how business leaders in Martinsville see the U.S. Route 220 corridor between […]
CARRIE McCONNELL
What does it take to start a new community bank from scratch?As with any new business, there are plenty of decisions to make, not to mention obtaining regulatory approvals. It’s no surprise then that the past few years have been very busy for Carrie McConnell of Ridge View Bank. But the journey also has been […]
KIM SNYDER
Fewer than one in five C-suite positions in financial services are held by women globally, according to Deloitte. But Kim Snyder, founder and CEO of Roanoke-based banking software company KlariVis, defies the odds. After “many rewarding years in community banking,” a 2015 acquisition by BNC Bancorp displaced her from her job as chief financial officer […]
Branch Group acquires N.C. contractor
The Branch Group, a Roanoke-based heavy-highway and building contractor, has closed on its acquisition of Burnsville, North Carolina-based Young & McQueen, a 37-year-old contracting firm specializing in heavy civil and highway construction, site work, bridges and structures construction, the company announced Monday. Branch declined to release financial terms of the deal, which closed on May [[...]
Artspace plans Roanoke artist housing community
Roanoke developer Ed Walker first tried to lure Artspace, a Minnesota-based nonprofit real estate developer for the arts, to Roanoke for an early 2000s redevelopment project, but Artspace essentially ghosted him. “It’s very, very, very, very difficult to get Artspace’s attention and to get them interested in a community,” Walker says. “It’s like trying to […]
Building support
Gov. Glenn Youngkin made headlines last December when he announced a $90 million-plus pitch to launch “Virginia’s Research Triangle.” Initially envisioned as a cooperative initiative among Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, the triangle was expanded into more of a rhombus following the addition of Old Dominion University to the research [&hell[...]
Woods Rogers returns to original name
Call it a strategy of going back to the future — the merged Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black law firm is shortening its name back to its original appellation of Woods Rogers, executives announced Monday. In 2022, Roanoke-based Woods Rogers merged with Vandeventer Black in Norfolk, creating the state’s fifth largest law firm, with more than […]
Assembled with care
If you’re trying to visualize what powers manufacturing growth around Roanoke these days, picture 3D-printed helicopter blades and robotics, not old-style grommets. Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing produces objects by creating a series of consecutive layers, as opposed to “subtractive” manufacturing, which removes material to carve out an object. Advanced manufacturing c[...]
FOR THE RECORD May 2024
CENTRAL VIRGINIA Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bankshares completed its acquisition of Danville-based American National Bankshares, parent company of American National Bank and Trust, on April 1. Based on the $35.31 per share closing price of Atlantic Union common stock on March 28, the transaction value was approximately $507 million. The deal was announced in July 2023, […]
Roanoke Council approves Evans Spring plan
After months of heated debate, Roanoke City Council greenlit a development plan for Evans Spring, the largest piece of undeveloped land in the city. The plan, approved March 4 by a 4-3 vote, opens the door for potential economic development of 75 acres of the roughly 151-acre tract, city officials say. The recommended development scenario […]
Artist housing developer considers Roanoke for first Va. project
Roanoke developer Ed Walker first tried to lure Artspace, a Minnesota-based nonprofit real estate developer for the arts, to Roanoke in the early 2000s when he was transforming a former 1925 cotton textile mill into downtown living spaces. Artspace essentially ghosted him back then. “It’s very, very, very, very difficult to get Artspace’s attention and […]
