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$257M Western Rail Initiative to bring NRV train service
Passenger train service will return to the New River Valley for the first time since 1979, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday, announcing an agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway. The $257.2 million deal is an addition to the $3.7 billion rail expansion package the governor hailed in March as part of the Transforming Rail in Vi[...]
Roanoke County, Va. Tech team up for strategic plan
In a first for the locality, Roanoke County has partnered with Virginia Tech to develop a five-year county economic development strategic plan. “We want to benchmark where we are today with goals that we hope to achieve in five years and then revisit it to see if we’re keeping up with what we said we […]
Luna Innovations Inc. taps new COO
Roanoke-based Luna Innovations Inc. has named Brian J. Soller its new chief operating officer, effective immediately. He was previously senior vice president and general manager of Lightwave, Luna’s largest division. The fiber optic tech company, which manufactures products for the aerospace, automotive, communications, de[...]
LewisGale to open standalone ER in Roanoke
On Monday, LewisGale Regional Health System held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new freestanding emergency room in Roanoke. Located at 1423 West Ruritan Road, the nearly 10,000-square-foot facility will be named LewisGale Medical Center Blue Hills ER and be staffed with board-certified emergency room physicians and nurses 24 ho[...]
Hollins University appoints new provost
Hollins University has named Laura A. McLary as its new provost effective July 1, the Roanoke-based university announced this week. McLary arrives from the University of Portland in Oregon, where she served on the faculty teaching German starting in 1999 and became academic associate dean for the university’s College of Arts a[...]
Arlington’s Blackfin acquires Roanoke County apartments for $23.2M
Arlington-based Blackfin Real Estate Investors LLC purchased Villages at Garst Creek, a 504-unit apartment complex in Roanoke County, for $23.25 million. The deal closed on April 21. Built in 1974, the 33-building property is located at 4375 Garst Mill Road. The property was rehabbed in 2007 under the Section 42 Low-Income Housi[...]
Branch Civil appoints new executive VP
Brian J. Quinlan has been appointed to serves as executive vice president of Roanoke-based Branch Civil Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Branch Group specializing in site development, civil construction and heavy highway infrastructure projects. In his new role, Quinlan will be responsible for Branch Civil’s overall fina[...]
Former Roanoke Boy Scouts building sells for $1.2M
The former Boy Scouts of America building in Roanoke has sold for $1.2 million. Located at 2131 Valley View Boulevard, the 11,185-square-foot building was purchased by 1501 WW LLC from Blue Ridge Mountains Council Inc. The sale closed on March 3. Matt Huff and Zack May of Poe & Cronk facilitated the sale on behalf […]
Former Roanoke Johnson & Johnson property sells for $6.26M
The former Johnson & Johnson Spectacle Lens Group development on more than 30 acres in Roanoke has sold for $6.26 million. Located at 2797 Frontage Road, the property was purchased by Briar Oaks Investments VII LLC from Delta Dental of Virginia. The sale, which included a 146,852-square-foot medical grade manufacturing, offi[...]
Roanoke industrial property sells for $2M
A 65,825-square-foot industrial property in Roanoke has been purchased for $2.02 million. Located at 1764 Granby St. NE, the property was purchased from Vista Properties by H&M Commercial Properties. The property had one tenant occupying about half the space; the other half of the property will be immediately available for l[...]
Economic development consultancy taps Roanoke partner
Longtime economic development executive John J. Smolak has joined Sanford Holshouser Economic Development Consulting (SHEDC) as a partner, the Raleigh, North Carolina-based consultancy announced this week. Smolak, who will be based in Roanoke, worked for 25 years with Appalachian Power. He’s well known in the Southwest Virginia region, where he will help the firm expand, […]
Nine newsroom employees to be laid off at Roanoke Times
Nine newsroom employees at The Roanoke Times were notified of their pending layoffs Monday by parent company Lee Enterprises Inc., according to the newspaper’s local newsroom union and multiple staff writers who spoke with Virginia Business. The layoffs, set to take effect April 23, would cut the editorial staff to 37 positions, a nearly 20% […]
