Roanoke’s largest undeveloped tract remains in limbo

The fate of the largest undeveloped tract of land in Roanoke remains murky, even after a recent move clears the way for preserving the 150-acre Evans Spring site from major development.

For years, city residents, leaders, and developers have debated the future of Evans Spring, which sits across Interstate 581 from Valley View Mall. Many residents in the predominantly Black neighborhoods bordering the site want to preserve the land, which has multiple owners.

North Carolina-based Pavilion Development made a 2020 pitch for Evans Spring that could have brought apartments, office space, a wholesale warehouse club and a golfing entertainment venue similar to Topgolf. Pavilion Development later withdrew its proposal, however, after the city’s planning commission expressed concerns.

In 2024, Roanoke City Council approved a plan for Evans Spring that opened the door to potential economic development of 75 acres of the tract. Both before and after the vote, however, council members heard loud opposition from Roanokers who wanted to preserve the land.

This May, a different slate of city council members voted unanimously to make a change to the 2024 plan to allow conservation as an acceptable use.

“For this last undeveloped tract of land that we have of this size, we shouldn’t just pour concrete on it,” says Phazhon Nash, a council member who lives in his late grandmother’s house near Evans Spring.

Still, the council’s decision doesn’t determine what could happen at Evans Spring. The site’s landowners have the final say. Several did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

As of mid-June, the council had not heard opinions from Evans Spring landowners, according to Peter Volosin, a council member who approves of some development at the site.

“We have to balance how much open land we have with development,” says Volosin, a real estate agent.

Meanwhile, the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy, a Roanoke nonprofit, has been in talks to purchase Evans Spring through The Conservation Fund, an Arlington County- based land protection group. The fund has been discussing sale options with some Evans Spring landowners, according to David Perry, the conservancy’s executive director. Perry says discussions have been “good and positive,” though no decisions have been made.

He envisions a conserved Evans Spring with parkland and recreational space. “In our opinion, that’s still an important type of economic development for Roanoke,” Perry says.