The renovated building at 123 Kirk Avenue. Photo by Amanda Codispoti

There have been plenty of apartments popping up downtown in recent years, most recently at the Patrick Henry, Sixteen West, and the Lofts at West Station.

But for the first time in a while there are new condos on the market in downtown Roanoke.

Mike Levan, president of Virginia Building Services of Roanoke, has spent the past few years transforming a 102-year-old building into four condos and a retail space on the first floor.

Levan bought the building at 123 Kirk Avenue, next to Sheila’s Cafe, in 2009. He said the brick, three-story building was an addition to the old Raleigh hotel, which was on Campbell Avenue where Studios on the Square is now located.

The building has one two-bedroom unit on the third floor and three one-bedrooms on the second and first floors.

Levan finished the condos with hardwood floors, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, tiled bathrooms and showers, and thick, white crown molding and baseboards. The finishes differentiate the condos from many of the new apartments I’ve seen downtown, which have taken on a more industrial, historic feel with exposed brick walls and exposed piping and ventilation.

The two-bedroom condo will sell for $450,000, Levan said. It is 1,600 square feet.

The one-bedroom condos, which range from about 700 to 785 square feet, will sell for about $250,000.

Levan acknowledged that the condos and their price tags will appeal to a small market.

“That’s a lot of money,” he said. “They are not for everybody.” But, he added, “They are one of a kind.”

He would not say how much he spent renovating the building, but did say that he financed the project himself.

All but a one-bedroom condo and the retail space are finished. The 500-square-foot retail space has not been leased.

Here are some before and after pictures, courtesy of Levan.

Roanoke Times graphic

Roanoke City Council last night voted to approve the proposal to sell the shuttered Huff Lane Elementary School near Valley View Mall to a developer who plans to build two hotels and a restaurant.

According to a story by Roanoke Times reporter Courtney Cutright, no one signed up to speak to council about the proposal.

What do you think of the proposed development?

Here is more from Courtney’s story:

In other council news, no one signed up to speak about a proposal to sell the shuttered Huff Lane Elementary School to commercial developer NDRA II, LLCs.

When Mayor David Bowers asked for anyone opposed to stand, one man did. The council then voted unanimously to approve the proposal.

“Well, why’d you ask me to stand?” the man asked.

“I always do,” Bowers answered. “Everyone has a right to stand.”

City officials said the sale process, which includes time for due diligence and rezoning, could take 12 to 14 months to complete. Two hotels and a restaurant are planned for the 5.3-acre portion of the parcel facing Valley View Boulevard.

The Roanoke School Board closed the school in 2009 to close a budget shortfall. The school’s students were transferred to nearby Round Hill Elementary School, which is bursting at the seams.

The sale is a “way the schools will be able to build out Round Hill, where the resources aren’t available to do so,” said Councilman Court Rosen.

The back of 401Campbell Lofts on Rorer Avenue. The parking garage will be on the first floor.

The downtown Roanoke building that once held Spanky Macher’s eccentric collectibles – bumper cars and who knows what else – has been emptied, gutted and is in the process of being outfitted with 15 apartments, four commercial spaces and a street-level parking garage.

Faisal Khan and his father bought the building for $225,000 in 2010. They are in the midst of a $3 million renovation.

The project is eligible for historic tax credits, but it’s been a challenge to renovate, Khan said. Built in 1946 as a Magic City Motor dealership, the building lacks many architectural details found in other historic buildings, such as timbers and hardwood floors. So, Khan looked to save and repair the original windows and keep the glass block windows and concrete floors in tact.

The concrete floors will be stained. The bathrooms are being tiled with black porcelain. Stainless steel appliances and black composite counter tops will finish the kitchens.

“We did everything to give it as an industrial look as possible,” Khan said.

The 14 one-bedroom apartments are from 600 to 700 square feet and will rent from $650 to $850. The only two-bedroom apartment will rent for $930.

Khan has yet to decide whether to include the cost of parking in the rent. There will be space on first floor, off Rorer Avenue, for at least 8 vehicles. Parking is also available next to the building on Campbell Avenue.

The project builds on the momentum that the Lofts at West Station, Fulton Motor Lofts and The Candy Factory have brought to the western edge of downtown Roanoke, known as the West Station District.

The district appears to be catching on. The Lofts at West Station, which opened in January, is 90 percent leased. And, Lana Seale, a property manager with Waldvogel Commercial Properties, said she already has a list of 65 people who are interested in 401 Campbell Lofts.

The building should be complete in April or May.

What do you think of this area of downtown Roanoke? Do you think these developments will draw restaurants and other businesses to locate there?

The Safehouse Signs building is one of three buildings that will be or have been torn down to make room for phase two of the Ivy Market development. Photo by Amanda Codispoti

Here is the story in today’s newspaper with some additional details about Valley Bank’s plans for Ivy Market:

Two buildings north of the Ivy Market development in Roanoke are scheduled for demolition and another already has been torn down as the property’s owner, Valley Bank, prepares the land for a potential developer.

While no deal has been struck, the bank is in talks with several developers, one of which would bring an unnamed tenant to the former Ukrop’s supermarket building, Valley Bank President and CEO Ellis Gutshall said.

“If this one comes, it will be huge,” he said.

Ivy Market was meant to be built in two phases, but the recession, the 2009 closure of Ukrop’s and the foreclosure of the property stalled the project.

The first phase included the Ukrop’s building on Franklin Road and the Walgreens at the corner of Wonju Street. The second phase was to be built on about 4 acres north of the development, where the buildings are being demolished.

Valley Bank bought Ivy Market and the adjoining 4 acres after the development went into foreclosure. Last month, the bank purchased an additional acre for $400,000 where Wine Gourmet was located before it moved to southwest Roanoke County.

The former wine shop and the old Safehouse Signs building are slated to be torn down. A third building, closer to the Pure gas station, already has been demolished and sits in a heap of tangled steel, roofing and wires.

Gutshall said the bank would like to sell the properties to a developer that would fill the vacant Ukrop’s building and finish the project’s second phase.

“The Ukrop’s building is the kingpin,” he said. “No one would want to buy the pad sites from us without having something in that building.”

The bank is in talks with one developer, whom Gutshall would not name. That developer has a specific tenant it would bring to the Ukrop’s building, he said.

It could be early May before the bank knows whether the developer will buy the property.

The Woolworth building as seen on Campbell Ave. ERIC BRADY | The Roanoke Times

The letters were falling off the facade, and spider-webbed cracks marred the storefront windows.

The old Woolworth’s building in downtown Roanoke had been vacant for years and had fallen into disrepair.

Every time Bill Elliot walked by the building at 24 Campbell Ave., he worried that it might be torn down for parking. He’d also heard a rumor it was going to be used for a flea market.

“That’s just a horror story for a building that’s in solid shape,” he said. “I didn’t want to see it torn down. I didn’t want to see it become another empty space on Campbell Avenue.”

Elliot, chairman of the board at Davis H. Elliot Co., decided he needed to do something.

He bought the dilapidated structure in 2008 and has spent about $4 million reviving the century-old building. Historical tax credits will help defray some of the cost.

Three years later, the art deco structure has a bright red sign on the facade with hand-painted gold lettering, and the storefront facing Campbell Avenue is painted white and ready for a new tenant.

The building also has an 18-space indoor parking garage and two smaller office spaces facing Kirk Avenue on the first floor. Above, the second and third floors have been divided into 11 apartments ranging in size from about 800 to 1,600 square feet. Elliot has also built a personal art studio on the third floor.

The building, once an eyesore in downtown, has been revived.

“This building was really one of the last missing pieces in that Campbell Avenue and Kirk Avenue street space,” said Gregg Lewis, the architect on the project. “Bill Elliot’s willingness to take this on was ultimately a real boon for downtown Roanoke because of the impact of having that building boarded up.”

To read more of this story click here.

To see a slideshow of the building click here.

Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer will open a new restaurant, Beamer’s 25, in Roanoke at the newly renovated apartment building The Lofts at West Station.

The restaurant will be on the first floor of the Salem Avenue building (next to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore), which Richmond developer Bill Chapman converted into apartments from two old warehouses.

A grand opening was held Wednesday night, where it was announced that Beamer’s 25 should open this spring or summer serving local food and 25 craft beers. The restaurant will seat 100 inside and 50 outside on a patio that overlooks Salem Avenue.

From the Loft at West Station’s Facebook page: “Coach Beamer’s game plan for creating a winning program has been rooted on harvesting and developing Virginia talent. Beamer’s 25 embraces those same principles and will seek out the best foods and craft beers made right here in the State of Virginia.”

The apartment building opened this month and 53 of the 71 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments have been leased, according to leasing agent Melissa Morgan, broker/owner of Renaissance Real Estate. Only two-bedroom apartments remain available.

The building’s amenities include a 28-seat movie theater with a 125-inch screen (the theater holds three movie nights a week), an exercise room and a lounge.

Here are some photos from the grand opening. (If you expand the photo window and click “Show info” you will be able to see captions.)

What do you think of the restaurant’s concept and location?

My colleague Katelyn Polantz has this story on the foreclosure of Keagy Village in Roanoke County.

The complex, with 52,000 square feet of retail space, has had trouble attracting tenants. Current tenants include Firehouse Subs, Dunkin’ Donuts, Patina Formals and Scottrade, an investment business.

The property is scheduled to be auctioned Feb. 2.

What do you think the complex needs to be successful?

Work on the Billy's Ritz building should be complete by summer. STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS | The Roanoke Times

If you’ve been downtown you’ve noticed the construction happening at many of Roanoke’s historic buildings.

This story in Sunday’s business section highlighted a few of those projects. The story includes updates on the Sixteen West project (expected to bring downtown its first grocery store in decades), a bed and breakfast, and the old Billy’s Ritz building.

As Roanoke City Manager Chris Morrill points out in the story, it’s a compliment to Roanoke that private investors are taking an interest in downtown. Their projects will help downtown’s growth because more downtown residents and workers generally means more business for stores and restaurants,  Morrill said.

Does the idea of living downtown appeal to you? And if you live downtown, what is it missing?

The former SunTrust Bank branch at Crossroads Mall. Photo by Amanda Codispoti

Crossroads Mall is looking to anchor its Hershberger Road front with restaurants, drugstores or other stores that could occupy a pad site.

The mall’s leasing agent, Jake Copty of Thalhimer, announced this week that the former SunTrust Bank branch at the corner of Hershberger Road at Rutgers Street was sold for $400,000 to Roanoke Manager LLC. The 1-acre property is now part of Crossroads Mall and is for sale for $1.4 million.

Copty told me that he’s received some interest in the site, but there are no firm plans for it yet.

There is one other pad site, a .66-acre piece of property next to McDonald’s, for sale for $650,000.

You might recall that Steak ‘n Shake announced in July it is building a restaurant near Crossroads Mall next to McDonald’s. That site is not part of Crossroads Mall, Copty said.

I realize that the news about the pad sites might raise questions about the future and direction of Crossroads. I encourage you to read my story in this Sunday’s business section about the old mall and Towers. The shopping centers turn 50 this year. My story takes a look back and a look forward.

The inside of Crossroads Mall, looking towards Jo-Ann Fabrics. Photo courtesy of Advance Auto

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores vacated its store at Crossroads Mall earlier this year to move to Towers Shopping Center.

The store’s old space won’t be empty for long.

Advance Auto, which has its headquarters at the old mall, has plans to expand into the space, according to Advance Auto spokeswoman Shelly Whitaker.

The company currently leases more than 246,000 square feet at Crossroads. It has spent at least $8.5 million renovating spaces inside the mall for office space.

Advance Auto’s latest plans include turning part of the mall’s interior – just outside Jo-Ann Fabrics, into a large area for conferences. The completed look will reflect a warehouse district, with street lamps, planters and a loading dock for a stage, Whitaker said.

The plans for the former Jo-Ann Fabrics space have yet to finalized, but it might include more office space or a conference and training space, Whitaker said.

Advance Auto is by far the largest company to have office space at Crossroads Mall. There are also several state offices inside the mall.

Repurposing the mall’s interior for office space is part of the mall’s long-term plan, according to Jake Copty, the leasing agent for Crossroads. He told me that malls as old as Crossroads, which turned 50 last month, are typically torn down. Crossroads has taken on a new life with office spaces, and office workers are fueling retail and restaurants in the Crossroads area, he said.