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Development

Development

Roanoke development news — lanes, civic projects, and the emails neighborhoods send about both.

Development

Tanglewood Crossing lines up first tenants, with about 100 homes planned later

The first building at Tanglewood Crossing, near Electric Road (Route 419) and Starkey Road in southwest Roanoke County, is slated to open in March 2027, WFIR reports. Developer A Boone Real Estate named five tenants last week: Biscuit Belly, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Bub-bakoo’s Burritos, a wax studio, and Mattress Warehouse, which signed a 10-year lease. Later phases call for almost 100 residential units plus more shops and restaurants. VDOT counts about 40,000 vehicles a day through that intersection.

Monday, Oct. 5, 2026 · WFIR

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Development

WDBJ finds Wood Haven NDA predates Clearview Dynamics by nearly two years

Public records obtained by WDBJ show the Wood Haven Technology Park purchase agreement lists a buyer–seller nondisclosure agreement dated March 26, 2024, while Virginia business filings put Clearview Dynamics’ formation in January 2026. WVRIFA executive director John Hull said the authority originally signed with an “affiliated corporate entity” and has not identified that company; board chair Gary Larrowe told the station he did not yet know why the dates diverge.

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026 · WDBJ

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Development

WVRIFA says Clearview is evaluating Wood Haven for a data center

The Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority said Tuesday that Clearview Dynamics LLC is reviewing Wood Haven Technology Park as a possible data-center site, with due diligence expected to run through March 2027, WDBJ reports. The authority said Spring Hollow Reservoir would serve the park and that Clearview would pay for the project’s power and related infrastructure. Officials still frame the work as early evaluation, not a completed project.

Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026 · WDBJ

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Development

AI Ready Roanoke seeks consultant study for a regional AI hub

Local governments, businesses, and colleges in the Roanoke region formed an AI Ready Roanoke planning group and issued an RFP for consultants to gauge demand and feasibility for a regional AI center of excellence, Cardinal News reports. Separately, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce has said major AI-driven job-market shifts are more likely in the next two to five years than right now.

Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026 · Cardinal News

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Development

VDOT starts Prices Fork and Peppers Ferry intersection rebuild Sept. 28

VDOT says an $8.3 million rebuild at Prices Fork Road (Route 685) and Peppers Ferry Road (Route 114) in Montgomery County starts Monday, Sept. 28, weather permitting, WDBJ reports. Plans include new right-turn lanes, a wider Peppers Ferry eastbound shoulder, drainage work, pedestrian upgrades, and a new signal. The crossroads stays open, with daytime and overnight lane closures possible; crews aim to finish by late 2027.

Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 · WDBJ

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Development

Route 122 corridor study funded with $1.66M RAISE grant

West Piedmont Planning District Commission, with Bedford and Franklin counties, is launching a Route 122 corridor study backed by a $1.66 million federal RAISE grant, the commission said Friday. The roughly 24-mile stretch from Wirtz Road in Franklin County to Joppa Mill Road in Bedford County is the main road serving Smith Mountain Lake and links the Roanoke and Lynchburg metro edges. Work is set to start this fall and run through late October 2028, covering safety and capacity plus options such as a multi-use trail, park-and-ride, and Amtrak shuttle links.

Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 · WPPDC

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Development

Spanberger signs EO 22 on data-center rules and a new AI task force

Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed Executive Order 22 on Friday to start her Data Center Accountability Framework and stand up a state AI Task Force, WDBJ reports. The order bars executive-branch NDAs on data-center deals, orders a community planning toolkit, and pushes noise rules plus a diesel-backup review. A wider package she outlined asks the 2027 General Assembly to end by-right zoning for projects over 25 megawatts and shift more power and water costs onto large loads; Virginia Business notes most steps aim at future projects, not centers already approved.

Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 · WDBJ

Read at WDBJ · EO 22 PDF · Virginia Business

Development

Public records fill in more on Clearview Dynamics and Wood Haven deal

WSLS reviewed filings on Clearview Dynamics LLC, the company named in Friday’s Wood Haven Technology Park purchase agreement near I-81/I-581 in Roanoke County. The firm formed in Delaware on Jan. 13, 2026, and registered to do business in Virginia on May 27, 2026; its listed Wilmington address is tied to CSC registered-agent services — a trail WSLS says does not prove end use or ultimate owners. Under the park’s ownership split, Roanoke City and Roanoke County each hold about 44% and Salem about 12%. Authority officials still describe an early due-diligence step, not a completed sale, and say they cannot confirm prospective use. Councilman Phazhon Nash has pressed for more transparency since Friday’s vote. Separately, a Roanoke County spokesperson told WDBJ the county signed an NDA that blocks disclosing the intended use; the county called the project an “appropriate use” of the park while declining specifics. Western Virginia Water Authority spokesperson Laura Schirmer told WDBJ she is unaware of Wood Haven developer talks and has no NDA there.

Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026 · WSLS

Read at WSLS · WDBJ on county NDA

Development

Council approves $8 million for 236 acres of the former Ole Monterey Golf Course

Roanoke City Council approved an $8 million purchase of 236 acres once tied to Ole Monterey Golf Course along Tinker Creek Lane NE, WFXR reports. City Manager Valmarie Turner said the land could support housing, a school campus, parks, or an expansion of the Roanoke Center for Industry and Technology. Valley Lands Inc. sold the parcels; the city says they are free of liens.

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 · WFXR

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City Hall

Consultants tell council Roanoke planning is “busting at the seams”

A July 15 consultant report presented to City Council Tuesday says Roanoke’s planning department faces leadership gaps, pay that fails to hold trained staff, a vacancy rate that hit 36%, and a permitting system stakeholders called a “culture of no,” Cardinal News reports. More than 400 permits were in the pipeline when the work was done; Assistant City Manager Lavar Youmans said waits have since fallen from about 5–6 weeks to 1–2 weeks and the backlog from 337 to 215. Council took no action Tuesday.

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 · Cardinal News

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News

Carvins Cove is 18.6 feet down. Cardinal's data says not 2002.

Cardinal News, using Western Virginia Water Authority figures, puts Carvins Cove about 18.6 feet below full pond after a missed spring recharge. That is the voluntary-conservation band, still above the 1999 and 2002 drought tracks, and Spring Hollow has taken a larger share as the cove dropped. Google is contracted for 2 million gallons a day and now projects about 1.2 million with air cooling; Cardinal says fall storms usually refill the reservoir.

Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026 · Cardinal News

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Around Town

Grandin Theatre is digging a backstage so live shows have somewhere to go

WVTF says the 1932 Grandin Theatre is adding subterranean performer space at the rear of the building: bathrooms, showers, a washer and dryer, and technician rooms, all ADA. Executive director Ian Fortier told Radio IQ movie houses were not built for people or stuff backstage. Showtimes stay up during construction, which the foundation says should wrap before the end of the year.

Monday, Aug. 31, 2026 · WVTF

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Development

State budget funds VTC medical school expansion in Roanoke

Virginia's biennial budget funds a new building for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and renovations to the current space for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. Virginia Business reports $13 million over two years for enrollment growth and in-state tuition support, enough to take the school from 222 students toward about 400, plus $14 million for the Virginia Tech Patient Research Center. Another $250,000 goes to study a regional biomedical high school.

Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026 · Virginia Business

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Development

Judge lets Franklin County's Constitution Solar project proceed

A Franklin County Circuit Court judge approved the more than 35-acre Constitution Solar project in the Henry community after supervisors voted it down 5-1 in December. WSLS reports the site is unzoned and the comprehensive plan already sets aside 1,500 acres for solar, so the court found no legal basis to block it. Blue Ridge Supervisor Tim Tatum said the no vote was meant as a statement about who pays for cleanup when the farm is done.

Friday, Aug. 28, 2026 · WSLS

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Development

Botetourt clears Google to start grading its Greenfield data center site

Botetourt County says Google has a land-disturbance permit and can begin phased grading on a 312-acre site at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield. WDBJ reports wetlands will not be disturbed, intermittent blasting is expected under state fire marshal rules, and construction noise is barred from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. DEQ still handles other environmental permits; county updates are at bocodatacenter.com.

Friday, Aug. 28, 2026 · WDBJ

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Development

Rowe Furniture's Elliston warehouse sold for $32 million

Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer arranged the sale of the 378,720-square-foot Rowe Furniture Distribution Center at 2121 Gardiner Street in Elliston, WSLS reports. Manakin Holdings, a Virginia family office, bought it Aug. 21 for $32 million. The building sits on the I-81 corridor west of Salem.

Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026 · WSLS

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Development

The Least of These is renovating a house it bought for affordable rent

The Roanoke ministry bought a home in October and is renovating it for individuals, couples, and families leaving its motel program, WSLS reports. Founder Dawn Sandoval says owning the place lets the group set rent instead of depending on outside landlords, and Renovation Alliance is helping. No completion date yet; organizers want cash and discounted HVAC and plumbing help. The Board of Zoning Appeals recently upheld zoning violations against the ministry.

Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026 · WSLS

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Development

FOIA records: Franklin County talked with Crusoe AI before Project Flash died

Project Flash at Summit View Business Park in Rocky Mount is off after more than a week of public pushback. WSLS reports FOIA records show Franklin County had talked for months with Crusoe AI, which builds AI infrastructure and prefab data-center units, and that power talks with Appalachian Power had started. County officials remain under an NDA and say they are not specifically hunting a data center for the site.

Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026 · WSLS

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Development

Christiansburg's passenger-rail station is on the state's $8.4M ARC list

Governor Spanberger recommended about $8.4 million in 2026 Appalachian Regional Commission grants for Southwest Virginia. WDBJ reports the New River Valley Regional Commission's Christiansburg passenger-rail station project is recommended for $1 million, with Radford's New River Crossing also listed. Federal commission approval still has to clear.

Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026 · WDBJ

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News

Belleview by the hospital stays closed into summer 2027

Carilion told the Roanoke Rambler the West Pavilion brick repair at Roanoke Memorial will run through summer 2027, and Belleview Avenue stays shut until the street is safe to reopen. The detour off Jefferson has been in place since June 2025. If you are going to the Level I, budget the extra turn.

Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 · The Roanoke Rambler

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News

Daleville blasting for Project GVO is coming. The letters missed some front yards.

WSLS reports Carolina Drilling told Daleville and Troutville residents that controlled blasting for Project GVO starts in mid-September, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is expected to last at least a year. Neighbors next to the site say they did not get the letter; wells are the worry. The contractors did not comment on camera.

Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026 · WSLS

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City Hall

Berglund focus group wraps. The building still needs work.

A city entertainment-district focus group has finished months of meetings without a yes-or-no on a casino. Cardinal News reports Berglund Center staff told council some civic-center work — on the order of $10 million — should not wait, on a building with more than $30 million in identified repairs. No council vote is in this item.

Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026 · Cardinal News

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