Roanoke’s planning commission will consider a rezoning at the Riverdale development and another at The Foundry Realty during their Monday afternoon meeting.
Riverdale is home to the old American Viscose rayon plant, which shut down in 1958. Developer Ed Walker bought the property in 2023 to turn it into a mix of apartments, commercial spaces and industrial tenants.
Riverdale Southeast has filed an application to rezone multiple parcels of land, currently zoned as Downtown District, Light Industrial and Urban Flex District, to Urban Center Districts.
This would allow residential, accommodations and group living, commercial, industrial, assembly and entertainment, public, institutional and community facilities, transportation, utility, agricultural, and accessory uses for those parcels of land.
According to city documents, there are no maximum density and floor-to-area ratio requirements for this proposed rezoning.
The initial phase, the application narrative states, will include a new 260-unit apartment complex, an 85-unit adaptive reuse project and multiple mixed uses.
“As Riverdale is largely segregated by the Roanoke River, railway, and topography; minimal effect on the surrounding neighborhood will be realized,” the narrative reads. It states they are proposing a traffic impact analysis be completed during the site plan review process.
The Foundry
The Foundry Realty is looking to close by vacation a small portion of land on Russell Avenue Southwest and to rezone 11 parcels for redevelopment of the former Walker Foundry location from Heavy Industrial District land and Light Industrial District land to the UC District designation.
Walker Machine and Foundry, which shut down in 2019, was formed by a group of Roanoke investors one hundred years prior, according to the application narrative. After it shut down, the foundry sued the city over concerns that the city would take the property to expand the Roanoke River Greenway.
“Our intent is to recognize this history, celebrate its’ legacy and incorporate that into the proposed improvements and development patterns,” the project narrative reads. “We have shared our vision for the project and invited all the area residents to an information session including tours of the site with any who were interested. Local community support is vital to our mission.”
The company states they intend to redevelop the former foundry property “into an active community consisting of commercial and residential uses for a mixed-use community.” Uses suggested include a restaurant in the original machine shop, pickleball courts, shuffleboard, corn hole, bicycling and river access. They also plan single and duplex family housing units “that are an integral part of the history of Norwich.”
Foundry Realty said they intend to maintain most of the structures in place on the property.
The entire agenda for Monday’s hearing can be read here. The meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the city council chamber, fourth floor, room 450 of the Noel C. Taylor Municipal Building.
