The largest development of its kind in Salem’s history is moving toward a groundbreaking after numerous hearings, a split city council vote and litigation.
HopeTree Family Services hopes to start renovations to its campus in the summer, as Stateson Homes is set to start building hundreds of homes on an adjacent piece of the historic south Salem property in the next six months.
“We’re really going from a segregated campus to an integrated community,” said Jon Morris, HopeTree president and chief executive officer. “Every one of our group homes across Virginia is in a regular neighborhood. This is the only segregated one.”
HopeTree will retain 30 acres, and 30 acres will be sold to developers. The HopeTree property — which started as an orphanage more than 100 years ago — will retain four buildings on campus, three homes on campus that are currently being used and will be building four new group homes with Stateson Homes, a Blacksburg-based home developer. HopeTree is also working with contractors from Snyder and Associates, another Blacksburg company, for planning and commercial building.
The development will come as Salem is experiencing the highest population growth in the Roanoke Valley, according to the most recent available data.
Hundreds of homes will be built with commercial development mixed in. Stateson plans a mix of family cottages, townhomes and small apartment buildings, spread throughout the campus of HopeTree, which offers foster care and rehabilitative services to children and adults.
HopeTree’s services include a developmental disabilities ministry program providing residential services for adults with disabilities, and specifically at the flagship location in Salem, a therapeutic group home for at-risk youth and HopeTree Academy — a fully-accredited secondary education program for residents and day students. Salem’s academy has 35 students.
As Stateson works on the campus, HopeTree will be completing renovations on its properties. These renovations will cost about $11 million and will include making buildings accessible, creating small homes for adult residents, creating a new space for the academy and creating a central space for the human services staff, who are currently scattered in four buildings. HopeTree will also be building walking trails through the pasture and pond areas.
Thirteen existing buildings will also be sold to Stateson, Morris said. They include a youth group home, where those youth will now be in a fully renovated space, three buildings that housed staff, six empty buildings and the former president’s home, where the superintendent of Virginia Baptist Orphanage lived.
HopeTree partnered with Stateson Homes in hopes that it could salvage the 13 buildings, Morris said.
Todd Robertson, chief executive officer of Stateson Homes, said that is the goal, but that as the project progresses, Stateson might have to tear some buildings down. The company will soon be moving forward with Phase 1, which involves a handful of residential buildings between Carrollton Avenue and Red Lane. This piece does not include any existing buildings, he said.
The company is seeking the city’s approval for its first phase plans, Robertson said.
With the zoning change from residential single-family to planned use district with conditions, Stateson is able to build up to 340 residential units, 15,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 35,000 square feet of office or other commercial space and 34 hotel rooms. Permitted commercial uses are retail and food, craft beverage, lodging — specifically, a boutique hotel — services, office, assembly and recreation.
Morris said that while nothing has been confirmed, he hopes to see a restaurant, a coffee shop, a sandwich shop and a corner store come to campus. A total of 15,000 square feet is “not a whole lot” of retail space, he said.
Robertson said that decisions regarding the types of commercial business coming will depend on the market — including the idea of a boutique hotel, on which Stateson would partner with Snyder and Associates.
Morris said HopeTree had three goals with these changes: honor the history of the property, position HopeTree for future success by making all buildings on campus ADA-compliant and to “make the community proud.”
HopeTree serves about 1,000 people across the state, with about half being in this region, Morris said, during a recent visit and interview at HopeTree.
The property in Salem was formerly home to the Virginia Baptist Children’s Orphanage, which housed hundreds of children at a time starting in the late 1880s. Over time, as the needs the property met changed, the names changed with it, with the “HopeTree” renaming in 1985.
At this point, HopeTree saw more children coming from abusive or neglectful homes, with parents who also needed support, than orphans, according to HopeTree’s website. Many of those who grew up in the Baptist orphanage and still live in the area stay connected and attend yearly reunions.
The purchase agreement stipulates that the sale will take place over multiple years, Morris said. Stateson Homes will purchase sections of property as it works on them. Robertson declined to comment on the sale of the property, including the sale price and the timeline.
Robertson said the entire project will take about five to six years.
HopeTree is fairly close to capacity, Morris said, and will not be reducing any capacity with the planned changes. At any one time, there can be up to 24 adult residents and up to 16 children living on the property, Morris said.
He said placards will be placed outside of buildings telling stories of their history, and HopeTree will apply for a historical marker at the entrance of the campus telling the orphanage’s story. All internal streets will be named after historical people or happenings there, Morris said.
The homes Stateson is building will be interspersed throughout the HopeTree campus, which Morris said has benefits for the children HopeTree treats.
“The construction around it will simulate real life, like people see in their communities, too,” he said. He said HopeTree is working with contractors and architects to make sure students aren’t disturbed while in school and living on the property.
These developments come on the heels of a controversial rezoning process. In December 2024, HopeTree got the final approval from the city council — on a 3-2 vote — to rezone 62 acres to a planned unit development.
Residents showed up to meetings with signs, opposing the proposal. A month before, during an initial approval, residents packed the city council chambers. Residents had concerns over traffic, errors in paperwork and the impacts on existing downtown businesses and neighborhoods.
Five residents sued the city over the council’s initial approval, on the grounds that improper procedures had been followed in approving it. That led to HopeTree resubmitting its zoning application, which was very similar to the first one, which was approved. Another unsuccessful suit was filed in 2025, which included an appeal that was denied.
Morris said he doesn’t buy in to the argument that these changes would hurt downtown business.
“I think what this will do is add a lot of amenities for the people that live here, and it will also be a great destination for people to travel here to come up here,” Morris said.
