REVIEWS & OPINIONS Field / On Tap from Page 40
sources that involved marketing systems. Now, the building is going to be home to Press Press Merch; another graphic company— and that makes me happy.
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The Viscose redevelopment job could be the most amazing infrastructure-related redevelopment for Roanoke since the entry of the railroad and Carilion Clinic.
And most recently—a place us oldtimers call “American Viscose Plant” that sits in the shadow of Roanoke’s Mill Mountain and along the Roanoke River—gave me the most exciting news involving commercial real estate. That’s because the news of Ed Walker proposing a complete redevelopment of the industrial campus is way above and beyond a construction task. What a project! Although many of us can envision such enchanting possibilities (I can already see the postcard), most of us cannot imagine the scope of work. I have stories of this site, too… and a good many of them are about a time and place long before I was there. All those buildings, and smokestacks, and loading docks, and red bricks-bricks-bricks holding leaky-leaky roofs. I had the pleasure of being the marketing manager for Valcom, another telecom business (that was the undisputed leader in telephony-based intercom systems at the time); and that stint brought me in as a brand-spanking new advertising coordinator, which I quickly scaled up in unheard-of fashion, thanks to an employer who believed in my ideas and efforts. The “Viscose” redevelopment job (we think, we hope it’s happening) could be the most amazing infrastructure-related development for Roanoke City since the entry of the railroad and Carilion Clinic. If it’s truly a complete development, rather than partial, this would be one for the books. A monumental residential-commercial achievement to be called “Riverdale.” The Viscose Company employed as many as 5,500 people at one time (1928); and though it has a gritty, industrial-Darwinian aura—there’s no question it served the growth and prosperity of the Star City of the South. Let’s just say I’d like to be there when that ribbon’s cut. Two actions are too-often taken when it comes to commercial redevelopment: a property is razed (so someone can build what he really wants in the same footprint) or a property is abandoned (so someone can build what he really wants right down the street). Owner-operators are free to move in either of those directions; and indeed, sometimes it’s easier or more cost-efficient to do so or necessary for operations. But giving an old building a slap on the back (not too hard… gentle, please!) and another chance to keep on serving… I rather enjoy celebrating that. It’s always part of someone’s timeline.
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t FEBRUARY 2023 / vbFRONT.com