Rendering courtesy Hist:Re Partners
Roanoke developer Lucas Thornton hopes to break ground this summer on a multimillion-dollar renovation project that will transform what is now Campbell Court Transportation Center, the city’s rundown bus station, into an office tower and another building with apartments and retail space.
Thornton’s $35 million development, tentatively named Randolph Street, inched closer to becoming reality in mid-November 2020, when members of Roanoke’s City Council voted unanimously to amend the city’s zoning ordinance so public transit centers are allowed downtown by right.
The city’s plan to build a $9.8 million Valley Metro bus station on what is now a parking lot on the corner of Salem Avenue and Third Street met with opposition earlier in the year. Citizens spoke out against the location, saying it sits too close to a section of downtown that is enjoying success from several revitalization projects. Popular restaurants, residences and a microbrewery now punctuate a street previously lined by light industrial and warehouses.
