ROANOKE, Va. – Dozens gathered on Thursday to applaud the work that’s been done on the old Days Inn, now the apartment complex “The Heights at Gateway Park.”
Developers said the apartment has 88 new one to two-bedroom units, and two people have already moved in.
“We purposely focused on trying to fill the void that we were told is desperately needed,” Chief Investment Officer of Saul Urban Sam DiFrank said.
DiFrank said they’re not only hoping to fill a gap in housing in Roanoke but take a former problem spot and turn it into a safer place.
“It’s really recharacterizing this intersection from what it was a year ago which was suffering from some homelessness and vagrancy to what it’s going to be now,” DiFrank said. “Which is a community bright spot for housing.”
In 2022, the old Days Inn had around 250 calls made from the motel to 911 for a variety of reasons.
That’s why City of Roanoke Executive Director of Community Development and Placemaking Chris Chittum hopes developers don’t just stop with this one project.
“We’re looking at strategies to revive our commercial corridors in the city and allowing multi-family development is one of the strategies,” Chittum said.
Chittum said he plans to start implementing more in 2024.
“We’re looking at a number of zoning changes,” Chittum said. “We’re looking at low-interest loan funds, we want to help developers tie in with state and federal incentives that are available.”