The dilapidated former home of American Viscose at the foot of Mill Mountain in Roanoke is one step closer to being transformed into a vibrant, creative destination. The nonprofit real estate developer Artspace has committed to begin the process of bringing a mixed-use affordable artist housing project to the old industrial site in Southeast Roanoke.
The construction plan is for a three- to four-story building that would provide 60 to 80 units of affordable live/work housing and gallery space for artists and their families. This would be Artspace’s first project in Virginia and would make Roanoke the 33rd Artspace City in the United States, contingent on financing.
The nonprofit has completed 59 similar projects with 10 more under construction, including the Artspace Windgate campus in Little Rock’s historic East End. Artspace officially closed on the project Thursday, and it’s expected to be complete by spring 2026.
The plan for Roanoke is to construct a new Artspace building at Riverdale, the huge mixed-use lifestyle destination planned along Ninth Street Southeast by developer Ed Walker.
Contractors would break ground at a site just north of the Star City School of Ballet on Industry Avenue. The location would create a “town square,” according to consultant Wendy Holmes, who worked closely on the project over the past year.
The proposed facility could include live/work housing, shared flexible creative space and leasable space for creatives such as painters, performers, photographers, jewelers, potters and leather workers.
“If it happens. it would be a dream come true,” said Walker. He is contributing the land at his Riverdale site for the project.
“We’ve been talking about affordable housing since day one, arts and culture programming, we’ve been talking about elevating the Roanoke region to a national class of art and recreation destination,” said Walker.
Painter Gerald Hubert is excited for younger artists who could benefit from this creative space. He once owned a downtown studio on Campbell Avenue in Roanoke, lending space to other starving artists so they could showcase their work. He struggled with the uncertainty of income, just like many other creatives.
“You think big, but you don’t always know what you’re going to make,” said Hubert. “You can’t forecast your sales over the year, so it’s always good to keep costs down as much as possible.” Artspace private studios would rent for $300 or less a month.
Artspace, based out of Minneapolis, is known for providing affordable and sustainable living. It owns the property and rents out apartments below market rate. The rates are set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Artspace project manager Kelli Miles.
If the project were built today, someone making 30% to 60% of the area’s median income would pay rent starting at $480 for an efficiency unit. An artist making closer to 60% would pay $960. Rent would range from $514 to $1,029 for a one-bedroom unit and from $617 to $1,234 for two bedrooms, according to Artspace.
This type of affordable live/work space is sorely needed, according to a survey of 815 Roanoke-area artists conducted by Artspace in the winter of 2023. It revealed that 89% of respondents were interested in some type of creative space, and 36% were interested in live/work housing.
Artspace combines public and private resources to make housing affordable. The nonprofit conducts interviews to ensure that the living spaces are rented out to creatives with a real need. People who make up to 80% of the area’s median income, or a single household income of $51,200, would qualify.
“It gives artists the ability to not have to worry about their rent increasing,” said Holmes. “It enables artists to feel confident because they know that their rent won’t increase exorbitantly because the rents have to stay under a certain threshold.”
Artspace Roanoke is part of a larger plan to develop the former rayon manufacturing site that closed in 1958. The site includes more than 30 buildings and over a million square feet of roofed space that operated as its own community a century ago, with dining halls, a dispensary and a dormitory. 
If the projects keep moving forward, the industrial center will be home to a thriving community yet again. “We’d like to get a hotel over there, and new construction apartments are starting in August of next year,” said Walker.
The Riverdale neighborhood plans also include offices, restaurants, breweries, stores and a cycling megasite with trails and a hub. Roanoke’s Economic Development Authority has committed to issuing a $10 million loan, with another $50 million coming from the developer over the next 15 years.
The historic rehab work is expected to take more time than the new construction projects. “New construction at Riverdale is a lot easier than the rehab construction because we’re having to correct 75 years of utility neglect, deferred maintenance and all that stuff,” said Walker.
Over the past 18 months, more than 2 million pounds of debris have been removed from the 120-acre site; the cleanup included an extensive amount of environmental remediation, according to Walker. Cleanup is now halfway done. Just over the past few weeks crews removed 33 old railroad cars.
In the meantime, work will begin to secure financing for this first tenant at Riverdale. Artspace needs between $500,000 to $800,000 in pre-development support to cover engineering and architectural design, funding for tax credits and other costs. After that, tax abatements, grants and federal low-income housing tax credits would fund the multimillion-dollar project.
The Artspace project could be completed within 36 months after getting approval for the low-income housing tax credits. Artspace hopes to have that application submitted by next March.
