Several eateries and a dental office will be housed in two new outparcel buildings at Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke County. The new tenants include Panda Express, Jersey Mike’s, Aspen Dental, Blaze Pizza and Chipotle, according to a news release from Blackwater Resources, the Alabama-based owner of the mall.
Panda Express and Blaze Pizza are both new additions to the Roanoke dining scene, though each has a presence in Lynchburg and Panda Express also has two locations in the New River Valley.
The two new buildings will be situated on Electric Road in front of Carilion Children’s, on the former J.C. Penney end of the mall. Construction is scheduled to begin in March and tenants will begin to open their doors in early 2022, the release states.
“The addition of these buildings and the discussions with a long list of interested retailers and restaurants have been ongoing for some time; the improvements being made to the property including the announcement of the new Carilion Children’s Clinic were major drivers that allowed the project to move forward,” John Abernathy, president of Blackwater Resources, said in the release.
People are also reading…
Carilion Clinic announced in 2019 that it would spend $30 million to convert vacant mall space into a hub for its children’s services. Carilion signed a lease for 150,000 square feet previously occupied by J.C. Penney and Miller-Motte Technical College.
Officials from the mall and the county said at the time they expected that the hundreds of employees and families coming to Carilion Children’s would bring new business to Tanglewood.
Blackwater Resources purchased Tanglewood Mall, located on Virginia 419 and offering roughly 800,000 square feet, in 2016. At that time, the center was about 88% occupied.
Jill Loope, economic development director for Roanoke County, said these new outparcels offer the “kinds of modern experiences” tenants want, with high visibility and traffic.
“With all the new construction of the 419 corridor, the widening of 419, $30 million of transportation improvements and infrastructure that is going on here, it’s really gaining traction,” Loope said. “It’s generating renewed interest in the 419 area.”
Staff writer Luke Weir contributed information to this report.
Casey Fabris
Casey Fabris covers business for The Roanoke Times, where she has been a reporter since 2015. Previously, Casey covered Franklin County. She can be reached at (540) 981-3234 or casey.fabris@roanoke.com.
