New apartments added to rental market in downtown Roanoke

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - Looking for a place to live in Roanoke right now for renters and buyers can be a challenge. While rental units are quickly filling up, there are new options coming available.

Ten new apartment units might not sound like a lot, and there’s a desperate need for them. Starting Monday, Allegheny Partners will lease the units at 419 Campbell Avenue. The building was most notably an S&H Green Stamp Redemption Center.

”Something just like what they do now, present day Kroger, stamps that you can have that gives you discounts,” said David Jones, the current owner of the building. He’s made sure that each unit had modern accommodations like vaulted ceilings, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and front-loading washers and dryers.

”We just kind of made it look urban and brought it back to the present day look, so it’s kind of like you take the bones of the building on the outside, and refit the inside,” said Jones.

Looks aside, occupancy rate for the nearly 500 units downtown that Allegheny Partners manages has stayed at 100 percent since June.

Rent can range from $550 to $1200 per month depending on the layout, but current and prospective renters can expect to see a slight increase in their payments this year.

”We have instituted a 4-percent increase in all of our residents to accommodate insurance, taxes, upkeep, but we still have some of the most competitive prices around,” said Ashley Farrer, the property manager for Allegheny Partners.

Those prices are attractive, especially to people who may be looking to sell their homes and pocket the profit.

”All of the same issues that we’ve had for the last 18 months will continue to be an issue this year, in my opinion. We may see interest rates keep up just a little bit, but I think low inventory is going to continue to be an issue,” said Ashley Donahue, the 2022 president for the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors.

Two of the ten units have already been rented out and tours are happening daily. Farrer says January and February are slower when it comes to rental activity, but that will quickly change.

”From March on we are going to be hit the ground running, busy, all day,” said Farrer.

Later this year, another historical building turned apartments, the Junior Lunch building, is expected to open.

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