What happened?
Council approved the formation of the Roanoke Convention Center Hotel Local Development Corporation at the Dec. 9 meeting and decided to meet in early 2026 for a workshop to further discuss its overall vision for Oak Street.
City officials asked for an analysis to be done on Oak Street at the June 24 meeting to determine what changes could be made to the city’s downtown code, which hasn’t been updated since 2009, City Manager Cody Petree said.
Catalyst Commercial representatives presented their findings Dec. 9, which included ideas for what could be developed on the remaining open lots along Oak Street.
The presenters showcased two ideas. One focused on commercial development while the other showed high-density townhomes.
“These are just two ideas of infinite possibilities," said Reid Cleeter, senior associate at Catalyst Commercial. “The answer could be it's none of these, and it's X, Y and Z. That's perfectly fine. That's what we're after, is just to get feedback and direction.”
Mayor Scooter Gierisch was not in favor of high-density townhomes.
“We've already heard from many of [the citizens] in our community that high density needs to be on a limited scale in the city,” he said. “They already accuse us of allowing too much as it is.”
Mayor Pro Tem Holly Gray showed favor toward medium-density, similar to what is already in place on Oak Street.
“If you could do like we've done down here before, more of the medium density, and then have the retail on the bottom, I'm a huge fan of that,” she said.
Council wanted to discuss ideas further in a future workshop session, so no action was taken.
Zooming in
The Roanoke Convention Center Local Development Corporation was formed to aid with the development and financing of the convention center hotel, according to city documents.
The corporation will assist with the promotion, development, maintenance of employment, meeting activity, tourism and economic development in the city. This could include issuing bonds for the purpose of development or redevelopment in the city, per city documents.
The corporation has seven board of directors, which include members of City Council.
What else?
Roanoke officials approved a contract with Quiddity Engineering for the engineering design for reconstructing Howe Street from Lois Street to Marshall Creek Road, per city documents.
Designs will include concrete streets with curbs, gutter drainage and sidewalks. This project is in conjunction with Denton County matching funds bond, meaning the county will help fund a portion of the project, Gierisch said.
Designs are anticipated to be completed in October and city staff will request construction services for the project in November, per city documents.
“Howe Road is a road we have been talking about doing for so long, and almost everybody in Roanoke drives it,” Gray said. “It is finally being done, and we're very excited about that.”
