Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 19, 1990 TAG: 9007200352
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Leslie Taylor
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Commissioners voted in favor of Wycliffe Development Co.'s request to rezone the mansion - the former home of civic leader Samuel McVitty - from a residential to business use. The mansion was incorporated into a condominium complex, called Burwell Place, in 1988.
D&B Curtains plans to purchase the mansion and convert it into a retail shop, owner Brenda Peters said. D&B currently makes and sells curtains out of a shop on Fourth Street. "We don't have much parking here, and we want a better location," Peters said.
The rezoning would include conditions that would require D&B to preserve the historical characteristics of the mansion.
In 1988, contractor James M. Turner and lawyer Gilbert Butler Jr. embarked on a condominium construction project that included renovating the McVitty mansion and converting its interior into five condos. Called Burwell Place, project plans also included construction of 46 owner-occupied units, including three-floor town houses, loft condos and two-bedroom, one-floor units.
But sales of the units - which were priced at up to $139,950 - were slow, and construction stopped after only 15 were built. The developers decided to rent those units and asked the city to approve a change in the site plan for construction of only two buildings with a total of 26 garden-style apartments.
City Council rejected the request, leaving developers to rent the units as luxury apartments. Recently, however, some of the units have been put back on the market.
Council will consider Wycliffe's rezoning request on July 23.
by CNB