ENVISION this space!

from 'The $torefront' with Amanda Codispoti:

It has been some time since a business has lived inside the old CVS building at 1327 Grandin Road.

Viva La Cupcake, Coda coffee shop, West Pharmacy, Valley Bank and Village Flowers were among the most recent tenants to depart.

The building’s owner, Ed Walker, is ready to take a different approach to lease the space. He’s asked Roanoker Brent Cochran to use a technique called crowdsourced placemaking to come up with creative uses for the 10,000 square foot building.

It works like this: Submit your ideas for the building on envisionroanoke.com (you’ll have to register before submitting). There, you’ll also find other ideas for the building and vote for them. Any idea that gets more than 50 votes will be discussed at a meeting where attendees identify steps to implement the idea.

You can also submit an idea at a suggestion box near the entrances of Rockfish and CUPS Coffee and Tea.

The process, Cochran said, creates excitement and buy-in from the community. He also hopes the ideas will identify community needs, whether it be an adult daycare center, a wellness center, or retail space.