Roanoke County celebrates the opening of The Billy Byrd

ROANOKE Co., (WSET) -- Leaders from Roanoke County, Vinton and Waukeshaw Development Inc celebrated the grand opening of the renovated historic William Byrd High School building in Vinton.

According to a press release, The Billy Byrd represents a $12 million investment, bringing 82 new apartments to the community.

“This project demonstrates continued economic expansion in Roanoke County and confirms the market demand for new multi-family housing,” said Vinton Supervisor Jason Peters. “The Billy Byrd transforms a historic and iconic building that will serve as a catalyst for new economic development opportunities in the Vinton area in the future.”

Construction of the project began in 2017. They expect to fill the apartments by next year.

“We’re thrilled to open the Billy Byrd and begin to move in our first residents. This is a special property with an important community history, and we are excited to see it come back to life,” said Dave McCormack, President of Waukeshaw Development and owner of the property.

Officials say that Waukeshaw Development purchased the building in 2017 and transformed the building into 82 market-rate apartments, including studios, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom units.

Also, Waukeshaw preserved and restored many elements of the original building, like reusing old bleachers into bookcases, keeping chalkboards wherever possible, and preserving the gymnasium floor.

“The completion of the Billy Byrd is the latest noteworthy milestone for the Town of Vinton and Eastern Roanoke County with regards to the repurposing of a significant, although underutilized historic property”, stated Brad Grose, Town of Vinton Mayor. “The positive momentum and volume of redevelopment activity that our community continues to experience is truly remarkable. We are very thankful to Roanoke County for their efforts to recruit this project to the former William Byrd School and are particularly pleased with Mr. McCormack’s substantial investment in our community. We look forward to welcoming new residents to the Town over the next few months as they begin to move into the building.”

Additional information on the apartments can be found here.