Tenants Evicted from Riverdale As Southeast Roanoke Community Takes Shape

Developer Ed Walker has stripped the former Roanoke Industrial Center of junk cars, scrap, chemicals, waste and unwanted tenants.

The number of tenants he asked to leave before redevelopment begins was “significant,” he said. The number of court cases it took to get them out was 28.

As Walker prepares a Southeast Roanoke industrial complex to become an eclectic community called Riverdale that could intermingle housing with work places, services, artistic endeavors and recreation, he first took a stiff broom to the place. There was the sheer effort to physically discard unwanted items and then there were the lease violations.

The list of defendants taken to court includes a couple of towing and trucking firms, a waste-oil recycling equipment maker, a window installer and numerous individuals. All personal-storage leases were ended. Former longtime industrial center manager Will Trinkle and his real estate company were among those shown the door, according to eviction filings, which have not been previously reported.

Compared to a figure of more than 140 tenants and subtenants that Walker said were present when the property changed hands nearly two years ago, about 60 to 70 remain. 

None of the public updates about the Riverdale project during 2023 and 2024 mentioned the evictions that were happening at the same time. After The Roanoke Rambler asked about the cases, Walker released a statement to area media last week that addressed the evictions.

Walker said he sued only in the event of lease violations and won every case in Roanoke General District Court where a judge made a ruling, but took things only so far. Rent of $36,000 went unpaid, he said. Of note, a handful of the 28 cases were set in motion before he got the property.

The industrial center was set up after the 1958 closure of the American Viscose rayon factory to provide the space for other employers. It housed diverse tenants for years. Walker’s company bought it in 2023, benefitting from a $10 million municipal loan to support his plan. Then came the purge. 

Explaining what he called “tenant challenges,” as well as the physical cleanup, Walker said in the statement: “We are in the process of methodically removing all obstacles that stand in the way of turning Riverdale into a great neighborhood that exemplifies our community themes: Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Outdoors, Sports, Cycling, Kids & Families, Fabrication Enterprises, Food & Beverage, Medical, and Residential.” 

Tenant issues fell into several categories: “some refused to comply with their lease terms, encroached on neighboring spaces, violated numerous law or fire regulations or otherwise were obstacles to Riverdale’s progress,” the statement said.

Walker acknowledged there was unhappiness, but he predicted the project will benefit “thousands” in the years to come.

Towing company operator Tim Meadows, who was evicted from his vehicle impoundment lots, recalled being surprised by the use of legal force. Recalling a tenant meeting, he said, “they cooked hot dogs and hamburgers for everybody … then three months later they evicted us,” he said.

The new owners’ bottom line appeared to be, “We don’t want your type of business here anymore,” he said. 

In response to Meadows’ points, Walker said Meadows received a time extension at the end of his lease and didn’t pay rent or move out. 

Like Meadows, business owner John Davis recalled an initial sense from incoming Riverdale representatives that he could stay. He said by email that he understood that his teardrop camper enterprise was considered a good fit, but was later asked to leave and did, without it progressing to an eviction case. He expressed disagreement with the actions taken and said he incurred significant costs.

Walker said management had a disagreement with Davis but provided a postponement of his given departure date, waived back rent and paid cleanup costs. Davis said he did not owe back rent, nor see any basis for an expenditure of money to clean the space after he left. “I left it broom clean as they asked. I didn’t refuse to do anything. I worked my ass off to get out as quickly as possible,” Davis wrote.

Walker also said no tenants were promised they could stay long term without responsibility for lease compliance. 

Tim Orr, a mechanic, said Riverdale representatives directed the shop where he worked to vacate. Orr, 63, said he wasn't planning to retire, but available business locations elsewhere were too expensive and so he ceased to repair vehicles. He described himself as “over it.”

He was personally evicted from a storage unit that he had wanted to keep but “I know people got to do what they got to do,” he said.

Longtime industrial center tenant Luke Staengl, who manufactures used oil and waste solvent recycling systems, acknowledged that he was evicted, but said he was ready to leave and successfully relocated to Floyd County. 

“The facility was basically completely run down, leaky, there were big leaks in the roof,” said Staengl, whose business is Pragmatic Environmental Solutions Co. When it rained, “we would have water coming into our offices and so on. It just wasn’t being taken care of.”

Meanwhile, railroading buffs who refurbished train cars in an outdoor lot left without facing legal action after they found a preferred site. 

“We pretty much look like a junk yard,” said Tim Witt, president of the Roanoke chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. “What we had there doesn’t fit with what Ed Walker has going on.”

Another major former tenant, the Virginia Fire Museum, with its extensive firetruck collection, announced its move to a new home in Henry County.

To be sure, many businesses remain. In a section of the Riverdale website titled “CURRENT INNOVATORS,” Walker gives an idea of the type of tenant mix he aspires to curate. Listed there are Noke Van Co., maker of “campervans;” the Txtur furniture company, Lift Act Studios, a custom fabrication shop; River Acceptance, which recycles electronics; the Team TWENTY28 women’s cycling organization; and the Star City School of Ballet. 

Beth Woodrum of Chris's Coffee and Custard, the popular shop at Riverdale that doubles as a training center for people with disabilities, said the business operates from an adjacent property and is free to remain.

Meanwhile, Riverdale is moving deeper into detailed planning and anticipates breaking ground this year on a 267-unit apartment complex. New utility lines are going in. An updated map for the first time identifies such future components as a hotel and medical office building. In a setback, Riverdale and an affordable housing enterprise called Artspace are no longer partnering.

Walker’s statement requested by the Rambler, a portion of which was presented in a Q&A format, dwelt at length on the evictions.

It asked, “So, you evicted some tenants?”

Answer: “Absolutely. There’s nothing embarrassing, concerning, or problematic about that. We all know as adults that if we violate our leases and agreements or refuse to leave when the lease is over, that there is no other peaceful recourse except to ask a judge to direct a person to do the obvious - find another place for yourself.”

It continued; “Evictions were filed for only two reasons: either the tenant was not paying rent or the tenant did not have a valid lease and refused to leave. Riverdale granted extensions to nearly every tenant who requested an extension, and then filed the Unlawful Detainer only after the extended move-out date passed without the tenant leaving.”

In a 2023 update, Walker had spoken on Riverdale’s website of his deep respect for the industrial park and its tenants and businesses and, foreshadowing change, added: “I want the good ones to keep on thriving and having a positive impact on the neighborhood and the city. I am not as interested in a handful of tenants that seem to leave debris around the site, and I’d like to see some of that cleaned up.”

Walker declined a request for an interview. 

He also declined to discuss the evictions of Trinkle and his firm, C.W. Francis & Son, which managed the complex for many years. Trinkle, who has a home in the Charlottesville area, is the fourth-generation owner of the closely-held real estate company and is descended from the prior owners of the industrial center. It is unclear where the C.W. Francis organization is now located, as it has not provided a new address to business licensing authorities, according to Ryan LaFountain, the commissioner of revenue. It owns the Roanoke Station Garage parking deck, the target of a city action alleging unsafe conditions.

Trinkle did not respond to a request for comment about the eviction from Riverdale.

Speaking of the industrial center, Walker asserted that the buildings had been neglected.

“That resulted in a situation that was a junkyard on the ground, environmental problems in the ground, and many of the buildings’ interiors were used to store highly flammable fabrics, wood debris, and lots and lots of trash,” he said. “Many were basically indoor junkyards.”

Correction (1/29/25) — An earlier version of this story misstated the first name of the president of the Roanoke chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. It is Tim Witt. We regret the error.