ROANOKE, Va. -

It's been close to three weeks since construction in downtown's Market area began. January is a slow month for stores and restaurants on the market, but the construction is adding more challenges.

The construction is causing some people to shy away from the downtown area as a whole, but the city is helping businesses there creatively keep the customers coming.

It's a popular spot for a bite, some shopping and a drink. But extensive construction in Roanoke's downtown is causing some hiccups, but not for every business on the block.

"So far I haven't seen too much I haven't heard much of the grumbling just yet but as we get colder, and maybe into the next few weeks as it really starts to take off, maybe I might hear some more," Director of Operations for Billy's Restaurant, Colin Jones, told Your Hometown News Leader.

The Blue's Barbeque Company is a popular bar and restaurant on the market. For weeks now, the business has been directly blocked by the fence surrounding the construction. But, management says, the city is stepping.

"We got some money from the city for advertisement we've been putting ads on the radio and on television as well. Advertisement downtown, they've been helping out a lot with the signs on the fence just to make sure people know we're still open," the floor manager for Blue's Barbeque Company, Michael Strubel told WDBJ7.

For the most part, businesses are pleased with how the city is handling the construction, and rely on organizations like Downtown Roanoke Incorporated to be a go between .

Matt Klepeisz, with Downtown Roanoke Incorporated said, "we've really done the best we can to keep going between them to make sure that everything is going smoothly and that everybody understands what's going on."

To keep people coming downtown, many of the shops are having sales and specials. According to city officials, construction should be complete in April.

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Downtown businesses coping with construction

No, you will not be able to get an oil change at Spike Gjerde's Parts and Labor.

You will however, be able to order a variety of meats at the Remington butcher shop and restaurant being planned by Gjerde, the restaurateur who also owns Woodberry Kitchen and Artifact Coffee, as well as Shoo-Fly in the Belvedere Square shopping center.

In this case, the word parts refers to animal parts, Gjerde said as he presented plans for Parts and Labor to the Greater Remington Improvement Association on Monday, Jan. 20.

Gjerde, appearing with his restaurant group's general manager, Corey Polyoka in a conference room at the Miller's Court apartment complex, promised an audience of about two dozen people an old-fashioned butcher shop with tile floors and walls, "along with a really cool small restaurant ... in one of the coolest neighborhoods there ever was."

Gjerde said he hopes to open Parts and Labor in the next two months in the former Mr. James Tire Shop at 26th and Howard streets, across the street from Miller's Court. The building has been redeveloped by its new owner, Seawall Development Corp., and Parts and Labor will be the third tenant to move in, behind Single Carrot Theatre and the nonprofit Young Audiences Arts for Learning, both of which have already moved in.

"We are slightly more than a month away from wrapping up construction," said Gjerde, who still needs city approval for a liquor license. He and Polyoka said they would try to buy local and regional beers and wines, and will offer 24 "taps."

He also said he plans to apply for a Class B liquor license in February, to serve beer, wine and liquor.

Woodberry Kitchen, which Gjerde co-owns with his wife, Amy, is known for using local and regional farmers and growers who practice sustainability for its meats and produce whenever possible, and hopes to "increase out ability to do that," with the new butcher shop, Gjerde said. He said his continuing mission is "feeding people in a way that respects the planet."

He said he plans to do his own curing and smoking of meats, and will cook in the restaurant in a large open hearth, using cast-iron skillets and pans, rather than having a traditional commercial kitchen. The restaurant will specialize in "lots of shareable plates," as well as lunch sandwiches.

"We wanted to do something really basic," Gjerde said. He said he opened Woodberry Kitchen in 2007 with "once central idea," local food and produce, a concept that "has taken on a life of its own," he said.

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New details on planned restaurant, butcher shop in Remington

CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) -

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, members heard from a businessman whose restaurant is being hurt by the Shoreline Boulevard realignment project.

The businessman cited poor construction signs along Shoreline that have confused retail businesses as well as those who work in downtown offices.

Kiii News Reporter Brian Burns went Live from Shoreline Boulevard with the details.

During public comment at Tuesday's meeting, council members were told that the signs were confusing at best. Carlos Gonzalez, the manager of Joe's Crab Shack, said the construction sign confusion is hurting many retailers downtown because they were not notified when the roads were going to be shut down. He added that the construction is doing more than cutting the number of customers.

"It's hard to get to us. My business has dropped off by 30-percent since October. I was on my way to a record year. Then, as soon as the road closed, I had no idea it was even happening," Gonzalez said. "Our employees can't even figure out how to get to us sometimes. Since they've opened up Lawrence at Water, that's helped a little bit, but you still got to be very conscious about where you're going to turn at."

The City promised Gonzalez they would erect signs to the restaurant and other affected downtown businesses to let people know they're still there.

Council members also discussed a design change that will actually save the City more than $200,000.

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Downtown Businesses Negatively Affected by Shoreline Realignment

LUMBERTON There was a time when scoring a table at Uncle Georges restaurant was difficult.

Times have changed.

For 20 years, the restaurants menu of sandwiches, pizza and Italian specialties drew a mix of truckers, lawmen, office workers and families. Today, diners are few and far between.

Uncle Georges co-owner Sue Vasilopoulos blames the downturn on the nearby construction of a new bridge on U.S. 301.

Vasilopoulos, who opened the Fayetteville Road restaurant with her husband George in 1993, said the decrease in traffic to her establishment has been unprecedented.

We used to have a full house during lunch, now we only serve four to six tables, she said. The loss has been tremendous, people avoid this area because they dont want to deal with the congestion.

The eatery can accommodate up to 95 customers.

In August 2012, Devere Construction Company of Alpena, Michm. was awarded a $12.9 million contract to replace the old bridge with a diverging diamond interchange over Interstate 95. Vasilopoulos said she noticed an immediate drop in business when construction started in September 2012.

The project is currently running ahead of schedule and is expected to be completed by November, according to Chuck Miller, district engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Vasilopoulos attributes the decrease in business to a number of factors, including the widespread use of safety cones and other construction indicators near her restaurant.

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A bridge too far: Business down due to road project -

By Ethan McSweeney | Published 5 hours ago | Updated 5 hours ago

A fire broke out in the kitchen of Kababeque Indian Grill on University Boulevard late Sunday night.

The fire started at approximately 9:45 p.m. in the restaurant, which has been undergoing remodeling recently. Construction workers were inside the restaurant when the fire broke out.

Something was left on on one of the stoves, said Jack Horton, one of the construction workers.

Horton and two workers were part of a night construction crew that had begun renovation work inside the restaurant at around 9 p.m. Horton said they were putting up plastic inside when the fire broke out towards the back of the restaurant in the kitchen area.

We tried to put it out with the fire extinguishers, Horton said. We thought we had it out but the fire started back up again and we had to call the police department because it got so smoky in there we couldnt see anything.

Horton said none of the construction workers were injured by the fire.

Eat-a-Pita, the restaurant next door to Kababeque, was forced to evacuate after smoke began filling up inside, according to Shelby Gormsen, an employee at Eat-a-Pita.

At 9:50 p.m. [the construction workers] came and told us that there was a fire next door, Gormsen said, and thats when all the smoke started coming in through here.

Emergency services from the Tucson Fire Department, the Tucson Police Department and the University of Arizona Police Department responded to the incident and the fire was eventually extinguished. Several emergency vehicles closed off traffic on the block of University Boulevard between Euclid Avenue and Tyndall Avenue in front of Kababeque until approximately 10:50 p.m.

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Fire breaks out inside University Blvd. restaurant late Sunday night

Virginia Cares looks to General Assembly for funding Virginia Cares looks to General Assembly for funding

Updated: Friday, January 17 2014 10:22 AM EST2014-01-17 15:22:05 GMT

A local program helping ex-offenders find jobs is keeping a close eye on Richmond. Virginia Cares is hoping the General Assembly will pass nearly $1.3 million in funding for the program statewide. More

The program helps ex-offenders find jobs in the community.

Updated: Friday, January 17 2014 9:05 AM EST2014-01-17 14:05:14 GMT

Crews are responding to a house fire in the 5800 block of Bent Mountain Road. Roanoke County Police say the fire is blocking traffic and only one lane is open in the area. Police say expect delays.

Police say only one lane of traffic is open.

Updated: Thursday, January 16 2014 10:45 PM EST2014-01-17 03:45:57 GMT

The state is paying nearly eight million dollars to renovate one of Roanokes most historic buildings. Roanoke Higher Education Center began its 18-month long renovation in October Executive Director Tom McKeon says the structure is an important part of the areas history as well as local students future. "Its an iconic building for Roanoke, McKeon said. It represents the rail age for people so it was importan...

The state is paying nearly eight million dollars to renovate one of Roanokes most historic buildings. Roanoke Higher Education Center began its 18-month long renovation in October Executive Director Tom McKeon says the structure is an important part of the areas history as well as local students future. "Its an iconic building for Roanoke, McKeon said. It represents the rail age for people so it was importan...

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Construction of hotels and restaurant at Huff Lane site could begin soon

Click photo to enlarge

Will Brady, owner of B Street Oyster Co., talks to a reporter on Monday about the challenges involved in opening his business.(Frank Rebelo/Staff Photo)

All Chico E-R photos are available here.

CHICO -- After 18 months of construction, all systems are go to open B Street Oyster Co.

Downtown's newest restaurant has passed its fire inspection, light fixtures dangle over booth seats and chalkboards hang waiting for daily menus to be scribbled across their surfaces.

The last remaining step is final inspection for permit of occupancy. After a long battle with the city last year over the restaurant's liquor license, owner Will Brady was hoping for smooth sailing.

Instead, city officials notified him last week the fire escape option in building plans they approved last May and the design he built to was inadequate as planned. Left with no other options and significant investment in the new, nearly finished site, the only foreseeable option was to evict B Street Oyster's tenant, neighboring restaurant Thai Basil, to make way for a fire escape.

"We did not want to build our restaurant on the bones of another," Brady said. "A restaurant can't kill another restaurant to be a restaurant. That's just bad karma."

He filed an appeal of the city's ruling, and after a meeting at city hall on Wednesday afternoon, he was happy to report that a resolution took just one discussion instead of many.

He credited Building Official Nelson George and Community Development Director Mark Wolfe for working to find an agreeable option.

At issue was a secondary fire escape, which is required for restaurants of its size. The building code says the dispersal area for patrons and staff must be on the same lot as the business, which wasn't physically possible.

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Downtown Chico restaurant overcomes second hurdle with city hall

A crane towers above lower Main Street on Friday morning, evidence of a construction boom along the street. City Hall ordered a construction shutdown on Main Street during much of the Sundance Film Festival in an effort to ensure the festival runs smoothly. Jay Hamburger/Park Record

The stars of the Sundance Film Festival will not be the contractors.

And the festival's soundtrack will not include construction workers hammering away along Main Street.

City Hall, in what was an aggressive move, ordered a shutdown of construction projects along Main Street not related to the festival itself. There is a series of major private sector projects on or just off Main Street that drew scrutiny late in 2013, as it became apparent that the work, taken together, was leaving Main Street a less attractive place to visit.

As Sundance neared, Park City officials took the dramatic step of ordering the shutdown along Main Street. Some of the project sites are unmistakable, but there will not be work at them for most of Sundance.

The first period involved in the City Hall-ordered shutdown took effect at noon on Thursday and lasts until 7 a.m. on Tuesday. The Thursday-to-Tuesday schedule covers the normally jammed opening weekend of Sundance. The shutdown will take effect again from noon on Jan. 24 until 7 a.m. on Jan. 27, encompassing the second weekend of Sundance, which is also normally busy.

Chad Root, the chief building official at City Hall, said the shutdown involves Swede Alley, the east side of upper Park Avenue and Heber Avenue in addition to Main Street itself. He said there are fewer than 10 projects along Main Street that are impacted. The keys ones are:

A few projects involving remodels of the interior are also impacted by the shutdown, he said.

One crane, at the site of the 692 Main St. project, will be left standing along Main Street during Sundance. Another one, which stood close to the Main Street-Heber Avenue intersection for the Silver Queen Hotel building project, was taken down in recent weeks. It will return periodically as the work continues.

Root holds the power to shut down other construction sites outside of the Main Street core if it is found that they are interfering with the operations of Sundance.

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Sundance construction shutdown takes effect along Main Street

Images courtesy of Pulte Homes

A new restaurant near the Poston Butte Golf Course in Anthem will be open to the public. Opening day is expected to be in early 2015.

Images courtesy of Pulte Homes

New restaurant near the Poston Butte Golf Course in Anthem will be open to the public. Opening day is expected to be in early 2015.

Images courtesy of Pulte Homes

New restaurant near the Poston Butte Golf Course in Anthem will be open to the public. Opening day is expected to be in early 2015.

Posted: Thursday, January 16, 2014 1:00 am

Big new restaurant coming to Anthem From Pulte Homes Casa Grande Valley Newspapers Inc. |

Construction will begin this month on a new restaurant near the Poston Butte Golf Course in Anthem at Merrill Ranch. The new restaurant will be open to the public and is expected to open in early 2015.

We are getting a lot of positive response from homeowners about this exciting news as this will be the first restaurant in the Anthem master plan, said Scott Turner, executive director of communities for PulteGroups Arizona division. Both Anthem residents and the surrounding community will benefit from this fantastic new addition.

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Big new restaurant coming to Anthem

A North Carolina-based wood fire steakhouse chain restaurant will be the newest addition to the Austin Landing development, the company announced Wednesday.

Firebirds Wood Fired Grill is slated to open in a 6,800 square-foot facility in the fall. Construction is expected to begin in March.

"I absolutely think this will be a home run for the region," developer RG Properties President Randy Gunlock said in announcing the addition. "Firebirds is exactly the kind of restaurant this area is looking for, and I cannot wait to see it flourish in this market."

Firebirds is known for its hand-cut steaks, fresh seafood, chicken and rib entrees seared over hickory, oak or pecan wood. They currently have 29 locations across the U.S. including one in Niles, Ohio.

Vice President of Marketing for the chain, Stephen Loftis, said the Cincinnati-Dayton corridor has been on the company's radar for a while and the Austin Landing location seemed like a perfect fit.

Loftis said the new location is expected to create 85 to 100 new jobs. The restaurant will seat about 230 and feature an outdoor patio with a fireplace.

Check out Firebirds menu at http://www.firebirdsrestaurants.com.

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Wood fire steakhouse coming to Austin Landing