Roanoke is again acquiring flood-prone property, this time the location of George’s Flowers in southwest city, to restore an impaired tributary of the Roanoke River.
Business owner George Clements said his shop is moving to a new location. Contacted on Tuesday, he’s leaving that new location a mystery for now.
“We’re going to be moving to a new home,” Clements said. “We just can’t tell you where right now.”
The city council on Monday accepted a state grant of approximately $1.4 million that will pay for acquisition, demolition and watershed restoration on two parcels in the 1900 block of Franklin Road Southwest, both used by George’s.
It’s part of the city’s multi-phased effort to restore the watershed of Ore Branch, which flows through a concrete channel close behind the flower shop and empties into the Roanoke River nearby.
Roanoke Stormwater Manager Ian Shaw said city staff are helping George’s Flowers move to a new location.
“The work at the lower end of Ore Branch is focused on removing high-risk structures and allowing space in the restored flood plain to provide some relief in that area,” Shaw said in an email Tuesday. “Overall, Ore Branch is a challenging watershed with the way the stream flows through pipes under developed properties, along the US Route 220 corridor, etc.”
Clements said he started his flower business in Salem in 1981, and it has moved to a few locations around the Roanoke Valley. He opened this store on Franklin Road as a garden center in 1997, and a few years later he consolidated the whole business there.
“It’s been almost six years since we wanted to find a new home. We need a larger space,” Clements said. “Because of the flooding situation, it makes it difficult to sell this property.”
Behind the flower shop, the former Ramada Inn used to be located next door, but that land was similarly acquired in 2022 and razed by the city. More watershed restoration work will also be done on that former hotel land after the flower shop structures are demolished, Shaw said.
“Depending on the exact timeline for relocation/acquisition of George’s Flowers, the floodplain restoration work will likely occur in 2027 and will dovetail with the work on the former Ramada property,” he said.
Demolition could occur around late 2026, Shaw added. Restoring the flood plain includes removing the concrete channel surrounding Ore Branch, restoring a more natural stream channel and vegetating the site with natural plant species, he said.
“We are very much in favor of restoring Ore Branch,” George Clements said. “Widening the banks of that and making for a better ecological area. That’s how all of this came about.”
Luke Weir (540) 566-8917
luke.weir@roanoke.com
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