Former Roanoker restaurant to reopen as health care office

Jennifer Walker, a chiropractor who owns and operates Balance Wellspace Integrative Medicine, said the new site is expected to open by early August.

Walker posted a video tour on Facebook of the former restaurant closed two years ago at the owner’s retirement, its interior demolished setting the stage for renovation. The building cost $1.6 million; a renovation estimate was not available from Walker. It contains twice as much space as the existing Roanoke office on Franklin Road, she said.

Walker said she started the practice more than 20 years ago in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and moved it to the Roanoke Valley in 2006 to step away from the cold New England winters. Patients turn to Balance Wellspace oftentimes because they are in pain and “the goal is to address that pain without the use of medication or surgery,” Walker said.

Services include treatments for musculoskeletal conditions and neuropathy, physical rehabilitation, chiropractic, IV nutrition and medically supervised weight loss, according to Walker, whose practice also has a Christiansburg office.

The Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford metropolitan statistical area led the state’s metros in percentage job growth during the past year, the state job’s office said this month.

The metro’s job supply grew 3.5% during the 12 months that ended in February, gaining 2,900 jobs, the Virginia Employment Commission said. The NRV outpaced the state, which posted a gain of 1.4% and the Roanoke metro area, which posted a gain of 2.1%.

The three industries that support the most NRV jobs are education, manufacturing and health care.

Home sales increased in February to 310 closings, compared to 292 for the same month of 2023, as activity grew in line with an economist’s prediction.

A Virginia Association of Realtors expert said in January that the number of transactions this year would exceed levels during a “sluggish” 2023.

The Roanoke Valley Multiple Listing Service computed an average sales price of $328,325 from the 310 closings. The average sales price in February 2023 was $311,507.