Since May, anyone waiting at the light where Starkey Road meets Route 419 has watched earth movers grade the lot beside Tanglewood Mall. On September 30, Roanoke County finally said who is moving in. Five businesses will fill the first building at Tanglewood Crossing, and the first phase is scheduled to open in March 2027. The same plan also puts 98 homes on the 3.74-acre site within walking distance of the mall, Carilion Wellness and the new storefronts. If it goes as scheduled, the busiest errand corner in Cave Spring will become a place where people live.
The five names on the front building
ABoone Real Estate is building the project with the Boxley Family, and Segall Group is handling the leasing. The county's announcement lists the first phase as:
- Bubbakoo's Burritos, a fast-casual Mexican-fusion spot serving made-to-order burritos, bowls, tacos and quesadillas. This will be the brand's first location in Virginia.
- Dave's Hot Chicken, serving Nashville-style tenders, sliders and bites at a range of spice levels.
- Biscuit Belly, a breakfast and brunch concept built around Southern biscuit sandwiches, biscuits and gravy, and specialty drinks.
- European Wax Center, offering professional waxing services and beauty products.
- Mattress Warehouse, a bedding retailer selling mattresses, bed bases and sleep accessories.
Four of the five will be new to the Roanoke market. Mattress Warehouse already has stores in the region. In August, a Roanoke Growth report speculated that all five would be newcomers, so some neighbors may still have that version in mind. The county's lineup, which WDBJ7 reported the same day, counts four debuts, and Roanoke Growth's follow-up noted that Mattress Warehouse is already in the region.
A lineup that covers the whole day
The mix spreads across the clock. Biscuit Belly is a breakfast and brunch stop. Bubbakoo's and Dave's Hot Chicken cover lunch and dinner. The wax center and the mattress store bring in shoppers who have an appointment or a single errand in mind. Developer Alexander Boone described the goal this way in the county release:
"These restaurants and retailers will complement the development's residences to create an active destination throughout the day."
The surrounding block already runs on daytime traffic. Carilion Clinic turned the mall's former JCPenney anchor into a large pediatric and specialty medical campus, and the YMCA opened a branch inside the mall. Roanoke Growth notes that the mall is still a popular indoor walking spot, especially in colder months and bad weather. Carilion Wellness sits right next to the new project. So the new restaurants arrive on a corner where people already park for a pediatric appointment, a workout or a few laps of the mall. A biscuit before the gym or a hot chicken lunch after a checkup becomes something to do on the same stop.
The schedule, and how firm each date is
The dates have come from different people at different times, so some are firmer than others. Here is where each one stood as of mid-October 2026.
| What | Where | Target | How firm |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Perk & Pit | Tanglewood area, address not yet announced | December 2026 | A target, with build-out underway |
| First-phase retail building, five tenants | Fronting Electric Road at 4502 Starkey Road | March 2027 | The county's scheduled date |
| Four-story mixed-use building, 42 apartments | Same site | Late 2027 | An estimate in the county release |
| Third building, 56 apartments | Same site | No date given | Part of the announced plan |
Back in May, Boone told WSLS 10 that all five spaces were leased. He hoped the building would be finished around October or November and handed over to tenants, with openings "no later than the spring of 2027." Construction has moved steadily since then. Roanoke Growth's July update found excavators, underground utility work and grading, and by August it reported the retail buildings were largely framed. The first restaurants are about five months away, but a finished shell is only the start. Each tenant still has to complete its own build-out before it opens.
The part that opens last is the point
The front building is 13,270 square feet. The rest of the site holds much more. A four-story building will put 10,410 square feet of shops and restaurants under 42 apartments, and a third building adds 56 more. About 3,000 square feet of the mixed-use building's commercial space is already pre-leased. That leaves roughly 7,200 square feet open, and the space can be divided to suit future tenants. In other words, the five businesses announced so far are only the first set of names. Boone said in the release that "only a few commercial spaces" remain.
Those apartments carry the idea Roanoke County has had for this corridor since 2019. That year the county adopted its 419 Town Center plan, a long-term vision to turn the area around Tanglewood into a more walkable mixed-use district with housing, retail, healthcare, offices, restaurants and transportation improvements. Paul Mahoney, the Cave Spring District representative on the Board of Supervisors, tied the project directly to that plan in the county release:
"Tanglewood Crossing represents an exciting investment in the Cave Spring community and the continued transformation of the Route 419 corridor consistent with the 419 Town Center Plan."
Boone put it more plainly: "Our residents will walk to restaurants, retailers and Carilion Wellness." He called the project "the town center that Roanoke County envisioned in 2019." The Roanoke Times reported the same mix of five tenants, a 42-unit mixed-use building and a separate 56-unit residential building. For the past seven years, the town center plan has mostly lived on paper and in medical and fitness reuse inside the mall. Tanglewood Crossing is the first project to put front doors within walking distance of all of it.
For a Cave Spring household that already lives a few minutes away, that matters in practical ways. The restaurants are being planned for people who will walk to them morning and evening, so they should be open and staffed beyond the weekday lunch rush. The 7,200 square feet that are still open will probably be leased with those future residents in mind, too.
What fills the months before March
The corner won't sit empty until spring. According to Roanoke Growth, The Perk & Pit, a joint concept from two Salem businesses, is aiming for a December 2026 opening somewhere in the Tanglewood area. The exact address hasn't been announced yet. Bean Bliss Coffee Bar, which runs a shop at 9 S. College Avenue in downtown Salem, is partnering with Big Daddy's BBQ & Sweet Shack. Mornings will center on craft coffee, pastries and breakfast biscuits, bowls and burritos. Later in the day the menu shifts to Texas-style barbecue, and a full bar pours cocktails, wine and bourbon. The two businesses go back a long way. Bean Bliss started in 2024 as a coffee truck running out of the same food truck Big Daddy's used for barbecue and catering, then moved into its Salem storefront in January 2025. It's another morning-to-night concept, which fits the same all-day pattern as the Tanglewood Crossing lineup.
Smaller local shops are also arriving nearby on Electric Road. Roanoke Growth reported that Needle in the Noke, a specialty needlepoint shop, set its grand opening for Saturday, October 10, at West Village, 3555 Electric Road, Suite J.
The Perk & Pit is targeting December 2026. The five Tanglewood Crossing tenants are scheduled for March 2027, and the 42-apartment mixed-use building is expected in late 2027.
If you're curious how a walkable town center and nearly a hundred new homes could change everyday life around Tanglewood, or how they might shape your own plans in Cave Spring over the next few years, I'm always glad to talk it through. Virginia Realty Group follows projects like this one closely because they shape the neighborhoods our clients call home. Contact Kendra anytime.
