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Jim Cherney’s repurposing of the former flea market could include a little social engineering, in addition to an indoor storage facility.
After five years of neglect, Happy’s Flea Market had become, quite literally, a dump. Cleaning it out required filling 80 huge construction dumpsters. A group of homeless “tenants” had to be removed, along with quite a few rats the size of small dogs. The roof was in the process of caving in and nothing that normally makes buildings run was in working order.
Jim Cherney’s $1 million investment in the 100,000-square-foot, three-acre building and 11 total acres was looking at a $15 million total price tag if it was going to realize Cherney’s vision. Cleanup alone cost $180,000.
Cherney was not deterred, even though the City of Roanoke had condemned the building. “The bones of the building are great,” says Cherney. “There was no reason it couldn’t be repurposed.”
Architect Lora Katz said the re-imagining wasn’t easy: “The challenges to me were varied. How do we keep the majority of the building intact, but have it in the end look nothing like Happy’s? How do we make a drive-through storage facility fun architecture and function well for storage? How do we add space for burgeoning small businesses and make it flexible for a variety of business sizes and types? In the end, I guess, the users will judge the success of the attempt.”
Happy’s wasn’t always a flea market, having been re-imagined several times. It opened in 1958 as Arlen’s Department Store and became a rec center (skating rink, miniature golf) and food vendor. Dr. Wayne Fralin founded the flea market, which at its height had 100 vendors inside the building and as many as 500 outside. Over the years, the facility was allowed to fall into ill repair.
Cherney’s Fort Knox Drive-Thru Self-Storage will soon be a thing and it will, in fact, even expand by 10,000 square feet under roof. That will become retail space, preferably for the international business community which is re-branding Williamson Road these days, says Cherney. Small business spaces will begin at 400 square feet. The foundation, though, will be self-storage, where the client can drive up to the inside door of rented space, beginning at 10-feet-by-10-feet for $100 a month and growing larger, depending on demand.
There are plans for a splashy opening in late summer and even for a couple of drive-in movie showings in the fall, working with the Grandin Theatre, Downtown Roanoke Inc., Wheeler Media and the Williamson Road Area Business Association (WRABA). Most of this, Cherney believes, will be accomplished even with the hovering COVID-19.
Cherney is a Winston-Salem native who has been developing in Roanoke—as Cherney Development Company—for about 30 years. He is married to Wallace360 marketing agency owner Katie Wallace. His varied background includes work at the New York Stock Exchange and in the pizza business, where he had 172 delivery operations. But it is re-development that has his passion. “I like to re-purpose non-conforming assets,” he says.
The re-purposing at Happy’s will include a little social engineering, bringing in those international businesses to a genuine welcome and perhaps even helping to create some start-ups. He also plans to develop the front parking lot with out-parcels for established businesses.
The enterprise should be open by mid- to late-September, Cherney says. The four acres behind the Happy’s building offers some interesting opportunities, including “a small version of Happy’s Flea Market,” says Cherney, and a drive-in movie with “a pop-up screen” and sound provided by Wheeler Media over one of its channels.
“We’d bill it as ‘Happy Days Are Here Again,’” says Valerie Brown, executive director of WRABA, who is working with Cherney on promotions. “When Fort Knox opens, we’re going to have a Williamson Road welcome.”
As for Cherney, “I want to leave an indelible finger-print on this part of Williamson Road.”
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