After much speculation, the old Groendyk Manufacturing property finally found itself a buyer, Sycamore Development Company which has plans to restore and adaptively reuse the vacant historic property for modern uses.
Sycamore Development Company has operated in the Roanoke Valley for the last decade with a focus on historic rehab, creating a unique niche for themselves. The company’s preliminary plans for the Groendyk building are to redevelop the main building into 22 market-rate apartments, with the secondary building leased out to a craft brewing operation. Work is scheduled to start in May of 2022 and complete in spring/summer of 2023.
Over many years, the Virginia Can Company, Hafleigh Button Factory, and the MTI Groendyk manufacturing company used the property on Route 11 in Buchanan. According to Harry Fulwiler’s book Buchanan, Virginia: Gateway to the Southwest, President of the Virginia Can Company Oscar C. Huffman built the original structures from several early 1800s brick structures from his property known as Oak Hill. The Continental Can Company and Virginia Can Company established significant manufacturing operations in Buchanan after 1903.
Contributed by Harry Gleason, Director of Buchanan Downtown Revitalization Program
