Black Dog Salvage Parent Eyes Expansion Into Former Norfolk Southern Warehouse

The ownership group behind Black Dog Salvage, the Grandin Road-based architectural salvage company known from the long-running cable series Salvage Dawgs, is in negotiations with the city of Roanoke to take over a 90,000-square-foot former Norfolk Southern warehouse near the downtown Amtrak platform, according to two people briefed on the talks.

Company co-founder Mike Whiteside confirmed to Salt on Wednesday that the company is “in active conversations with the city about a second location” but declined to discuss terms.

“We have outgrown Grandin in a good way and a bad way,” Whiteside said. “Good because the business has grown. Bad because we’re turning down pieces we would have taken five years ago simply because we don’t have anywhere to put them.”

The warehouse, located between Norfolk Avenue and the Roanoke River Greenway, has been vacant since 2021. Norfolk Southern transferred the property to the city’s Economic Development Authority last year in exchange for tax credits on an adjacent parcel.

If the deal closes, Black Dog would convert roughly 40,000 square feet of the space into a retail showroom, with the remaining area used for storage, fabrication, and a small event venue. The company has told city staff it intends to keep its original Grandin Road location open.

Roanoke Economic Development Director Marc Nelson, reached Tuesday, said the city has been looking for a use of the warehouse that would generate foot traffic in a corridor the Amtrak expansion is expected to activate further. “Black Dog is one of the few Roanoke-based brands that pulls visitors from out of state on its own strength,” Nelson said. “If we can get them next to the platform, that is a multiplier.”

The city’s preliminary terms, according to a memo reviewed by Salt, would involve a 15-year lease with an option for Black Dog to purchase the building at year five. The city would retain ownership of the adjacent parking lot.

Salvage Dawgs, which ran for 11 seasons on the DIY Network and Magnolia Network, ended its production run in 2021 but continues to air in syndication. The company said in January that it was in talks with a streaming platform about a possible revival; Whiteside declined to comment on the status of those discussions.

Black Dog’s expansion would add an estimated 22 full-time jobs, according to a filing the company made with the Economic Development Authority last month. Company officials have said they also plan to offer a small number of paid apprenticeships in salvage and restoration trades, in partnership with the Virginia Western Community College trades program.

A public hearing on the proposed lease is scheduled for the May 4 Economic Development Authority meeting.