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Council could resurrect apartment proposal for mill

The city of Hendersonville is inching closer to redevelopment of the historic Grey Hosiery Mill for rental apartments.


Two council members say they want to resurrect a proposal for loft apartments in the building as the board moves toward a decision on what to do with the factory that will turn 100 next year.
The council received a detailed appraisal last week that said the city-owned property would be worth more without the mill than with it. But council members say they're mindful of the community's interest in preserving the historic mill while also remaking it into a building that would attract people downtown and serve as catalyst for a wider revitalization effort.
Councilman Steve Caraker said although the appraisal concluded that the "highest and best use" of the property was for a new office building, the negative reaction to demolishing the mill for a performing arts center 10 years ago showed that people value the old knitting factory.
"The public outcry to save at least the historic part of the mill has been part of my thought process ever GreyMillsince then," he said. "The appraisal came in just pretty much what I thought it would be."
Asheville appraiser Thomas A. Steitler put the value at $600,000 with the structure and $750,000 without it. Caraker pointed out that to get the higher figure in a sale, the city would have to pay for demolition at a cost of about $200,000. He called the appraisal the "the best research value the city of has gotten in a long long time."

 

Preservation North Carolina
The council last week directed the city staff to explore the possibility of deeding the mill to Preservation North Carolina, a non-profit agency that works to save historic properties. Using federal and state tax credits available for redeveloping historic properties and working with developers, Preservation North Carolina is North Carolina says it has saved more than 700 properties and generated $350 million in private investment.
The City Council has twice invited developers to propose plans for using the 34,000-square-foot brick structure, only to have the proposals fizzle. The last time the council received proposals, it chose a Richmond, Va., developer that proposed renovating the mill as classroom space for Wingate University. The proposal failed.
At that time Caraker and Mayor pro tem Ron Stephens voted in favor of a proposal by White Challis Redevelopment, a Hendersonville-Daytona Beach partnership that proposed 30 loft apartments.
"White Challis came in as runner-up both times and the council tried to change the game when they didn't like the answer they wanted," Caraker said. "White Challis has done all their homework, they have done everything they've been asked to do. ... I'd like to put White Challis with Preservation North Carolina with (city manager) John Connet as one of the facilitators and see what we need to do to put residential in the building."
Caraker said Ted Alexander, the western regional director of Preservation North Carolina, told him that the apartment proposal would work.
"He told me on the phone if you turn this mill into residential you'll be very very pleased with it and you'll get lots of tax revenue," he said.
Caraker, along with Stephens and new council member Jeff Miller, have expressed concern that the city is impeding business.
"In my opinion, and I work with the development community in my day job, the city of Hendersonville has turned itself into joke because it couldn't honor the process that it started," Caraker said. "If we keep waiting for 'what if, what if ...' it's going to sit there and crumble and just be a total waste of time."

Councilman Jerry Smith, who voted against the appraisal when the council authorized it, said he supports selling the mill by sealed bid instead of giving it to the preservation group. If the mill brought $600,000 to $700,000, he said, the money could be used to offset a tax increase the City Council might otherwise have to adopt in the 2014-15 budget. Last year, the city administration recommended a 3-cent tax increase to help pay debt service. The council instead voted to use reserve funds to make up for a shortfall in its debt payments fund.

Rental market strong

Jim Hall, the owner of Investors Realty Group and a partner in White Challis, said the partnership is ready to proceed if the City Council gives it a green light.
"This is not a slam dunk for anybody to do," he said. But he said the rental apartment market is stronger than ever and the White Challis partnership is ready to hear more about how the process would work under Preservation North Carolina.
"I have high regard for Preservation North Carolina," Hall said. "We don't fully understand how the agreement would work we're willing to sit down and show our sincere interest in trying to get this done."
The partnership proposed 30 rental apartments of 500 to 1,300 square feet.
Stephens favors renewing talks with White Challis.
"I think we should move forward with this," he said. "It's too bad personal disagreements got into this the last two times this was considered or there would be people living downtown now and doing business. I think that's the path to take, turn it over to Preservation North Carolina and let them transfer this to White Challis if they're still interested and they do indicate that they are."
The proposal for apartments may not be the last developer the city hears from.
Council members say a new potential prospect expressed interest in the property and was scheduled to tour it this week. The tour may have been canceled by the weather, however.
Stephens, a Realtor, said he thought the mill could only be revitalized by a private developer willing to invest in return for tax breaks.
"It's expensive to preserve these old buildings," he said. "That's why you have the federal and state grants because that's the only way it's going to be saved."