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Mill developer's financing pushed to January

The Hendersonville City Council is expected to extend a lease with the developer of apartments in the historic Grey Hosiery Mill so the company can complete financing details. The council meets Thursday morning to take up the matter.
City Manager John Connet described the delay in closing and the council’s action as routine.
“We’ve just got to extend the lease for 30 days,” he said. “We’re real close but the lawyers aren’t going to get it done by Dec. 31.”

The City Council selected Belmont Sayre to convert the historic mill into a boutique hotel with event space in April 2017. Belmont Sayer president Ken Reiter informed the city last June that he failed to get financing hotel and instead proposed a development of 35 apartments. The council agreed to the backup plan provided he rent a portion of them at affordable rates.
Under terms of the sale, before Belmont Sayre completes financing for the project, it is leasing the property back to the city. Under the lease, for a nominal $1 per month, “we keep it secure and keep insurance on it until he takes full ownership on the property and starts construction,” Connet said. Originally scheduled for Friday, Dec. 14, the closing of the arrangements for borrowing has been postponed until after the holidays.
Connet said he is confident the financing is solid and that Reiter will start construction.
“We’re expecting him to pull a demo permit and have building plans” soon, he said. “At this point it’s just getting all the legal documents put together for a closing.”
Carrboro-based Belmont Sayer, which specializes in adaptive re-use, has opened a 170-unit apartment project in the historic Chatham Mill in Winston-Salem.