Mount Airy officials now seem more enthused about the prospects for redeveloping the former Spencer’s industrial property than they have in some time, due to a potential hotel project.
It is targeting a huge, multi-storied structure fronting Willow Street known as the Sparger Building, part of a cluster of former textile-manufacturing facilities downtown bought by the city government in May 2014.
While the outer brick walls of the Sparger Building are painted baby blue — mirroring its longtime use in making infant apparel — Mount Airy officials are seeing green regarding what the prospective hotel represents in new tax revenues and other benefits.
“This is getting exciting,” Commissioner Tom Koch commented when the plan was outlined during the last meeting of the city council.
In early August, the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners had approved a final draft of a request for proposal (RFP) document to be used in soliciting private development interest in the Spencer’s mill transformation.
This was focused on both the Sparger Building and a vacant site along Franklin Street nearby, with a hotel being the preferred use of the former and townhouses/commercial development of the latter.
The RFP effort is being led by two representatives of the group Mount Airy Downtown, Bryan Grote, a highly regarded local financial expert who is donating his time to the city as a member of that entity, and Main Street Coordinator Lizzie Morrison.
Their ambitious solicitation efforts included social media platforms, with postings by such entities as the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce and Surry Economic Development Partnership.
When an Oct. 13 cutoff date for the process rolled around, 24 expressions of interest had resulted from contact groups along with three in-person site tours and one proposal, involving the possible hotel for the Sparger Building.
During the recent council meeting, Morrison acknowledged the volume of work invested to achieve just one result while saying there was an expectation that receiving “serious” hotel proposals would be difficult during the pandemic era.
However, this could be viewed as a classic quality vs. quantity situation.
“The one proposal you got — is it a good one?” Commissioner Koch asked Morrison.
“I think so,” the Main Street coordinator responded. “It looks pretty good — something to get excited about.”
Morrison added that it involves both the Sparger Building and a small portion of the Franklin Street property, “with the Sparger Building being the key component.”
In follow-up questioning, Grote and Morrison would not identify what individuals or entities expressed that interest. Grote did say a “large team” is involved, including both outside parties and local residents.
Commissioner Jon Cawley, who has been critical of some aspects of the nearly six-year redevelopment effort, had a one-word reaction to the potential hotel: “Beautiful,” he said.
Marie Wood, another city board member who previously served on a now-defunct commission to spearhead the Spencer’s redevelopment, also remarked that this is an exciting time in its tenure.
“This could have a huge impact on the downtown and Mount Airy as a whole,” Koch observed.
Cube Building factor
The commissioners have directed Grote and Morrison to continue pursuing the hotel project, with Grote saying that gaining “clarity” on the proposal is now the top priority.
Mount Airy officials are to be further updated on this process as it unfolds, possibly during a special meeting within the next couple of weeks, although the timetable is murky at this point.
Cawley is pressing for rapid action on the plan, explaining that stretching the process into the winter months could prove problematic from a construction contractor standpoint.
He also is concerned about the expiration of mill tax credits available for refurbishing the former textile facilities, which have been viewed all along as a major financial incentive for Spencer’s redevelopers.
While those credits expire eventually, a suggestion by Cawley to request an extension from taxation authorities was met with assurances by Morrison and Grote that the project at hand could be realized before the present end date of January 2023.
One recent occurrence that might impact the present redevelopment effort in a positive way concerns the commissioners voting on Oct. 15 to terminate an agreement with a group known as the Piedmont Triad Regional Council (PTRC).
This involved plans by that organization, based in Kernersville, to locate a culinary institute in a massive structure known as the Cube Building situated to the rear of the Sparger Building.
The PTRC, whose mission includes economic-development activities in this region, had envisioned a school to train local unemployed residents for chef and other positions in the restaurant industry. Surry Community College also sought to house a workforce-development component in “The Cube” as part of that plan.
It was derailed after multiple failed attempts to obtain necessary grant funding. Meanwhile, city officials were handcuffed by a memorandum of understanding agreement forged in April 2019 with the Piedmont Triad Regional Council which prevented them from seeking other uses for the Cube Building.
Although the culinary institute was highly anticipated, Mount Airy leaders say the termination of the agreement frees them up to court new prospects.
Grote and Morrison will now try to market the Cube Building to developers, with Morrison mentioning that the earlier RFP process was hampered to an extent by uncertainties surrounding that structure and the fact it was unavailable.
“We were really quite surprised at how much interest there was in the Cube Building,” Morrison said, mentioning possible office, retail, restaurant and other operations.
She also thinks the recent RFP campaign was hampered somewhat by potential developers not knowing what was going to happen with the structure.
“I think the Cube component will take a little bit longer,” Grote said of marketing efforts for that parcel.
Morrison said one issue is its size. “I don’t think one entity will develop the Cube in its entirety — it’s just such a large building.”
Tom Joyce may be reached at 336-415-4693 or on Twitter @Me_Reporter
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