Monday, December 17, 2007

Opelika’s Old Mill could turn into lofts and hotel rooms

Three years ago, mill material was in piles at the Old Mill behind Sonic on First Avenue in Opelika. Construction crews could be seen from the road shifting those piles, and it seemed at the time that construction of the proposed TigerTown Apartments would soon turn a vacant historic mill into luxury condos.

February 27, 2007

Three years ago, mill material was in piles at the Old Mill behind Sonic on First Avenue in Opelika. Construction crews could be seen from the road shifting those piles, and it seemed at the time that construction of the proposed TigerTown Apartments would soon turn a vacant historic mill into luxury condos.

But there were unforeseen construction concerns that brought the project to a halt. Contaminated ground water on the property stemmed from a longstanding diesel tanker truck where fuel had seeped into the ground there.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management ran aggressive tests in 2005 and completed a finalized assessment report in 2006 and even returned to the site recently to make sure all was well, according to property manager Jerry Schwarzauer, who handles the mill property owned by Johnny Dudley of Phenix City.

“We’re in the clear,” said Schwarzauer of ADEM’s approval of fuel removal from the property. “They have given us their blessing to move forward.”

Potential property buyer Mark Harris out of Atlanta, who had initially planned to convert the mill into condos three years ago, said he had to step back from the project for a year and a half. During that time, he went on to convert two mills in South Carolina into over 200 apartments.

“I walked away from the project for a year and a half to build multi-family apartments in South Carolina,” Harris said. “But I never forgot this project, and I came back seven to eight months ago and brought it back up.”

He said focus is back on the mill conversion and that what was once proposed condos is now a proposed mixed-use property where part of the mill would house 90 to 100 hotel rooms and part would house 50 to 60 apartments and/or condos.

“This is an awesome hotel site,” said Harris, who pointed out that Windham World Wide Hotels and other high-end hotels have expressed interest in the property for its hotel rooms.

Harris says having hotel rooms at the property would mean the property could reap historic tax credits to the tune of $1.5 million.

“In Alabama, there’s no revitalization credit and no mill credit, but there is a national park service credit that provides for historic tax credits,” he said. “The hitch is there’s a five-year restrictive deed where you would have to serve as a landlord, and we wanted to be able to sell the condos.”

If Windham or another hotel builds its hotel rooms at the property, the historic tax credits could come into play with Harris and general partner, Opelika Mills LLC, to serve as the required landlord.

Harris said he hopes to buy the mill from Dudley in three months and that site work, such as window replacement and concrete prep flooring, would begin at that time. He said initial work, three years ago, was about moving the industrial equipment out of the mill.

“If everybody does what they’re supposed to do, we’ll be ready to start in the next three months,” Harris said. “But this is not like building a Lowe’s or a bank. This is a $14 to $15 million project, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.”

Schwarzauer said there was a party who expressed interest in buying the property, but it would mean bulldozing the building.

“To demolish the building would be a shame,” Schwarzauer said. “We just don’t want it to come to that. We get people who come up to us all the time and say, ‘My mama and my daddy used to work at the mill.’ There’s a lot of history there. We’ve held out this long. We’ve seen what Harris did in South Carolina and believe he can do great things here.”

He said star power could be a draw, too.

“It’d be great if we could get actress Sally Field to come back here,” said Schwarzauer of the two-time Academy Award-winning actress who once graced the Old Mill with her unforgettable performance in “Norma Rae.” “I think she’d come back if we asked her to. I really do. I just don’t know how to get in touch with her.”

Economic Development Director Al Cook said the city will provide infrastructure such as installing a 4-way stop sign in front of the building and curbside streetscape.

“We’re hopeful that he’s (Harris) able to put this thing together to provide housing opportunities for that end of town,” Cook said. “The potential is absolutely there. This would be a perfect place for people who work at the hospital or business professionals.”