Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Fate of historic mill in limbo
Roanoke officials are looking simultaneously at a sale, demolition and renovation.
Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times
The Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority may be on the verge of selling the Roanoke City Mills to Carilion Clinic.
The latest from The Ticker blog
Roanoke residents could learn next week whether the historic flour mill that has stood on South Jefferson Street for 90 years is going to be knocked down or fixed up for offices, stores or even housing.
City leaders have allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be used to demolish the former Roanoke City Mills complex, setting the stage for a dramatic expansion of Carilion Clinic's burgeoning medical-business development.
But the city also has taken time out to consider the possibility of a third party renovating part of the closed industrial food and feed mill for reuse, a direction that's worth exploring in the judgment of a Roanoke City Council member.
"I think it's a mistake to tear down the brick building of the mill," Councilman Bev Fitzpatrick said.
With the options for the mill coming into focus, the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority is poised in several days to release a planned purchase and development agreement with Carilion covering the mill real estate -- if the document is completed in time to be considered at a Monday meeting of its board of commissioners.
The agency, which owns the mill, has refused to provide a draft copy to the media, citing its desire to conclude negotiations first.
Carilion spokesman Eric Earnhart recently declined to discuss the matter, saying: "We've been working with the city on that whole area for years, which is not surprising, given its proximity to us and our operations, but we haven't signed a contract. Any discussion about what may or may not happen on the property is premature."
The mill sits on Jefferson Street across from a planned research-oriented medical school being put together by Virginia Tech and Carilion and a new Carilion physician services building already under way. It shut down last year when the former owner moved operations to a new mill in Roanoke County.
A collection of buildings with milling equipment intact and 19 grain silos sitting on 2 acres, the complex at 1600 and 1702 S. Jefferson St. is potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and Virginia Landmarks Register, according to a study by Hughes Associates Architects.
"The mill buildings reflect the general growth of Roanoke and its demand for food production from the surrounding agricultural areas during the first half of the 20th century," the report said, calling the complex "a rare example of the flour and feed milling process."
The architect found that a feed warehouse and the main flour mill building are conceptually suited for rehabilitation as offices or housing. A flour warehouse is potentially suited for stores, restaurants or offices.
But the need for floodproofing represents an additional expense and potential obstacle. And the removal of the silos would create space for parking but might jeopardize the property's historic value.
If such a project were to go forward, tax credits to defray rehabilitation costs possibly could be obtained, the report said.
Another option -- to bulldoze the complex -- would free up 2 acres primed for something new in the midst of the South Jefferson redevelopment project, a taxpayer-funded plan to add vitality to an industrial area south of downtown.
Last week, the city council authorized $3.4 million more in spending on top of $21.1 million spent so far on buying and clearing land, relocating businesses and related costs in the project area, which spans 110 acres.
That includes $500,000 for demolishing unspecified buildings and most of the rest for buying real estate, according to an earlier version of the city council agreement obtained from the RRHA through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The agreement, which was altered before the city council approved it to remove references to the specific expenditures, previously stated that the money was for such costs as: razing the flour mill ($500,000), increasing available funds to buy land on Reserve Avenue owned by B&B Holdings ($500,000) and buying land on Williamson Road owned by William and Maeona Stegall ($1.9 million).
In contrast to the nearly $25 million the city has spent on the redevelopment efforts, buildings costing $195 million are completed or planned, most at Carilion's expense, officials said.
City officials have said they intend to collect real estate taxes across the project's expanse, including on parcels owned or controlled by not-for-profit organizations such as Carilion.
