CONCORD — A proposal to sell and redevelop the Hotel Concord is on the table.
The proposal by Rehab Development includes a more than $5.3 million project that would transform the old hotel into a high end apartment complex with 38 units. The proposal also includes keeping the event space and developing a market/restaurant space with a brewery.
Rehab Development is the company that redeveloped the former downtown Heilig-Meyers building, transforming it into Lofts 29, which is directly behind the Hotel Concord complex.
Lofts 29 was a $2.7 million renovation project that turned the furniture store into a high end apartment complex with 26 units. Lofts 29 received its certificate of occupancy in December and already have most of the units leased out.
Diane Young, executive director for Concord Downtown Development Corporation (CDDC) said officials have worked with more than 20 different developers over the last 12 years to find a project that would be the right fit for Hotel Concord, which many say is the centerpiece of downtown Concord.
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“We are thrilled to have Rehab Development interested in this redevelopment project, especially after seeing first-hand their quality of work at Lofts 29 and their ability to take a project from initial concept all the way through to completion,” Young said. “This project would not be moving forward if the North Carolina Historic Tax Credit was not brought back in the recent state budget. “
In January 2015, Gov. Pat McCrory held a press conference at the Hotel Concord and the Heilig-Meyers building to fight for the Historic Tax Credits that were allowed to expire at the end of 2014. Rehab Development was able to receive some tax credits from North Carolina for the Lofts 29 project, before the original credits expired.
A modified state historic preservation tax credit was approved by the General Assembly in 2015. That version offers a base credit of 15 percent for income-producing rehabilitation projects with expenses of up to $10 million and 10 percent for income-producing rehabilitation projects with expenses of between $10 million and $20 million.
Officials said Rehab Development will be able to use the new credit plan for the Hotel Concord project. To receive the credits, Rehab Development will have to meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and be reviewed by the National Park Service.
Rehab Development will partner with Level 2 Development, which has been involved in more than $100 million worth of development work.
“We are very excited about the possibility of rehabilitating the Hotel Concord into a historically preserved mixed-use building,” said Rehab Development President Patrick Reilly. “This is an absolute must for as without both the state and federal historic tax credits, the numbers on this project just will not work. Our Lofts 29 project has been extremely well received by the community, as evidenced by the fact that we are approximately 85 percent leased after only opening in mid-December. We feel that downtown Concord has an incredible amount to offer and are excited to continue to be a part of another fantastic North Carolina downtown Main Street story.”
The addition of a market/restaurant, brewery and 38 apartments could boost downtown Concord’s economy. Officials say residents living in those 38 units will annually spend more than $414,000 in downtown Concord. One study by a Washington, D.C. firm that focused on the economic impact of Main Street programs in North Carolina shows a couple living in a downtown and paying a monthly rent between $800 and $1,200 spend about $18,773 each year in their downtown.
Rental rates for Lofts 29 could be an indicator for the Hotel Concord. Lofts 29 units range from 453 to 909 square feet and cost from $905 to $1,395. Those prices include utilities, cable and internet.
In addition to the downtown residents, the project is expected to generate at least seven full time jobs.
The project includes three buildings plus the 47-space parking lot directly behind.
The parking lot, Concord Telephone Company Exchange Building at 11 Cabarrus Ave., East; the former bank lobby with rooms directly above at 4 Union St., North and the former Fifth Third Bank operations center — originally the Cabarrus Theater at 22 Union Street, North — are owned by Fifth Third Bank.
The Fifth Third properties have been under contract to sell since September.
The balance of the Hotel Concord — including the basement, lobby, kitchen, ballroom, mezzanine, and four floors of residential rooms directly above — is owned by the Union Street Corporation, LLC, a private for-profit corporation of approximately 170 stockholders.
The Independent Tribune and its parent company BH Media are among those 170 shareholders.
The rooms above the bank lobby cannot be accessed without going through the lobby of the Hotel Concord.
The only areas of the Hotel Concord that are in use today are the lobby, kitchen, ballroom (including mezzanine), and a small portion of the basement, all being operated as part of a single event venue.
At 46,536 square feet and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Hotel Concord is the largest historic property in Cabarrus County and the most significant historic property in the City of Concord. It is the second largest privately-owned property in downtown Concord with Carolina Courts being the largest.
