Tryon rejects proposal to seek Main Street grant
Following approximately half an hour of discussion Tuesday night, May 17, the Tryon Town Council rejected a proposal requesting the town’s assistance in applying for a $200,000 North Carolina Main Street Solutions Grant as a means of kick-starting the redevelopment of the former Tryon Federal Bank buildings.
The proposal involved property owner McCray Smith of Cray Inc. and Downtown Pioneers, a redevelopment company in Gastonia, N.C., Smith contacted several weeks ago about the project.
Smith could not attend the meeting because of a family emergency, but he said Wednesday, May 18, he’s discouraged by the council’s decision.
“The big loser in this is the actual town of Tryon,” Smith said. “If anyone else tries to do this besides Downtown Pioneers, they are going to research and see what happened between the town and this company and move on. By then Downtown Pioneers will be moved on to another town willing to do anything to get their help.”
Nathan Kirby, a managing partner with Downtown Pioneers was at the meeting and addressed the council.
“What we do is we take dilapidated properties that could be the centerpiece of a community, if you will, and turn them into the gem that they could be,” Kirby said in introducing himself and his company.
He explained that Downtown Pioneers purposefully seeks out public/private partnerships in order to revitalize downtown areas. Kirby said McCray Smith approached him about six weeks ago. Kirby said Smith wanted to gauge his company’s interest in assisting in the redevelopment of the two former Tryon Federal Buildings and the Missildine Building.
Crys Armbrust of the Tryon Downtown Development Association encouraged the town to move forward and seek the grant for the Tryon Federal project. He said this is the final round of the Main Street Solutions program; after this round the grants will no longer be awarded.
“The Tryon Federal buildings are some of the principal buildings in our central district and they are one of the major things holding up us being able to be awarded a historic designation,” Armbrust said.
Kirby’s proposal involved redeveloping the structures into mixed residential and retail space. He said the company would seek out an anchor restaurant then fill the properties with a balance of retail or flex space.
Kirby said Downtown Pioneers dealt with similar situation in Monroe, where the town had tried to revitalize a property for 25 years. He said once Pioneers stepped in it took about a year to get the ball rolling and six months to complete construction.
Resident Bill Miller was one of several people who had previously attempted to purchase the former Tryon Federal property. He spoke up at the meeting. Miller said a structural engineer looked at the buildings and said there were fire concerns, such as insufficient exits at the back of the building.
Kirby said he’d taken an initial look at the building and thought many of the structural deficiencies were minor compared to other projects the company has tackled.
“We are completely open to [joint venture] opportunities and working with the community…. I think there are quite a few people who have wanted to do something but for whatever reason it didn’t work out,” Kirby said.
Council member Roy Miller asked which building the $200,000 grant would be spent on if it came through. Kirby said it would be divided among the three.
“One of the things that concerns me is where is this $200,000 goin?,” council member Miller said. “What assurance does the town have that this money is going to go into these buildings?”
Kirby said the grant would be paid out only after the project was completed. He said this is why the layered financing of the project would be necessary, with his company putting in a maximum of 60 percent of the funding.
“Anything that would come out of this deal, from my understanding it would be between my company and the town. We don’t necessarily own every project we develop; there’s many ways to do it. I certainly understand the concern,” Kirby said.
Part of the concern was rooted in the current status of the property. According to courthouse officials, the clerk of court signed paperwork in May to set up a foreclosure sale on the former Tryon Federal buildings. They said that sale is currently scheduled for June 17 at 11 a.m.
Smith said he had no knowledge of the sale and has not been served foreclosure papers. Smith said his note on the building was $250,000 but said the bank denied the renewal of the loan. Smith said in the meantime he has made multiple attempts to contact the bank to work out a payment plan, to place the property in a short sale or to make other arrangements.
He said he would look into placing the property in Chapter 11 before allowing it to be sold at foreclosure. He said at that point the project would be doomed.
Kirby meanwhile said the grant not coming through wouldn’t kill the deal for his company but said the money would have to be found somewhere (Pioneers caps internal funding at 60 percent).
Several residents and council members also expressed concern over the deadline for the grant application – Friday, May 20.
Council member Austin Chapman agreed the proposal seemed too hastily presented and cautioned peers from jumping into something.
“When you want it badly, that’s the way you are going to get it,” said Chapman.
Smith said the plan had to be brought before the council in such haste because he and others had only discovered the grant two weeks ago.
“In the 11th hour it’s either late or it’s not too late – in this case it was not too late,” Smith said. “Nathan [Kirby] had his staff and crew ready to work with Crys [Armbrust] to crank out these documents for this grant.”
Resident Mary Prioleau raised concern about such a quick deal, especially one without more concrete information.
“Is it even ethical to apply for a state grant when there is not even a contract in place?” she asked.
Despite concerns raised by residents and three council members, Mayor Alan Peoples offered a motion to approve the city backing the grant application.
“If it works like you say it does, you’re a godsend,” Peoples said to Kirby. “I came in here opposed to it… but I’m not so worried about holding up other [towns], I’m worried about Tryon right now.”
Council member Doug Arbogast seconded Peoples’ motion but Roy Miller, Woody and Chapman all voted it down.
Smith said he feels undue pressure was put on the council to reject a proposal to seek out what he feels would have essentially been free money.
“Tryon is a beautiful town but there are a few people there that aren’t dealing in earnest,” Smith said. “Now’s the time for this to happen and I’ll tell you why – when the economy starts rebounding, construction is going to be way more expensive and it will basically knock this project out of possibility because it’s going to cost too much.”
Smith said he’s afraid the town will suffer if officials are not proactive.
Peoples said the town plans to continue looking for a positive solution.