Town officials are working with developers and the state to redevelop a former furniture-factory property on the edge of downtown North Wilkesboro.
The 28.3-acre project at the former American-Drew Furniture plant would level most of the buildings, storage tanks, ductwork and other industrial fittings; create a new southern entrance to the town; and take care of potential environmental cleanup problems.
Shepherd Real Estate has the property under contract for purchase, provided the state approves a brownfields agreement.
A brownfield is an abandoned or idled property where concerns about possible environmental contamination hinder redevelopment.
A brownfields agreement with the state would list things that should be done to clean up the property so it could be redeveloped.
Shepherd Realty is working with The Crown Companies, a commercial-real-estate development company based in Dobson, to create a new company called Block 46 Development, which has signed an agreement with North Wilkesboro.
The town would spend about $750,000 to tear down the buildings and build a road that would extend Main Street and link in a T-intersection to a new road cutting across the property, providing access to and from Wilkesboro Boulevard on one side and D Street on the other.
The town would get a 4.25-acre site for public use, possibly as the home of a planned fire station.
Town officials say they will recoup the money spent on the project in about 10 years through increased tax revenues because the property will be more valuable.
The project has been accepted into the brownfields program. Block 46 is working with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources to provide the environmental assessments and other information to develop an agreement for what must be done to take care of potential soil and groundwater contaminants to redevelop the property.
Hank Perkins, North Wilkesboro's town manager, said that the brownfields agreement is the trigger that would start the project. "That's key to the agreement," he said. "Neither the developer nor the town is committed to any funds until some assurance is given about the environmental issue. No one will be saddled with an environmentally unsound property."
The property has been the site of various furniture manufacturers since the early 20th century. La-Z-Boy Greensboro is the current owner and does some limited work there. (American Drew is a La-Z-Boy company.)
An office building at the corner of D Street and CDB Loop would be saved, but the changes would include demolition of a large manufacturing building on the other side of the property. That building, upright cylindrical storage tanks and elevated ductwork are what people see when they approach North Wilkesboro from the south by crossing the bridge over the Yadkin River.
"Can you imagine coming from the Brushy Mountain area without that 2- or 3-story building?" Perkins said. "That alone would be a dramatic change in the landscape."
Neil Shepherd of Shepherd Realty said that developers are talking with several companies but don't have specific plans yet for who might build there. The Crown Companies has been involved in development of chain restaurants, stores and banks.
Shepherd said he hopes the brownfields agreement will be in place by the end of the year.
■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com.
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