Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ A major eyesore for years on the South Main Street portal into Salisbury, N.C. is the decaying former flophouse the Empire Hotel not open to public since 1963. Ranked 2nd only to the Fibrant debacle as possibly one of the most problematic Salisbury investments in the last decade, the fab Empire “Bat-Tel” as its popularly known in a town inches away from playing taps may simply be too expensive to abate and to renovate according to recently obtained Freedom of Information Act inquiries.
With virtually no interest in sight (save for the annual claims of fresh interest by invisible hordes of developers dutifully recorded in the local paper) perhaps it would be a good time for the city to find an inexpensive and creative way to rid itself of the Empire. Frequent conjecture holds that if the Empire Hotel ever landed in a Sheriff’s sale for nickels on the dollar it might well go unbid. It’s dubious any bank would lay claim to the Empire Hotel for fear they might never rid themselves of it or it might go the way of the Kilby Hotel in High Point and mercifully just collapse. What a break that would be for the current holders of the deed if this albatross on South Main was properly insured. (A few strategic bricks given a tweek here and there and South Main would undergo a mini-quake.)
Consider just the costs to abate the Empire Hotel’s asbestos and lead paint. A recently obtained FOIA gives the estimated cost of asbestos and lead paint abatement as $355,500 to $520,900 in 2008. Likely more now. See this letter to Brian Miller:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2E5Ew6OLdElZGc0SFZ1V1VRb0E/edit?usp=sharing
Here is the Empire Hotel’s Phase I Environmental Site Assessment pointing out a raft of expensive to remedy difficulties in the hotel:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2E5Ew6OLdElYVBzXy1rOVY4bnM/edit?usp=sharing
How much would it cost to gut and renovate this obsolete building? Likely many millions. The interior photographs of the Empire Hotel show major decay:
http://t-mess.tumblr.com/post/385125119/empire-hotel-salisbury-nc-photos-by-tmess-from
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This recently obtained Freedom of Information Act inquiry email conversation underlined the city’s Empire Hotel Dilemma. In it we see Doug Paris spelling out the Empire situation involving some of the bankers’ resistance, the City’s need to fund part of the abatement costs, and the over one million dollar loan for a property worth half of that much. Note that City Councilman William “Pete” Kennedy sounds alarm bells:
From: William Kennedy
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 1:25 PM
To: Doug Paris
Subject: Re: Empire Phase II
This obviously could become a campaign issue that could harm the incumbents seeking re-election. By all means delay a decision on this.
Sent from my iPhone
William”Pete”Kennedy
On Jul 23, 2013, at 11:45 AM, “Doug Paris” wrote:
> Good Afternoon,
>
> I wanted to give you an update on this item.
>
> After discovering during the Integro incentive discussion that the Empire property did not have a clean Phase I, I have been working with DSI President Mark Lewis on resolving this issue.
>
> Alan Griffith, our contract geologist who assisted us on getting the green light with DENR on both 300 Block projects, recommended that we proceed with a Phase II assessment.
>
> This proposal was presented to the DSI Board this morning and was met with resistance from banker Bill Greene
> and banker Paul Fisher.
>
> The resistance was mainly centered on if the Phase II found anything, that it would require cleanup. DSI does not have the cash reserve to fund a cleanup and so the DSI board would then have to come to the city. There was concern about public support for this.
>
> Obviously, if the city didn’t pick up the costs then the banks would be left with a mess – essentially a million dollar note on a building worth maybe half that with 500k worth of asbestos abatement and then a dry cleaning/petroleum cleanup on top of it all. The dynamic is the asset could rapidly deteriorate into a large liability.
>
> The board decided to delay two months on the decision to proceed on the Phase II.
>
> I do want to share Mr. Lewis has been great to work with on this item and I couldn’t ask for better collaboration.
>
> This one is a tough issue, and one that will not go away without tackling it as a team with all partners on board.
>
> DP
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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From: Doug Paris
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 11:45 AM
To: Paul Woodson; paulwoodson3@gmail.com; Maggie Blackwell; William Kennedy; Brian Miller; Brian Miller; Karen Alexander; Karen Alexander
Cc: Myra Heard; Elaney Hasselmann; Janet Gapen; John Sofley
Subject: Empire Phase II
Good Afternoon,
I wanted to give you an update on this item.
After discovering during the Integro incentive discussion that the Empire property did not have a clean Phase I, I have been working with DSI President Mark Lewis on resolving this issue.
Alan Griffith, our contract geologist who assisted us on getting the green light with DENR on both 300 Block projects, recommended that we proceed with a Phase II assessment.
This proposal was presented to the DSI Board this morning and was met with resistance from banker Bill Greene
and banker Paul Fisher.
The resistance was mainly centered on if the Phase II found anything, that it would require cleanup. DSI does not have the cash reserve to fund a cleanup and so the DSI board would then have to come to the city. There was concern about public support for this.
Obviously, if the city didn’t pick up the costs then the banks would be left with a mess – essentially a million dollar note on a building worth maybe half that with 500k worth of asbestos abatement and then a dry cleaning/petroleum cleanup on top of it all. The dynamic is the asset could rapidly deteriorate into a large liability.
The board decided to delay two months on the decision to proceed on the Phase II.
I do want to share Mr. Lewis has been great to work with on this item and I couldn’t ask for better collaboration.
This one is a tough issue, and one that will not go away without tackling it as a team with all partners on board.
DP
Sent from my iPhone
