Salisbury takes another step forward in Empire Hotel project

SALISBURY — The Salisbury City Council moved to take another step forward in the city’s revitalization of the former Empire Hotel property on Tuesday by approving the $500,000 purchase of the portion of the property still owned by Downtown Salisbury, Inc.

The developer, Empire Row, has already purchased the Efird’s section, the southernmost portion of the Empire Hotel project. Development has already begun on that portion, which will include two two-story rowhomes, seven full-floor homes and retail space facing South Main Street.

Downtown Development Director Sada Stewart Troutman said that the $500,000 purchase cost will allow DSI to close out the remaining loan on the property, with the balance currently standing at approximately $413,000. The remaining funding would cover all of the closing costs on the sale as well as presenting a contingency fund. The DSI board of directors approved the sale at the January meeting, said Troutman.

Troutman added that DSI currently spends approximately $90,000 on the Empire Hotel annually, including upkeep and debt service. The vast majority of that number, $81,000, went to loan payments, so the city would only be taking on approximately $9,000 in annual costs.

“This purchase frees up the budget for the nonprofit to be spent more directly impacting the Municipal Service District. With projects such as Main Street projects or other events that have come up in downtown, this is particularly impactful.

The developers have reached all of the required timeline goals on that project, said Troutman, with the only remaining goal being to complete construction by Oct. 10, 2026, on phase one. Empire Row held an official ceremony announcing the beginning of work on Oct. 19, 2024, just weeks after the city signed off on documents selling the Efird’s section and outlining the development requirements.

“Most recently, within 120 days of closing, they did submit a complete zoning plan to the city. They are continuing to work with our development services team to make sure that everything is set for that part of the project. They do have a deadline of Oct. 10, 2026 to finish complete construction of the Empire Rowhomes and I know they are eager to finish well ahead of schedule on that,” said Troutman.

With those goals reached, the city and developers can move on to the next phase of the project, the renovations of the majority of the Empire building. The second phase, the “hotel section,” includes three retail spaces fronting Main Street, 37 hotel rooms on the second and third floors, nine apartments on the first floor and a renovation of the grand ballroom on the second floor.

The development is being headed by Charlotte-based developer Brett Kreuger and Josh Barnhardt, a local developer who has worked on the restoration of historic properties such as the Barnhardt Jewelers building and “The Salisbury” apartment building. Both Kreuger and Barnhardt were at the meeting on Tuesday and offered an update on the status of the renovations.

“We’re about 18 or so weeks in, and as you can see here all demolition is now complete. As (is common) with these 120-year-old buildings, half of the flooring structure was rotted or termite damaged, all sorts of fun surprises. So, we’ve removed about half of the flooring on the ground level and as you can see we’ve already reframed everything in there,” said Barnhardt.

Barnhardt added that the team, which was composed of six to 10 people working daily on site, is getting close to permits for the construction.

“Lots of work that’s occurred over the past four of so months, so (we) feel really good about where we’re at,” said Barnhardt.

The contract originally signed between DSI, Empire Row and the city includes a $100,000 option to purchase and $310,000 purchase price on the phase two portion of the Empire Hotel property.

The Empire, located in the 200 block of South Main Street across from City Hall, officially opened in the 1850s as the Boyden House, named after original owner L. L. Boyden. The building then underwent renovations under the direction of Colonel Oliver Wendall Spencer around the turn of the century and was reborn as The Central Hotel and finally the Empire Hotel.

Articles from a time when the hotel was still in operation painted it as the epitome of the Roaring ‘20s during that era, with a lively ballroom that made it the center of high society. It was eventually transformed into its final state a decade later, with many of the rooms being converted into apartments and temporary housing. The Empire would remain that way until it closed in 1963.

The Empire was owned by the Jonestown-based Ragdale family for most of the 1900s. Between its closure in 1963 and the purchase of the building by Downtown Salisbury, Inc. in 2007, the building was marketed as part of an N.C. Department of Commerce pilot project to attract commercial development in the 1980s, underwent multiple facelifts and has been the subject of countless redevelopment discussions.

After DSI bought the property, it had multiple plans in the works that ultimately ended just short of coming to fruition. In 2020, the organization issued another request for proposals for developers, which eventually led to Brett Krueger, a Charlotte-based developer with multiple boutique hotels and condos on his resumé, being picked. Krueger then brought local developer Josh Barnhardt on board.