City Oks Tax Credit for Historic Redevelopment of Downtown Building
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Anderson City Council moved forward on a contract to upgrade sewer lines, approving historic tax credits for an abandoned building on the edge of downtown, a pair of rezoning requests and approved a contract on crosswalks as part of Monday’s regular meeting downtown.
The city is hoping to breathe new life into historic downtown properties with a proposed $600,000 rehabilitation project on the corner of North Main Street and East Calhoun Street which will house P.F. Meat Co. Butchery & Market, which also has a Pendleton location. The business, which offers locally sourced meats and groceries – including fresh beef, pork and chicken cut to order – as well as local eggs, milk, bread and pastries hopes to open in Anderson later this year.
The project was announced more than a year ago, but has faced some delays. See original story here.
The building which housed James Hanks Gulf Station for more than 40 years and which was later a BP station and most recently a Yellow Taxi hub, will be refurbished under the city’s special tax assessment program for rehabilitated historic properties. The South Carolina Bailey Bill, which allows local governments to encourage the preservation of historic properties by freezing a building's pre-rehabilitation assessed value for a set number of years to allow property owners to make large investments without being immediately penalized by skyrocketing property taxes. To qualify for the program, developers must prove that their rehabilitation costs will exceed the fair market value of the income-producing property. The North Main Street property currently has a fair market value of $450,000. The new project’s estimated $600,000 in project costs, clears the financial hurdle. Because the total investment falls into the under $2 million category of the city's guidelines, the developers are eligible for a seven-year special tax assessment period.
Once the city council formally approves the initial resolution, the application will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the Board of Architectural Review.
Also on Monday, Council approved a contract with Champion Cleaning Specialists, Inc. of Cincinnati, in the amount of $829,916.76, along with authorization for up to an additional $1,195,083.24, for a total project authorization of $2,025,000 as part of a project that includes lining approximately 3,131 feet of 8-inch to 12-inch diameter pipe, approximately 2,304 feet of 6-inch pipe and the rehabilitation of approximately 25 manholes. The additional $1,195,083.24 represents the remaining unallocated balance after deducting the low bid amount from the total grant and matching construction funds. Since bids came in lower than anticipated, the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Grant has indicated the city may have the opportunity to expand the scope of the project.
The upgrades are part of the other investments and upgrades, including fiber internet lines, under main street in preparation for paving from Tribble Street to Franklin Street.
Updating the city’s crosswalks is also part of this work, and council on Monday approved continuation of the process of replacing the existing downtown brick-paver crosswalks. Fourteen crosswalks have replaced brick-paver and concrete crosswalks with the standard downtown concrete crosswalk design. This continuation of the project will consist of the repair of 13 and replacement 17 of the 30 downtown crosswalks by Southern Concrete and Construction Inc, of Anderson, at a cost of $333,645.
Council gave first reading approval, by a split 5-4 vote, to a request to rezone the property on East Greenville Street to General Commercial to allow the building of a Papa Bear Car Wash. The two properties, 1502 and 1504 East Greenville Street just north of Sonic Drive-In, are currently zoned for Residential Commercial, which allows just businesses as bakeries or dry cleaners. A new commercial designation would be required to allow a business such as a car wash on the properties.
Those who voted against the rezoning most often cited traffic concerns for their denial of the request. Councilman Jeff Roberts, Seat 3, also reminded council they were not voting on a car wash but on the future use of the properties in question.
East Greenville Street between Belview and Simpson Road currently is home to three areas designated General Commercial, the Anderson Pavillion Shopping Center which houses Publix, the former Windsor Place Shopping Center which is now being developed by AnMed Health for their purposes and the shopping center at the corner of Greenville Street and Simpson Road which once housed Bi-Lo.
Council members asked those petitioning to provide more information and the potential for a tree line on the car wash property before final consideration on the rezoning.
A rezoning for property at 1200 South Towers Street to multi-family residential was approved to allow the owner of the 16,000 square foot lot to be subdivided to allow four new homes be built on the site.
