Posted 27 March 2005 - 05:48 PM
Here is some new information on the DT redevelopment of a mill that will turned into condos, retail, and restaurants. This is from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. It is a long article.
Modern mill
Development to bring residences, restaurants, retail and office space to historic site
BY CHUCK WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
A historic Columbus mill site dating back to the mid-1800s is on the verge of dramatic change.
The old Eagle & Phenix Mill that sits on the east bank of Chattahoochee River in downtown Columbus will be converted to residences, restaurants and office space. The project is projected to cost more than $50 million and take up to 10 years to complete.
The mill and 16 acres of prime riverfront real estate was purchased from the bankrupt Pillowtex Corp. for $5.8 million by the W.C. Bradley Co. more than a year ago.
Now, the Columbus company, with its partner Columbus-based Flournoy Development Co., is moving forward with plans to tear out non-historic chunks of the mill. That work began earlier this month.
That demolition -- which will leave six historic mill structures standing -- will open up a world of possibilities for reuse of the city's oldest industrial site.
"We hope at the end of the day it is a community within itself," W.C. Bradley Real Estate Division President Mat Swift said.
It is another significant investment step being made along the river.
Consider the recent riverfront expenditures:
• $100 million TSYS campus that opened in September 1999.
• $40 million Columbus State University performing and visual arts campus that is under construction and renovation at the base of Dillingham Street Bridge.
• $30 million expansion of the Columbus Convention & Trade Center that was complete last year.
• $22 million Synovus Centre, a five-story office building opened last year between 11th and 12th streets.
The more than $242 million in reinvestment -- counting plans for the Eagle & Phenix -- has happened along a one-mile stretch of urban riverbank.
The plans
Plans for the mill were developed over the last 18 months after visits to similar mill restoration projects in Savannah, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Greenville, S.C.
The Eagle & Phenix property includes multiple buildings with river views and river access.
There are three main mill buildings that will be used for residential purposes. Current plans -- which could and probably will change over the 10-year course of the project -- call for condominiums that will be sold to buyers in two buildings and rental apartments in the third building.
Developers expect between 50 and 60 condominiums, which could range in price from $125,000 to nearly $500,000 per unit.
"We looked at a lot of old mills and old mill buildings," Swift said. "The one thing that we found is there is a trend toward people owning their own units."
Tom Flournoy, president of Flournoy Development Co., said the condominiums will diversify the downtown residential population.
"Part of the reason for doing condominiums is to bring a different element -- a permanent resident," Flournoy said.
And those residents will have a major say in what their home looks like. The plans call for residents to be able to purchase certain square footage, then go in and design the interior -- room sizes and locations. The company is currently arranging focus groups with prospective buyers to discuss the possibilities.
In addition to the condominiums, there is a plan to turn Mill No. 3, the building closest to 12th Street, into an apartment building with up to 100 units. The ground floor space in that building will be marketed as the site of a grocery store.
There are four possible sites for restaurants along the backside of the mill buildings, facing the river. Plans also call for the Chattahoochee Riverwalk to run along the backside of the project. It will create a mixture of public and private access to the property.
Lisa Collins, president of Uptown Columbus Inc., has seen the plans for the mill site and said it will be a "shot in the arm" for continued downtown redevelopment. She expects the project will drive more people back to the central business district.
"The restaurants they are planning will give more people the opportunity to be able to enjoy those views of the river," Collins said.
Historic significance
Before the old mill property was purchased, W.C. Bradley officials began consulting with historical preservationist at Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Ray Luce, director of the department's Historical Preservation Division, has made two visits to the Eagle & Phenix Mill.
"We wanted them on board early," Swift said.
There are a couple of reasons for that.
• The mill, along with other riverfront mills from Bibb City to the Trade Center, are part of the National Historic Landmark. There are only 200 such landmarks in the state.
• The Historical Preservation Division holds the key to federal historic tax credits, which will make the project financially feasible. The project could qualify for millions in income tax breaks if approved.
Luce said the site holds major historical significance.
"You can see the layers of history on that site," Luce said. "It is a terribly important location. It is important to Columbus, it is important to Georgia, it is important to the South and it is important to the United States."
Luce said he is impressed with the plans to preserve and reuse the historically significant structures.
"The thing that is important is they are not trying to do it as a museum," Luce said. "They are going to reuse it, but they are also going to do something that retains the authenticity."
Developers will peel away more than 700,000 square feet of space. Most of that was built in the last 50 years and does not carry historic significance. What it will leave is a historic footprint from the early 1900s as the textile mill was expanding and flourishing.
When demolition is complete later this year, six historic mill structures dating back to the 1860s will be left standing between 13th and 12th streets.
"It will be similar to the 1910 look of the mill," Swift said.
Virginia Peebles, the outgoing executive director of the Historic Columbus Foundation, said the developers have been innovative in their approach to the project.
"They are doing what we have been preaching -- adaptive reuse," Peebles said.
In the 1990s, a riverfront mill was demolished to make way for the TSYS campus. That drew the ire of the state's Historical Preservation Division, though they could do nothing to stop it.
Peebles said by bringing the state officials into the conversation early, some of the problems of the past can be avoided.
"I just think Mat is trying to do the right thing," she said. "Perhaps everybody in Columbus has learned from past experiences."
The partnership
This is not the first time W.C. Bradley and Flournoy Development have formed a partnership for downtown redevelopment. Three years ago, they reworked three 11th Street buildings for 46 loft apartments and restaurant space.
"They did a great job on 11th Street," Swift said of Flournoy Construction Co.
The partnership works for several reasons.
The W.C. Bradley Real Estate Division has developed a number of large projects, including Maple Ridge golf community, Bradley Park and Brookstone Centre, a North Columbus office park. Flournoy Development Co. is one of the nation's largest apartment builders and property managers. The company, which owns its construction company, operates in more than 120 communities across the country.
The partnership between the two homegrown companies makes sense, Flournoy said.
Flournoy Construction Co. will do the construction work, while Flournoy Development Co. has experience in apartment leasing and management. The W.C. Bradley Co. brings riverfront development experience, real estate sales experience and commercial leasing experience to the deal.
"It makes for a good team," Flournoy said.
In addition to working on the redevelopment of the old mill properties, the two companies will also have the opportunity to build new buildings north of the 13th Street bridge. All of the mill buildings, none of which are historic, will be torn down, creating more than a block of wide-open riverfront property.
"It is a blank piece of paper," Flournoy said. "Do we put nice condominiums? Do you back it up with another office like the Synovus Centre? The only reason this is a 10-year program is because you have that blank piece of paper up there."
Swift cautions that plans will change as the project progresses.
"When we started development on Maple Ridge, I had an image in my mind of what it was going to be," Swift said. "Ten years later, it is totally different."
He said look at it this way:
"What we have is a concept of taking the mill back to a look of the early 1900s," he said. "But that is what it is, a concept."
@ Columbus being bigger than Augusta. 
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