Acme-McCrary building’s future: Luxury apartments

ASHEBORO — The historic 1909 Acme McCrary Hosiery Mill building located at 159 North Street is set to become a market-rate luxury apartment building with mixed use commercial space. 

That’s the word unveiled last week by Downtown Asheboro Incorporated (DAI), which purchased the building from the City of Asheboro at the appraised value for the purpose of historic preservation and has sold the structure to Clachan Properties.

In a press release, DAI Executive Director Addie Corder unveiled that DAI expressed interest in preserving the historic property when the city initially purchased the site by using grant funding from the North Carolina General Assembly. 

While the city was preparing the structure for preservation — including rezoning the property for office and residential uses, landmarking the building with the Randolph County Historic Landmark Preservation Commission, and removing a 20,000-gallon furnace oil tank and conducting subsequent filings with the NC Department of Environmental Quality — DAI formulated a strategy for attracting a developer for the property. 

The DAI Board of Directors sought a redevelopment partner that could provide market-rate housing opportunities to round out the residential inventory downtown. The Board also wanted a partner that would provide additional commercial market opportunities as the vacancy rate has been less than 5% for commercial properties downtown since 2021. 

DAI selected Clachan Properties as their intended partner for the project based off their experience executing historic preservation projects. 

“Our organization is excited about this partnership and the economic impact it will create for the downtown district,” Corder said. “With Randolph County expected to grow by 100,000 residents over the next 5-10 years, this development provides an excellent opportunity to create more residential units in the city while honoring Asheboro’s heritage rooted in the textile industry.”

Founded in 2003, Clachan Properties specializes in the acquisition, renovation and management of historic properties. The company’s headquarters is in Richmond, Va., but its portfolio includes properties in Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Burlington. 

Clachan Properties manages more than 1,000 rental units in settings ranging in size from single-family homes to large luxury apartment communities.

“When construction is complete, we’ll be bringing much-needed, market-rate housing to join an already vibrant downtown,” Hugh Shytle, President of Clachan Properties, said in the DAI press release. “While there are still a number of historic and other approvals required before we can start construction, we’re eager to start clearing those hurdles.”

The $25 million investment by Clachan will rehabilitate the last vacant building of the Acme McCrary campus.

The anticipated rehabilitation project complements downtown’s continued revitalization. 

“The city council very much wants to see this iconic building preserved,” Asheboro Mayor David Smith said. “Hearing that it will also be repurposed in a way that supports downtown’s revitalization is the definition of a win-win in my book.”

The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014 and was landmarked locally by the city council upon the recommendation of the Randolph County Historic Landmark Preservation Commission in 2023. 

Special care will be given in the renovation project to preserve architectural elements of the structure that are original to the building, including the low pitch gable roof, double thickness wood floors and the multi-pane wood sash windows. 

The development is in the early design phase with specific details, such as the ratio of non-residential to residential space, number of apartments and provisions for parking to be determined. The conveyance does include the surface parking lot on North Street next to the City Recreation Center.

Downtown Asheboro Inc. (DAI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to creating a vibrant downtown district through preservation-based community revitalization. The mission of DAI is accomplished through a dynamic public-private partnership, uniting downtown stakeholders, the City of Asheboro and institutional partners who share a common vision of a thriving Asheboro. To learn more about DAI, visit www.downtownasheboro.com.