Plans set for Acme McCrary Hosiery Mill building in Asheboro

Here’s the site of the Acme McCrary Hosiery Mill in downtown Asheboro. (Courtesy photo)

ASHEBORO – The 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.

Downtown Asheboro Inc. 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.

“We know they do great work and have a great track record,” said Addie Corder, executive director of Downtown Asheboro Inc.

The mill shut down operations about nine years ago. From there, a manufacturing distribution company sought to occupy the building, but city officials were concerned about truck traffic in that part of the city. So the city purchased the building with 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 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality — Downtown Asheboro Inc. formed a strategy for attracting a developer for the property.

That process took about 2½ years.

The Downtown Asheboro Inc. board of directors sought a partner that would provide additional commercial market opportunities as the vacancy rate has been less than 5 percent for commercial properties downtown since 2021. Clachan Properties was selected based on its experience executing historic preservation projects, 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,” she said.

Founded in 2003, Clachan Properties specializes in the acquisition, renovation, and management of historic properties. While the company’s headquarters is in Richmond, Va., their 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.

“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,” Clachan Properties president Hugh Shytle said in a statement. “When construction is complete, we’ll be bringing much needed market-rate housing to join an already vibrant downtown.”

May Hosiery Lofts, a redeveloped mill turned into apartments that opened prior to the pandemic in downtown Burlington, is Clachan Properties’ closetst project to Asheboro. Corder said she has seen the company’s project in Winston-Salem.

The Acme McCrary Hosiery Mill 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.

According to Downtown Asheboro Inc., 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. This $25 million investment by Clachan will rehabilitate the last vacant building of the Acme McCrary campus.

“The city council very much wants to see this iconic building preserved,” 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.”

Corder said there’s no hard deadline for Clachan Properties to complete the project, though there are guidelines set to be achieved.

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

Mill 133 project

Various stages to secure funding regarding Mill 133, which is located behind The Table restaurant, have been navigated by private investors, Corder said.

It’s potentially a project, located at 133 South Church St., that involves historic designation tax credits. It was built in 1917 as Asheboro Hosiery Mill and Cranford Furniture Company.

Downtown Asheboro Inc. is assisting with that. It’s a smaller now-former mill with less than 50,000 square feet.

Corder said downtown preservation is part of the planning stages for the Mill 133 project. That site might be more suitable for something other than apartments, she said.

“(Other projects) further increases demand for hotels,” she said. “There’s some hospitality-related development that could come from that.”