Julio Lopez carefully repaints letters on the Peacock-Salem Cleaners on July 18. Developer Ed Walker and others bought the vacant building from the City of Salem for future development.
Nearby neighbors of West Salem Body Shop development and anyone else who wants to know what is planned for the space at 8 West Main St. and downtown Salem area are invited in on Aug. 3 to ask questions and learn more about future plans for the building that dates to 1928.
The meeting is being put on by the developers and not the City of Salem, City Manager Kevin Boggess emphasized at a work session before the July 24 Salem City Council meeting. He suggested Councilmembers and staff not attend so that citizens can hear solely from the developers.
Developers Ed Walker and Brent Cochran – the major names in West Salem Body Shop LLC – are planning the meeting which is open to anyone interested, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. “They want to engage the public,” Boggess said.
In April, Council agreed to sell the vacant property for $160,000 to Walker’s group that intends to convert it into at least 10 apartments on the upper floor for downtown living and commercial use – preferably including a restaurant – on the ground floor.
Developers intend to seek historic tax credits and to renovate the building complying with preservation standards, Salem staff previously said.
Meanwhile, Walker’s visionary group is also planning a late September meeting for invited guests only at the former Valleydale meat packing plant that has been vacant for 11 years on Indiana Street in Salem, Boggess said. The developers are marketing the plant that produced bacon and ham for a possible brewery or other commercial uses. No date has been announced for that meeting.
The development group also has workers clearing out growth around Valleydale, and bushes growing through the roof at the former Peacock-Salem Cleaners, Boggess said.
Last week, painters were repainting the sign on the vacant cleaners’ brick building, which the same developers own and intend to offer for development. Peacock-Salem closed its storefront and former dry-cleaning plant in August 2012 after 77 years.
The major economic item at Monday night’s Salem City Council meeting concerned a tourism marketing plan, a tourism zone performance agreement and another with Spartan Development LLC, which is bringing in an extended stay hotel and restaurant on the Salem Civic Center complex grounds.
Last week the Economic Development Authority for Salem authorized the performance agreement among the EDA, the city, and Spartan Development. The hotel and restaurant planned to open in 2018 would get a 1 percent rebate from future sales tax generated, which would go toward financing the estimated $16-million construction.
The so-called “bridge gap funding” is eligible through the state’s Tourism Development Financing Program, City Manager Kevin Boggess explained.
Spartan Development is bringing in Staybridge Suites and a Bruno’s restaurant for the site near the corner of Boulevard and Texas.
The city manager said the cap would be $3.2 million or 20 years. The City of Salem would have no part in the debt, he emphasized. “The city is not obligating any funds. If the developer doesn’t pay off within 20 years, the city has no additional obligation,” he said.
The unanimous vote to approve – subject to review and approval by City Attorney Steve Yost and Virginia Tourism Authority, was 3-0, with Mayor Randy Foley, Councilmembers James Martin and Jim Chisom present. Vice Mayor Bill Jones and Councilmember Jane Johnson were absent.
In other actions, Salem City Council voted to approve on first reading, a request for a special exception for Ober Brewing, a family-owned microbrewery located in a former warehouse off Kesler Mill Road on Lakeside Circle, and a section to the city’s zoning ordinance allowing microbreweries and microdistilleries as commercial use types.
- David Ober was present to answer questions about the facility, which has plans to open a taproom within the year. There would be no distribution, unless Ober comes back for an additional special exception. He said the business, which he described as a small system, has a five-year lease. “We may try to distribute locally to better bars, and in phase 2, expand and add some jobs,” David Ober said. Including himself and wife Jennifer, there are currently five employees, he said. Salem home-brewer Carrie Cox spoke in favor of the application.
- In the application for the special use permit, the Obers said they plan to have a “gathering place for both locals and tourists to come together and enjoy the wonderful world of craft beer.” The application said the brewery plans to have eight beers on tap, have a variety of local food trucks, and to sell six-packs, growlers and limited edition beer releases.
- Ober is within a mile of Salem’s first brewery on Kesler Mill Road and the Hanging Rock Battle Trail Greenway, Parkway Brewing Co., which recently announced a $750,000 expansion and the addition of 13 jobs.
- Parkway and the City of Salem will sponsor another “Parkway Downtown” family friendly event on Friday night, Aug. 4, on the Salem Public Library lawn from 5-8 p.m. The city is in partnership with Salem City Schools and local community promotion group Salem 215 that night to “Pack the Bus” with school supplies for local students. There is no paid admission for the Parkway Downtown event, which will be followed by a ticket-required concert starting at 7 p.m. by Nashville headliner Craig Campbell at the Salem Farmers Market.