Large Danville buildings need creative problem solving

Those spacious, empty buildings in downtown Danville served a purpose for past industry. Now what?

Called “white elephants” in the development world, these buildings present rehabilitation challenges, but offer unrealized potential, development experts told about 100 business and community leaders at the Virginia Downtown Development Association’s regional luncheon in the Pepsi Building on Craghead Street on Wednesday.

“They’re right in front of you and you have no idea what to do with them,” said Scott Smith, Virginia association president. “The industries that built those buildings — they’re just not coming back. They’re not.”

Historic industrial towns throughout the region face the same paradox, said Bob Adams, president of Housing and Development advisors. Redeveloping these buildings and implementing large-scale projects proves challenging when they reside in small markets.

Banks and lenders worry about the large scale of the projects and the possibility of “overshooting” the market, he said. On one side, large buildings can impact communities, create mixed-use opportunities and design flexibility.

The downside? The larger the project, the bigger the risk, Adams said. Add that to the current economic environment.

“We’re really in a disrupted credit market right now,” Adams said.

That’s why the city, its Office of Economic Development and other community partners collaborate with developers to ensure these buildings don’t go to waste.

“Our attitude is we do not have problems,” Mayor Sherman Saunders said. “We have opportunities to make things better.”

Dave McCormack, president of Waukeshaw Development, Inc. of Petersburg, agreed. McCormack plans to convert Hylton Hall into senior housing and works to redevelop Dan River Inc.’s No. 1 Mill into apartments with a commercial space on the bottom floor.

He appreciated the city already rezoning the tobacco warehouse district and then also writing a master lease to back up the project to lenders.

“It’s going to take creativity with local governments to get these developments back off the ground and back on the tax rolls,” McCormack said.

McCormack believes rehabilitating old and historic buildings is the future of development in a time when people don’t want to waste gas money. These large buildings tend to be in downtowns where people can walk, bike, take city buses and easily visit the community market and museums.

He admits he is biased against sprawl and like architect Emmett Lifsey of Lynchburg, sees this kind of development as “recycling” and “sustainable.”

Sonja Ingram, field representative with Preservation Virginia in Danville, learned the economic development side of preservation Wednesday.

She doesn’t want to see buildings deteriorate to a point of needing to be demolished and thinks Danville should see these buildings as a resource.

“All you have to do is look around,” Ingram said, “There’s a lot of opportunity.”