History may be repeating itself in downtown Franklin, but in a way that will be a boost to the local economy.
The Town of Franklin has received a technical assistance grant to study the possibility of restoring the old Scott-Griffin Hotel for a boutique hotel and rooftop restaurant.
The hotel would be located above Mossy Rock and Silver Threads & Golden Needles, next door to Outdoor 76.
Built in 1924, the four-story building was operated as a hotel with 36 guest rooms until the 1950s and featured an upper floor with a rooftop restaurant and garden. Longtime residents may remember the top floor as a dance hall.
The current retail space would remain on the street level along with the hotel entrance and lobby. The plan calls for renovation of the upper three floors to include 16-20 guest rooms. The rooftop restaurant will give guests a 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains. An elevator would be installed in part of the window well in the center of the building.
The estimated cost is $5 million to $7 million with the anticipated creation of 30 jobs, not including the workers hired to do the renovations.
During a presentation at the Monday night Town Council meeting, Town Planner Justin Setser said the project would achieve some of the goals in the comprehensive plan, help make downtown a destination and offer a new venue for weddings, reunions and other events.
“These goals are to activate the second stories in downtown, more outdoor dining and reuse and renovation of downtown buildings,” he said. Town leaders hope the project will also encourage other Main Street property owners to further develop their properties.
“This is an exciting opportunity,” said Town Manager Amie Owens.
“It will be a real boost for downtown Franklin,” said Mayor Jack Horton. “It will be a catalyst for a lot of other good things to happen.”
The building is owned by the Jacobs family. J.C. Jacobs owned and operated one of Main Street’s longest running businesses, People’s Department store, which opened in 1957 and closed in 2012. Outdoor 76 now occupies that space.
“It would tickle my dad to no end to know this could happen,” said Janet Jacobs Greene. “He always believed in Main Street. He wanted to see the town succeed. He was appreciative of the people who supported him and his businesses over the years. We’re just very grateful to be a part of it.”
Council Member Mike Lewis said the late vice mayor and local historian Barbara McRae always envisioned something like this for that building.
Council Member Stacy Guffey, who also owns a building on Main Street, said it can be difficult to find funding or loans for projects like this, especially involving historic structures. One of the benefits of working with Opportunity Appalachia is they help put together a funding package. “It helps break down the barriers for funding,” Guffey said.
To help make the project a reality, Opportunity Appalachia will work with private investors, banks, Community Development Financial Institutions, New Markets Tax Credits investors, Historic Tax Credit investors, Opportunity Zone investors and federal agencies to highlight participating communities and access financing for transactions.
Guffey is confident in the project’s potential because of Opportunity Appalachia’s success with similar projects. “I think it will be a game changer for Main Street.” He said having people stay downtown on a regular basis might be an incentive for businesses to stay open later or spur other business opportunities. “It’s multi-faceted what the benefits are.”
Guffey said he appreciates the staff taking the initiative to look for opportunities like this. “This is happening because we have a proactive staff,” he said.
Opportunity Appalachia
Opportunity Appalachia received 75 applications for technical assistance from across Central Appalachia (Southeast Ohio, East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, Southwest Virginia, and West Virginia), representing projects with anticipated costs over $369 million and requested TA worth more than $3.7 million. From the project pool, 34 projects listed were selected for participation, including nine in North Carolina.
Locally, the Nikwasi Initiative also received funding for the development of a 7,048 sq. ft. former auto sales building into a cultural learning center adjacent to the Noquisiyi Mound, the largest unexcavated Native American platform mound in the Southeast. The mound will be landscaped with native food plants that the ancestors of today’s Cherokee would have grown or foraged and it will present awareness of the Cherokee connection to nature. Estimated costs total $3.75 million with anticipated job creation of 10 construction jobs and 14 permanent positions.
Opportunity Appalachia will provide technical assistance to selected projects to support the development of investment prospectus, structuring of project financing, market research, operations planning, architectural design, and investor outreach.
Once project technical assistance is completed, an Investor Convening event will be held in early 2023 that will target both local and pre-vetted national investors, as well as federal and state funders.
With another smaller application round anticipated for Sept. 30 for applicants in Tennessee and Virginia, Opportunity Appalachia is expected to assist a total of 40 rural and downtown Appalachian communities to structure investments in real estate projects that support strategies for economic restructuring and diversification. This builds on the 2020-2021 Opportunity Appalachia efforts, which supported 17 projects seeking to raise over $250 million in financing.
The program is supported by the Appalachian Regional Commission, the U.S. Department of Treasury CDFI Fund, Truist, Goldman Sachs, and the Dogwood Health Trust.
Opportunity Appalachia is led by an eight-member consortium of regional and national organizations with expertise in financing and marketing that will support local projects to develop sophisticated investment packets geared toward prospective investors.
Opportunity Appalachia partners include Appalachian Community Capital, OhioSE, Opportunity Southwest Virginia/UVA-Wise, Mountain BizWorks, West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Main Street America, and Coastal Enterprises.