Third and final in a series of three articles
By: Susan Moffat-Thomas, retired Executive Director Swiss Bear Downtown Development
The City of New Bern had tried unsuccessfully to redevelop the remaining 12-acre urban renewal vacant parcel on the Trent waterfront for 13 years. Many plans and efforts to redevelop the property never generated any productive proposals. Developing a high-quality waterfront redevelopment project was needed to establish a new market of recreation and tourism, critical to downtown’s revitalization effort.
In early 1983, in partnership with City Manager, Tony Hooper, Swiss Bear under the leadership of Harold Talton, Chairman and Marvin Davis, Executive Director began to aggressively solicit and recruit a developer to construct a traditional hotel. Knowing the numbers were weak, an Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) was needed to make a project possible. Marvin met with businessmen in Mt Airy who had worked with HUD and knew developers who would be able to put a deal together. Although several developers put proposals together, of four proposals received, only two were considered viable enough for the City’s consideration.
In November 1983, following their presentations, the Board of Aldermen selected and granted Maurice Elledge and Associates, 120 days for the exclusive right to complete a market analysis, secure a franchise, and develop a project financing plan. In May 1984, Maurice Elledge and Associates submitted a letter of commitment to Mayor Paul Cox on behalf of the Trent Development Associates, for development of a 100 room Sheraton Hotel with a meeting center and retail space, a 100-slip boat marina and a pedestrian river walkway to be located on 8.5 acres of the City’s redevelopment land with a total cost of $10.1 million, creating approximately 160 new jobs. The commitment was contingent upon the City getting a $2.5 million UDAG. Without it, the project could not move forward.
The UDAG program (only cities could apply) was designed for projects that could not take place without the grant. If the city did acquire a grant, the project would be financed with a $5.5 million conventional first mortgage debt, $1.6 million in developer equity and $2.5million in UDAG funds. The City would facilitate the acquisition of the project site by taking back a $520,000 purchase money mortgage on the property. The developer, J. C. Faw and Richard Vaughn, would be the primary investors.
In October 1984, the grant amount was reduced to $1.5 million. To strengthen the City’s chance of getting it approved, the project plan continued to have modifications. The project required the less than market rate UDAG because there was substantial piling and fill associated with the waterfront development project and the developer would be paying the entire cost of the convention center and waterfront promenade for the public’s use. The mix of private financing and below market UDAG would induce private investment and make this very important project possible.
In 1984, 330 cities submitted UDAG applications in the 4th quarter of the federal fiscal year. New Bern placed eighth on the list of cities not receiving funding in the first round and was among a few carried over to the next quarter of funding to be announced by the end of October 1984.
Although politics didn’t normally enter into the Action Grant selection process, being an election year, a great deal of work took place behind the scenes. U.S. Senators Jesse Helms and John P. East, U.S. Representative Walter B. Jones and Floyd Lupton were inundated with letters from local and state community leaders and elected officials encouraging their support of the pending UDAG application, critical to the creation of 160 new jobs and the future growth of the city.
On Thursday, November 1, 1984, the front-page headlines in the Sun Journal announced City Wins $2 million Development Grant. City hall officials were ecstatic. “This is a great day for the town,” said Mayor Cox. “There’s only one way to feel – glorious”. City Manager Tony Hooper said “If everything goes smoothly, the city could receive the UDAG funds by January 1, 1985”. Swiss Bear Chairman Joe Stallings said, “this project received 100% support from the community and the long-term efforts of putting together a comprehensive project of this nature is a tribute to our area.” “This will be the seed of a tremendous amount of development. It’s really just the tip of the iceberg,” said Marvin Davis. Chamber Director, Mike Tiddy, said “the grant may be the most important project since the restoration of Tryon Palace”.
Under the terms of the award, Elledge was to repay the city at six percent interest in the project’s sixth and seventh years and eight percent interest for the rest of the 25-year loan. The city was required to use the developer’s pay back money for other economic or community development projects.
The next steps required submission of a design and site plan for the proposed structure and landscaping to a local Historic Preservation Commission committee (HPC) and the NC Department of Cultural Resources (DCR) to determine the proposed project’s effect on New Bern’s Historic District. Archaeological investigations, conducted in 1981 by Archaeological Research Consultants, in that general area discovered stratified archeological remains of some historical significance. Since this portion of the Trent River waterfront was heavily used for wharf and waterfront activities, a thorough program of archeological testing was required. The Kellenberger Historical Foundation funded this phase of the project.
By May 1985, the conditions were met and approved, the Board of Aldermen closed on the redevelopment property, and the ground breaking was held in June, and the hotel and marina opened in December 1986. Prior to the development of the marina, few if any boats came up the Neuse River to spend time in New Bern, however, as hoped, the hotel was soon filled with tourists and the marina slips were filled to capacity. One year later, the increase in the number of visitors led to the development of a new Ramada Hotel and marina complex, across the Trent, on the James City shoreline, that was constructed on a parcel of land that was a used tire storage site.
The energy and leadership invested by the city, County, Swiss Bear, and many others brought new life and activity back to downtown’s waterfront, a catalyst for expansion of the tourism industry.