Apartments Proposed For Factory

MARTINSVILLE, VA - A North Carolina developer is seeking city permission to rezone a former furniture factory building on Rives Road and turn it into about 50 residential apartments. The Martinsville Planning Commission will review requests Thursday from The Landmark Group to rezone part of the property at 900 Rives Road from manufacturing to residential and also for a special-use permit to allow development of multi-family housing units.

The property is the site of the former Martinsville Novelty Corp. furniture plant, which closed in 1995. The 90,000-square foot building and 4.33 acres were sold to Fred Martin and Associates for $125,000 that year.

The Landmark Group, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., has proposed converting the building into "50 or 60 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for working families," said spokesman Mike Massoglia.

Details of the project have not been decided yet, pending approval from the city and other steps, Massoglia said. Assuming everything goes to plan, he said, it would take about a year and a half to complete the renovations, which is "pretty typical for an adaptive reuse such as this."

Massoglia estimated the project's cost at around $7.3 million. Similar projects have been made possible through historic property tax credits and Virginia Housing Development Authority funding, he said.

The Landmark Group, which is not affiliated with the health care management company of the same name, focuses on downtown renewal, historic preservation and affordable housing projects, according to its Web site.

The group has done more than 80 projects in the Southeast, the Web site said, and it handles the planning, financing, construction and property management.

Construction could start in mid- to late summer "if all goes well," said Community Development Director Wayne Knox. "I think this would be a good fit in that it would be high-quality new units and would also put a structure back on the tax rolls with a higher value," Knox said.

"It also would provide for much-needed housing choices within the city and county," he said, adding that low- to moderate-income housing is "a great need in our community."

The developer's housing projects are rented to tenants making 60 percent or less of the area's median income, adjusted for family size.

"There are a lot of steps in the process along the way," and plans "are contingent on a lot of things happening," Massoglia said.

The first is seeking approval from the city government. If approved by the commission Thursday, the requests will go before Martinsville City Council for consideration.

Then, an application would be submitted to the Virginia Housing Development Authority in May, Massoglia said.

"Hopefully, it will all come to fruition," Knox said. "I'm hoping the Planning Commission will be favorable to it as well as the council."

Knox and other city officials were scheduled to look at a similar development by The Landmark Group on Saturday during their tour of South Boston. City representatives have been visiting nearby localities to get ideas about revitalizing uptown and creating housing.

The Landmark Group has completed or is in the process of creating loft apartments from former mills or warehouses in places such as South Boston, Lynchburg and Danville.

In Danville, the group opened the Lynn Street Lofts last spring. The apartments were created in a mixed-use development in the Tobacco Warehouse Historic District, with commercial space on the street level of the building.

The Landmark Group typically owns the building, Massoglia said. Once housing is built, the group's Landmark Property Management Co. manages the rental units.

The company tries to "preserve the historic character" of the old buildings, Massoglia said.

"There are wonderful, wonderful opportunities with the high ceilings and exterior brick work," he said, but all apartments are "up-to-date, with energy-efficient appliances."

"It's a commitment to taking historic properties and converting them into beautiful places to live," Massoglia said.

The former Martinsville Novelty Corp. building was constructed in 1929, according to Martinsville Bulletin archives. It began under President D. Hurd Goode with about 35 to 40 employees making wooden occasional furniture.

The company focused on making goods such as coffee tables, end tables, bookcases and gun racks, all in a moderate price range. At one time, it employed as many as 125 employees.

When it closed in 1995, then-President Jay Busey said the company had been struggling for a number of years, mostly because of overseas competition.