Developer asks Anniston for help advancing McCollum Historic Industrial District apartment project

John Kennedy, a property owner and developer, told the Anniston City Council he is seeking city assistance to complete a planned conversion of 10 historic buildings in the McCollum Historic Industrial District into market-rate apartments.

Kennedy said the buildings — which include vehicle maintenance shops, stave buildings, original stables and a blacksmith shop — are masonry and steel structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places and that the project has captured state and federal historic tax credits and has been approved for a HUD 221(d)(4) loan.

"We own 10 of those historic buildings," Kennedy said. "We're redeveloping them as a 60 unit, market rate apartment community. Phase 1 is 79 units." He later described the unit mix as "51 bedroom units, 26 2 bedroom units." Kennedy also said contractors likely will be brought in from Birmingham and Atlanta to complete the work.

Why it matters: Kennedy told the council the site is ready for construction but that financing and site-specific costs are holding the project. He said an 18-inch city sewer line runs beneath one of the buildings and that relocating it would cost about $4,000,000, creating a key hurdle for the conversion. He also cited higher interest rates and a roughly 30% rise in construction costs since the pandemic.

Kennedy asked the council to consider incentives or other assistance to reduce development costs. He said the project team has negotiated the preservation plan with the National Park Service and the State Historic Preservation Office and has already captured preservation credits, but that the project does not fit some other incentive programs. "We don't fit in that box. No," he said when asked about new markets tax credits, and he later added, "This is market rate. Now we can fit in the workforce housing box. . . . With historic tax credit, you can't get workforce housing tax credits. So you don't have to let you double dip it."

A council member said staff would conduct an economic impact analysis of the proposal. Kennedy said he will return with a fuller package of facts, figures and any specific requests for incentives or assistance.

Kennedy also described local housing demand and occupancy: "I believe 49% of the folks that work in the city of Anniston actually commute from out of town," and he said many existing apartments in the city are aged and that current occupancy levels are high. "Right now, you're 95% occupied in all your apartments here in Anniston," he said, arguing the project would add needed market-rate supply.

Kennedy invited council members and staff to visit the site. "If y'all like to come out and visit the site, you're welcome to come on out," he said, adding that the project is "well designed" and largely bid-ready but paused while the team addresses financing and the sewer relocation.

Next steps: Kennedy said the developer will provide detailed requests and that staff will complete an economic impact analysis before the council considers any formal incentive package or other action.