OIC outlines $25 million plan to restore 224 Rose Street as behavioral health, workforce campus

Representatives from Opportunity Industrialization Center (OIC) presented a redevelopment proposal for 224 Rose Street, the former Memorial Hospital, that would combine expanded behavioral-health services on the first floor with workforce training and community programming on the second.

OIC officials told the Rocky Mount City Council Committee of the Whole on March 24 that the adaptive reuse project would preserve the buildings historic exterior, remediate significant interior deterioration, and create an integrated campus linking Edgecombe Community College, the Edgecombe Health Department and the nearby Rocky Mount Event Center.

Project team members described the building as roughly 13,000 square feet across two floors (about 6,600 square feet per floor) with three major wings. Due diligence has identified asbestos, mold, lead paint concerns, an underground storage tank near Atlantic Avenue, and unsuitable perimeter soils requiring 2 to 4 feet of removal and engineered replacement. The design team said the building will be gutted to the exterior walls, with an addition to add elevator and stair access between floors and a roof terrace intended for both OIC and community use.

OIC and its development partners described a capital stack built around a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing package. Presenters estimated about $25,000,000 in NMTC-related financing with roughly $7.66 million of NMTC equity and cited approximately $12,000,000 in OIC capital; they said additional owner-supplied medical equipment and FF&E would add to the total cost. The project team said it expects $13,000,000 in private capital tied to the development in downtown Rocky Mount and projected creation of roughly 25 new skilled jobs across healthcare and training programs.

Design and construction partners include Redline Design (architect), Hope Brothers Construction (design-builder), and Holt Brothers (design-build partner). Redlines architect described plans for eight therapy rooms, group therapy and nontraditional therapy spaces, clinical support space and lab space on the first floor; the second floor would house multipurpose classrooms, a community room of approximately 1,000 square feet, fitness and wellness space, and career-services programming tied to OICs workforce training.

OIC representatives emphasized unmet local behavioral-health needs. They said the organization currently refers 4,800 to 5,000 Rocky Mount residents to out-of-county providers for higher-level behavioral-health services and that bringing those services downtown would reduce travel for families and enable more integrated whole-person care alongside workforce programming.

Construction sequencing presented by Hope Brothers estimated completion of construction drawings in June 2025 and a roughly 13-month construction schedule beginning July 2025 and concluding in August 2026. Presenters said the application requires a written city incentive application and a public hearing under the downtown major investment incentive policy; staff indicated a public hearing will be scheduled for the April 14 council meeting and that a written application must be filed promptly.

Council members expressed broad support during the work session and asked detailed questions about the capital stack, timeline, services for homeless populations, regional service demand, site remediation costs, and equipment budgets. Project staff said remediation and subsurface improvements are expected to be significant and estimated site remediation costs (soil removal and replacement, potential helical piers) in the area of about $1,000,000, noting those are costs any developer would face on the site.

Presenters did not ask for final council action at the Committee of the Whole; the project team will submit a written application and appear for a public hearing on April 14. Detailed incentive amounts, final NMTC terms, and final construction contract guarantees will be brought to the council for formal approval if the application advances from the public hearing stage.