White Mill redevelopment project announced
Inflation, worker shortages and supply chain issues have delayed the White Mill project and elevated its price tag.
“We have included a 10% cost-escalation factor due to inflationary factors,” said Dave Vos, development project manager for The Alexander Company in Madison, Wisconsin. “Supply-chain issues and labor shortages have extended the anticipated construction timeline by two months.”
All of those factors bring the cost of the project from $62.5 million to about $68.75 million. The Alexander Company, in a joint venture with the Danville Industrial Development Authority, plans to bring new apartments and new commercial space to the White Mill building along Memorial Drive on the former site of Dan River Inc.
Construction is scheduled to begin toward the end of the first quarter of 2022 and finish at the end of 2023, Vos said Friday.
Following the project’s announcement in May, Vos told the Danville Register & Bee that construction should begin the fourth quarter of this year, with completion projected by summer 2023, around the same time as the Caesars Virginia casino resort project at the former Dan River Inc. site in Schoolfield.
People are also reading…
Despite the challenges posed for the project, its scope remains unchanged, Vos said.
Supply-chain problems are not just affecting the White Mill project. They are being faced around the world.
“On a global level, teams are facing supply-chain challenges and we are seeing, through many projects, a slight delay in timelines related to this,” said Danville Economic Development Director Corrie T. Bobe. “We continue to work with The Alexander Company on moving this project forward to completion of this project in 2023.”
Dave Vos, development project manager for The Alexander Company, explains the redevelopment project for the White Mill building just after its announcement at the Danville Family YMCA on May 10. The price tag for the project has increased and construction is being delayed due to rising costs of materials, labor shortages and supply-chain issues.
Currently, the company is finalizing architectural, engineering and environmental remediation plans, Vos said. Partnership agreements, financial due diligence and permitting must be complete before construction can begin, he said.
Environmental work will be performed at the onset on construction toward the end of he first quarter of next year, Vos said.
“We’re looking forward to the opportunity of partnering with the city of Danville to return this historic icon back to its former grandeur, and back to being a vital contributor to the city it was built to serve,” Vos said.
Plans include 110,000 square feet of commercial space, 150 apartment units (with an additional 100 units in the future) and 219 interior parking spaces. Also in the works would be restoration of the covered bridge that spans the Dan River from the north side of the White Mill to the former Long Mill site. The bridge will be for pedestrians and will connect the north and south sides of the Riverwalk Trail.
And there are plans to use the canal on the south side of the building as a whitewater feature and to provide about 1.12 acres fronting the Dan River for an extension of the Riverwalk Trail.
The IDA and Alexander formed a company, called 424 Memorial Drive, LLC, that jointly owns the property.
Alexander Company will oversee construction of the residential portion of the project, and the IDA will be in charge of the commercial part, Danville Economic Development Director Corrie T. Bobe said.
Site Collaborative, an architectural firm in Raleigh, North Carolina, designing a planned nearby riverfront park, is performing the site design for the project.
The apartments will come in 1-, 2- or 3-bedroom units for rent, Vos said, with 1-bedroom units renting for between $840 and $980 a month, and the 2- and 3-bedroom apartments will rent for $1,000 to $1,200 and $1,170 to $1,490, respectively, Vos said.
Vos said that 25% of the apartments would be set aside to make housing available for individuals and families earning between $30,000 and $50,000 a year.
Construction on the project “will generate additional excitement throughout our community as we see our river banks transformed over the next year and a half,” Bobe said.
