Home Local News Rockingham Council Approves Bid for Bank Building

Rockingham Council Approves Bid for Bank Building

The Richmond Observer will be moving into the former CommunityOne Bank building after the Rockingham City Council approved the purchase Tuesday.
William R. Toler

ROCKINGHAM — One small business owner is hoping to expand and help others with the purchase of an old downtown bank building.

Kenny Melvin, along with his son, Charlie, and wife, Leah, put in a $53,000 bid for the former CommunityOne Bank property at a public auction and the city council approved the purchase Tuesday night.

“It gets another property back in the hands of private investors” and on back on the tax books, Councilman Bennett Deane said.

The city bought the property, which included the bank and the old Classic Apparel buildings, for  $250,000 in 2015 as part of an agreement with CommunityOne and Fidelity banks.

At the time, City Manager Crump said the building would be demolished to provide more parking for the Rockingham Police Department.

“We looked at the building and realized it’s really too nice to do that, to spend that kind of money,” Crump said Tuesday. “So if you can put in back on the market and get an investor, I think it’s going to work out perfect for them.

Putting a local business in the building to generate foot traffic will do “exactly what we would want to do anywhere else,” he said.

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“A year ago, we were trying to get rid of the building,” he added. “It served the purpose that we needed — we saved the bank, we got the additional parking, we sold the building that used to be the woman’s clothing store. Out of all that a lot of good things happened.”

Melvin, who owns the Richmond Observer, said he plans to use the upstairs section for the operations of the online publication and its subsidiaries, Live at 5, Good Morning Sandhills and the R.O. Sports Show.

For the downstairs section, Melvin aims to parcel out the space and start an incubator program for small businesses and have a space for the community to use.

“The city can’t do but so much,” he said, adding the local government has “done a good job trying to bring business into downtown.”

According to Melvin, entrepreneurs employ more people than large corporations and they have have to get their start somewhere. He said there aren’t many downtown buildings that are as easily convertible as the former bank.

“I think it says a lot when the private sector takes on” helping smaller businesses, he said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for us to give back to the community … and it’s a great opportunity for the community.”



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Managing Editor William R. Toler is an award-winning writer and photographer with experience in print, television and online media.