ROCKINGHAM — The former Food King building is on the auction block.
The Rockingham City Council approved a resolution to authorize the sale of the property by electronic public auction during its meeting on Oct. 13.
The building has been listed with Iron Horse Auction Company, based in Rockingham, and is described as a “versatile property” divided into five units for retail, restaurant or office spaces.
According to Assistant City Manager John Massey, the largest space is around 3,000 square feet, “and they step down from there.”
City Manager Monty Crump clarified that the only thing being sold is the footprint of the building.The parking lot and area behind the building will still belong to the city.
Bidding is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Nov. 2 and conclude at 2 p.m. Dec. 1. The sale is subject to the council’s approval of the highest bid, which could be as early as the Dec. 8 meeting.
The city purchased the former grocery store building on the corner of East Washington and Randolph streets for $60,000 in 2018. The original estimated cost of repairs and upfitting was $2.5-3 million.
More than $1 million in state funding was used to help with renovation costs, including $300,000 from the state budget and a $750,000 grant from the N.C. Department of Commerce Rural Economic Division.
In February of 2024, the city struck a deal with Wampum Holdings to finish renovating the property, with it being conveyed to the company upon completion and the meeting of several terms.
Under the terms of that agreement, Wampum was to spend $1.1 million on improvements and“provide for the employment” of 10-15 people paid at or above Richmond County’s median wage.
If Wampum failed to meet those requirements, the property was to revert back to the city.
Crump told the RO after the meeting that the city and Wampum have mutually agreed to terminate the agreement — following the pending criminal charges levied against managing member Tim Hayden.
(All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.)
According to Crump, the city reimbursed Wampum for the expenses it incurred.
Prior to that, the city adopted a resolution authorizing the advertising of electronic auctions by electronic means only.
Later in the meeting, the council approved a resolution to amend the capital project ordinance for the wastewater treatment plant improvements, regarding revenues and expenditures.
Last month, the city council awarded the construction contract to Harper General Contractors, based in Greenville, South Carolina, for $12,707, 022.
“We had an ordinance in place, it was based on estimates,” Crump said. “Now that we know all the costs, we can go in and amend the ordinance to accurately reflect the amount of funds that are coming in, what the expected expenditures are.”
Crump added that there’s a contingency of $1,329,892, adding, “hopefully we’ll be well under that amount."
In September 2024, the city formally accepted a $12.8 million Direct Projects grant administered through the Drinking Water Reserve and Wastewater Reserve to assist local governments with addressing infrastructure needs.
Crump said he has been in talks with local legislators about getting additional appropriations to “absorb some of the local funds” when the General Assembly is back in session.
This will be the first major upgrade to the plant since 1990 and will include increasing efficiency of sludge handling and backup power generation, as well as allow the city to move forward in becoming a regional wastewater treatment plant.
