BESSEMER CITY, N.C. — A passing train forced Bessemer City Mayor Becky S. Smith to pause her remarks for over three minutes Thursday afternoon during a ceremony celebrating a new downtown investment. Those few minutes seemed insignificant after local officials had already waited for years to see the redevelopment of the Osage Mill building.
Smith and several other local leaders gathered with WinnCompanies to mark the groundbreaking of the Boston-based group’s redevelopment of the 250,000-square-foot structure. WinnCompanies first announced in late 2021 that it would remake the facility into affordable workforce apartments. The developer’s project calls for a $35 million investment and will convert the mill building into 139 units for residents earning 60% of the area median income. The project is being targeted for completion in late 2024.
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Smith called the Osage Mill facility the city’s “most historic and iconic landmark.” It was built in the 1890s by Bessemer City founder John Askew Smith and operated for decades as a significant textile mill with hundreds of employees. The Osage Mill facility has sat mostly vacant in downtown since 1995 and, after years of city officials working to revive it, WinnCompanies put ceremonial shovels in the ground last week.
Read more and check out photos from the event here.
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