A Brand New Day – Signs of Afton redevelopment, clean-up of old Town Hall appear

On Tuesday, August 10, some draping on the fence surrounding the Afton Inn shell appeared, along with a graphic post of plans for the redevelopment of the 153-year-old building site dating to its 1868 opening as the Montrose Inn during the Civil War “Reconstruction” era. A 2023 completion was cited for the building planned for redevelopment in a combination of upscale apartments on upper floors and commercial spaces on the first floor and in a building addition on the North Royal Avenue side. For Royal Examiner’s coverage of developer 2 East Main Street LLC’s plans for the site, see the linked late December 2020 story “From Town Eyesore to Downtown Anchor: Reimagining the Afton Inn”.

On Thursday, August 12, Front Royal Town Manager Steven Hicks issued a press release citing 2 East Main LLC’s movement into the second phase of its redevelopment plan, and current cooperation between the Town and developer. Were only that it had always been that way.

What a long, strange trip it’s been – After years of delays and aborted plans, Front Royal’s Historic Downtown Business District appears on the verge of getting a long-sought “facelift”. Below, a closer look at graphics illustrating the Afton Inn redevelopment plan. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

Coincidentally, the same day some cleanup work was seen at the old Town Hall building across North Royal Avenue, for which the Warren County Economic Development Authority (EDA) “swapped” to gain control of the Afton site for marketing for redevelopment in 2014. The move became necessary after then Afton owner Frank Barros decided to let the Afton Inn shell sit deteriorating after, in a questionable move, the Front Royal Town Council decided to sue its own Board of Zoning Appeals to reverse the BZA decision to allow Barros’s redevelopment plan, including a first-floor indoor fountain, to proceed. That 2007-08 BZA review was necessary because the plan would result in the renovated Afton Inn being about 10-feet taller than the Warren County Courthouse across the street. Building taller than the courthouse downtown was and is forbidden by town zoning codes.

His plans shelved by the Town’s legal action against itself, Barros refused to communicate with the Town, even threatening legal action for harassment if continued attempts to contact him were made. The EDA intervened on the Town’s behalf, gaining developmental ownership, and offering Barros the “swap” for the vacant old Town Hall dating to the late 1930s which the town government had recently abandoned as too small for its continued use as the town government center, though in much better physical shape than the Afton Inn.

Some cleanup work was spotted down the block on old Town Hall, the same day the new fencing draping and graphic plan appeared at the Afton Inn site. A promising sign, or just a reaction to a recent council call for agreed-upon maintenance? – Time will tell. Below, the County Courthouse played into an inexplicable 2007-08 council decision to sue its own BZA to halt Afton redevelopment plans of then-owner Frank Barros.

Current part-time Town “Business Development Project Manager” and recent Interim Mayor and Interim Town Manager Matt Tederick made several appearances before Town Council in 2014, vocally leading opposition to the swap. The current Afton redevelopment plan was delayed for a good part of 2020 during Tederick’s recent interim stint with the Town, as the Town claimed ownership of the Afton, blocking the EDA’s Afton sale to 2 East Main LLC. But eventually, with the EDA-2 E. Main LLC deal facing a deal-killing deadline and the Town’s $750,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and downtown façade improvement funding linked directly to Afton redevelopment plans, the town government relented, allowing the sale and planned redevelopment effort to resume after over six months of delay through 2020.

Another confusing, but not atypical chapter in the governmental soap opera sometimes affectionately(?) known as the “Helltown Chronicles”.