I posted the last post and then realized I broke my own rule of not posting on this stuff any more. So I'm getting back out. Lots of things have been going on behind the scenes to try and get the county moving in App's direction, both by DG and the university, and some members of the community from that direction. Templeton just jumped back in recently. I'll let others decide why. It looked like a deal was going to happen. Now it's muddy. Hopefully it breaks our way. We'll keep fighting for it since it's ready made for what App wants to do but for the rest, I'm done. Tired of all the infighting. Anyone wants to help just e-mail the County Commissioners and ask for App to be allowed to buy the property. Showing support to the Boone Town Council would not be a bad thing either. Even though they don't have control over who the county sells to they do control how much support they give to what goes in since it's in the town. You're all are smart enough to know what to say.

Here is some history of the WHS property and Tempelton Properties. They won the property via highest bid back in 2012, before backing out of the offer. Also details prior legal fights.

https://www.hcpress.com/news/templetons ... esday.html

firemoose wrote:I posted the last post and then realized I broke my own rule of not posting on this stuff any more. So I'm getting back out. Lots of things have been going on behind the scenes to try and get the county moving in App's direction, both by DG and the university, and some members of the community from that direction. Templeton just jumped back in recently. I'll let others decide why. It looked like a deal was going to happen. Now it's muddy. Hopefully it breaks our way. We'll keep fighting for it since it's ready made for what App wants to do but for the rest, I'm done. Tired of all the infighting. Anyone wants to help just e-mail the County Commissioners and ask for App to be allowed to buy the property. Showing support to the Boone Town Council would not be a bad thing either. Even though they don't have control over who the county sells to they do control how much support they give to what goes in since it's in the town. You're all are smart enough to know what to say.

I've said this before, but I think App should seek out a third party to co-develop the site with a hotel group that would build a full service hotel/conference center on part of the site along with our athletic facilities. This would keep some tax revenue flowing to the county, fix our facility issues, and fix our probably of having a full service hotel for visiting teams. Arkansas State did something similar a few years back, and it seems like we are in favor of the P3 projects based off of the end zone plans.

I still can't believe we didn't get eh land as part of a lands swap deal for the new high school.

That is one of the options that has been discussed. DG and others in the community are well aware of the need for the full service hotel and one of the issues that it would eliminate as far as other conferences go in regards to App. One we can't fix but the couple of others we can and that's one of them.

JTApps1 wrote:

firemoose wrote:I posted the last post and then realized I broke my own rule of not posting on this stuff any more. So I'm getting back out. Lots of things have been going on behind the scenes to try and get the county moving in App's direction, both by DG and the university, and some members of the community from that direction. Templeton just jumped back in recently. I'll let others decide why. It looked like a deal was going to happen. Now it's muddy. Hopefully it breaks our way. We'll keep fighting for it since it's ready made for what App wants to do but for the rest, I'm done. Tired of all the infighting. Anyone wants to help just e-mail the County Commissioners and ask for App to be allowed to buy the property. Showing support to the Boone Town Council would not be a bad thing either. Even though they don't have control over who the county sells to they do control how much support they give to what goes in since it's in the town. You're all are smart enough to know what to say.

I've said this before, but I think App should seek out a third party to co-develop the site with a hotel group that would build a full service hotel/conference center on part of the site along with our athletic facilities. This would keep some tax revenue flowing to the county, fix our facility issues, and fix our probably of having a full service hotel for visiting teams. Arkansas State did something similar a few years back, and it seems like we are in favor of the P3 projects based off of the end zone plans.

I still can't believe we didn't get eh land as part of a lands swap deal for the new high school.

This is probably the best option to get the town/county to buy in. Make the most use of the land year round while bringing revenue to the town/county. Moose pointed out in a different post that DG has proposed this, which is good enough for me. I will take his advice of e-mailing the county commissioner and trust DG and company have a good plan/proposal.

firemoose wrote:That is one of the options that has been discussed. DG and others in the community are well aware of the need for the full service hotel and one of the issues that it would eliminate as far as other conferences go in regards to App. One we can't fix but the couple of others we can and that's one of them.

Thats good to hear, and not surprising that DG and crew would have gone through multiple scenarios.

Got Track?

I think Templeton is a distraction and the property goes to the university. As someone else mentioned, the town doesn't control the sale but it's their playing field and their rules. They can make things easy or not so easy for any potential buyer. What we don't need is a gigantic student housing development on that property.

Concept based on Boone/App Buildings.
All buildings images were take from some height view on Google Earth
Hotel/Convention can be used for visiting teams.

BOONE — The Watauga County Commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday to sell the former Watauga High School property to Appalachian State University for $18,319,000.

For the 74-acre property off of N.C. 105, the university agreed to pay $15.5 million in cash and offer its old Lowes property on State Farm Road, which the county has eyed as a potential site for a new indoor recreation center.

Commissioners Billy Kennedy and Larry Turnbow voted to approve the sale, while Commissioner Jimmy Hodges voted against the motion.

A February 2016 appraisal by Sweeting Appraisal Services valued the old high school property — which has been on the market since the new high school opened in 2010 — at $16,794,000.

Last week, Watauga Democrat reported that both ASU and Templeton Properties had recently expressed interest in acquiring the property.

Commissioners John Welch and Perry Yates recused themselves from the consideration of offers for the property. Welch is an employee of ASU Athletics, and Yates is the son-in-law of Phil Templeton, owner of Templeton Properties.

In 2016, ASU discussed the old WHS property as a potential site for an expansion of athletic facilities. ASU Athletic Director Doug Gillin had noted last year that the property would already have a track, soccer and softball fields that could be useful.

This story is developing. Check WataugaDemocrat.com for additional information about this sale.

Tags
John Welch Sport Perry Yates High School Larry Turnbow Site Property Billy Kennedy
Kayla Lasure

Long time coming. Cost us out the butt considering what should have done in the first place, when the deal was made for the property that the new HS sits on. Lots of behind the scenes work went into this but we finally have the start for our Olympic Sports Complex and the setup to allow visiting teams to stay in Boone. As I said earlier, some issues we can't fix but some we can. This goes a long way to fixing a lot of them.

firemoose wrote:Long time coming. Cost us out the butt considering what should have done in the first place, when the deal was made for the property that the new HS sits on. Lots of behind the scenes work went into this but we finally have the start for our Olympic Sports Complex and the setup to allow visiting teams to stay in Boone. As I said earlier, some issues we can't fix but some we can. This goes a long way to fixing a lot of them.

I swear I had no idea this setup was so close when I suggested having a hotel/convention space on site last week!

With working in the in the hospitality industry though it just made so much sense. I'm thrilled with the work Gillin and crew have done in Boone!

One step closer to losing the track, awesome.

I assume this means bad things for the skatepark though...

Does anyone know why Jimmy Hodges voted against the motion?

AtlAppMan wrote:Does anyone know why Jimmy Hodges voted against the motion?

His quote in the linked article indicates he wanted to try and squeeze more $ out of either App or Templeton.

I believe he is a real estate broker/developer in Watauga. A good deal has to be a win-win for both parties not just a one sided deal.

Nothing about hotels and nothing definite moving the track from football field. I realize this is very early but these comments have no sizzle whatsoever. Disappointing.

“The purchase of the old Watauga High School property has the potential to meet a number of immediate needs and also offers significant strategic opportunities for the university,” said Paul Forte, vice chancellor for business affairs at Appalachian. “Being able to expand to this property means existing space on the main campus can be better utilized for classroom, lab, faculty offices and conference spaces, while expanding nonacademic student support services into the new space.”

Forte noted the property has 35 flat, buildable acres. “This can meet the needs we have now for parking and University Recreation facilities for all students, including multipurpose fields for Intramurals and Club Sports, as well as trails for additional recreational options for our university community as well as the community at large,” he said. Longer term options, Forte said, could include revitalizing the existing track, a location for new residence halls and the possibility of using the location to build a new campus daycare facility

We didn't spend 18.3 Mil to put up a new residence hall and a daycare. New hall is planned for the old Broyhill at last report. Not caring a whole lot about what Paul says at the moment. Given that nothing is set in stone until all the pieces are in place I didn't expect anything else from BA. But everyone involved knows what the ultimate goal is. First piece was getting the property. I said in an earlier post that several options were presented to the county and town, including a couple of variations of the pic included in the other thread. Discussions with everyone involved have taken place but they were theory until we actually got the property. Plans are now being put in action. We're also moving Intramurals and Club sports in order to squeeze some money out of the state. All this is in motion. I trust that DG and crew will do all they can to get the ultimate goal and best possible use of the land in place. They know what we need.

firemoose wrote:We didn't spend 18.3 Mil to put up a new residence hall and a daycare. New hall is planned for the old Broyhill at last report. Not caring a whole lot about what Paul says at the moment. Given that nothing is set in stone until all the pieces are in place I didn't expect anything else from BA. But everyone involved knows what the ultimate goal is. First piece was getting the property. I said in an earlier post that several options were presented to the county and town, including a couple of variations of the pic included in the other thread. Discussions with everyone involved have taken place but they were theory until we actually got the property. Plans are now being put in action. We're also moving Intramurals and Club sports in order to squeeze some money out of the state. All this is in motion. I trust that DG and crew will do all they can to get the ultimate goal and best possible use of the land in place. They know what we need.

I have total confidence in DG and company...