Turner's plans for old Aiken County hospital property include preservation, luxury condos, townhomes

Jul. 8—The future of the old Aiken County Hospital is in the hands of Tracey Turner, who was born and raised in this area, is a 1992 graduate of Midland Valley High School and has a keen interest in preservation and renovation.

"I'm very into restoring old buildings," said Turner, who has entered into an agreement with Aiken County to purchase the former medical facility for $950,000.

He has until March 31 of next year to finalize the deal.

"I'm hoping to close sooner than that," said Turner recently over lunch at What's Cookin' Downtown. "I'm trying to move pretty fast."

Built prior to World War II and located at 828 Richland Ave. West in Aiken, the old hospital is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Turner believes the 66,072-square-foot brick structure, which also served as Aiken County government's headquarters for a while, will be the ideal location for luxury condominiums.

"The windows will be a lot larger and some of the condos probably will have access to balconies, but the brick exterior still will be there," Turner said of the transformation he has in mind.

"A concierge at the door" and a rooftop deck, Turner added, also are included in his vision for the old hospital.

He's done some research that indicates such residences would appeal to people in their 50s and 60s who want to downsize.

"Their kids have graduated from college and they're no longer around, so they're selling their houses," said Turner, who is the CEO of Washington, D.C.-based Turner Development

Also part of Turner's plan is the construction of townhomes on the perimeter of the old hospital's 9.44-acre site. There also will be green space, a parking area near Morgan Street and a swimming pool behind the old hospital.

"What we'll try to do is preserve the historic look of the property while giving it a more urban feel," Turner said.

He would like to have a conceptual design completed by the end of the summer.

Turner said he already has talked to Aiken City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh and City Council member Lessie Price about what he would like to do with the old hospital.

Also in the near future, he wants to have an open forum so that people in the old hospital's neighborhood and others can express their thoughts.

"We'll have a true back-and-forth dialogue about what they want to see," said Turner, whose goal is to resolve any controversies early in the process of redeveloping the property.

Turner, 49, is a U.S. Navy veteran who has a degree in computer science from Southern University and A&M College in Louisiana.

"I worked for IBM for more than 10 years," he said. "I started in Charlotte, North Carolina, and then I moved to D.C."

In the nation's capital, Turner got involved in refurbishing homes, beginning with one where he wanted to live.

"I bought a house that needed rehab, and I eventually started doing it myself," he said. "That led to buying another house in the neighborhood and then another house. In a five-year span, I ended up buying like 11 houses and renovating them. I rented them out and sold some.

"Eventually, during an inspection process in one of the homes, a general contractor said, 'Hey you should get a license and do this on your own,' so I did," Turner continued. "I left IBM and started Turner Development. I won a few contracts with the District of Columbia Housing Authority and the electric company Pepco."

Locally, Turner is spearheading the development of the Weeping Willows subdivision between North Augusta and Clearwater.

In 2021, Turner Development purchased roughly 175 acres for the project for $1.222 million.

Work on the first phase of Weeping Willows has begun, and Turner said the subdivision would be, when completed, "a mixture of apartments, townhomes, single-family homes and a town center that will include restaurants, a grocery store, a brewery and event space."

Before Turner signed the contract to buy the old hospital, he said he had been thinking seriously about how it could be repurposed for two or three years.

Since 2018, Aiken County has failed to finalize other agreements to sell the old hospital with The Marian Group, WTC Investments LLC and Aiken Lofts Manager LLC.

The most recent one, a $2.094-million deal with Aiken Lofts Manager, was supposed to close Dec. 31, 2022.

After that didn't happen, there was a 30-day "cure period" during which Aiken Lofts Manager had another opportunity to complete the transaction, but it failed to do so.

Turner said he visited the old hospital with two engineers early this year and because of the building's "good bones," they were impressed with its potential.

"We were a little worried about mold and asbestos," Turner added, "but at the time, we didn't see any of that."

In February, following the collapse of the deal with Aiken Lofts Manager, Aiken County posted a request for bids on its website, but no offers were received by the March 28 deadline.

Turner submitted a proposal afterward to purchase the old hospital for $1 million.

Accompanied by six engineers from LaBella Associates, Turner walked through the old hospital again in June.

"Someone had stripped it of all the copper and when they were looking for the copper, they exposed asbestos," Turner said. "After the fire two years ago, the electric company moved the meter out, so there wasn't any power there."

Water in the basement was another problem.

In addition, old furniture, paper and "old HVAC stuff" needed to be removed, said Turner, who estimated he would have to spend more than $300,000 before his engineers could get a good idea of what was feasible for renovation purposes.

Turner asked County Council if he could reduce his offer by $100,000.

The panel's response wasn't the one he was hoping for, but Turner wasn't too disappointed.

"They didn't agree to the full ask, but what they did do is extend the closing date to March 31 of next year," Turner said. "My original offer was that I would buy it by the end of this year."

Eventually, Turner will be seeking other investors to join him in the venture.

"I want to have a solid plan first," he said. "If the concept is viable, which I think it will be, there won't be any issues with finding investors or obtaining other funding."