Dobbins Heights partners with developers, nonprofit to address town’s needs

DOBBINS HEIGHTS — The Town of Dobbins Heights last week agreed to move forward with two long-term projects that could reshape the community for years to come.

Representatives from the Charlotte-based Calhoun Group Realty LLC pitched their idea to promote commercial development in the town based on the wishes of its residents in order to give the town a stronger tax base. Additionally, Dobbins Heights-native Melanie Richardson and Tanika Martin presented the Town Council with their idea to use 123 Earle Franklin Dr., the white house at the entrance to the town that is currently in disrepair, into Madison’s Place, a nonprofit that will serve as an emergency shelter for teenage mothers as well as a resource for them and their families to help cope with the struggles that young parents face.

Both agreements are simply to move forward with discussions on how the town can partner with these groups to bring their ideas to fruition, but the council was excited about the possibilities each one could bring. Mayor Antonio Blue and Mayor Pro Tem Tyre Holloway both cited the county’s change to an ad valorem tales tax distribution method last year, which meant that sales tax revenue from the state would be distributed among the county’s local governments in proportion to their total property taxes levied, was part of the motivation for bringing in the Calhoun Group.

“We have no choice but to grow from within simply because of the barriers that we’ve got,” Holloway said, referring to the Pine Hills Industrial Park, which includes the likes of Plastek and Impact Plastics, and CSX’s facility whose zoning blocks the town’s expansion to the northeast along NC-177, and the City of Hamlet immediately on their southern border. “[Calhoun Group] were speaking a language that the council should understand in terms of expanding our existing tax base and not just coming in and doing what they think is best but listen to us and what our needs are.”

Creating generational wealth

The Calhoun Group, founded by CEO Damien Calhoun, specializes in large-scale development and aims to improve local communities. One of its flagship properties, is a Marriot Hotel in the Charlotte area which is jointly owned with Second Line Investments, founded by Kevin Calhoun, who was also present for the Dobbins Heights meeting along with their partner Walter Rasby.

Damien said that during the pandemic they have shifted focus onto smart cities and rural investment into previously underserved communities. The plans for Dobbins Heights are “holistic” and include bringing in fiber optic cables to expand internet access, bringing in a convenience store along NC-177 that can help “capture” some of the dollars that bypass the community daily, supporting locally owned restaurants and businesses, providing housing for seniors and other affordable housing, and supporting jobs training for young people that will include STEM education.

With new business and resulting tax revenue, the town would then reinvest it to provide sidewalks, streetlights and other infrastructure, and improve the offerings at the park, which Holloway said could include a basketball league. Dobbins Heights would then be used as a model for Calhoun Group to “go national” and apply to communities throughout the country, according to Kevin Calhoun.

“What we’ve done is come up with a plan that we’ll coordinate with members of the community and the council and the mayor to bring a tax base back to Dobbins Heights …,” said Damien Calhoun. “We really feel like it’s a unique opportunity with the cooperation of the council to create an incubator that allows Dobbins Heights to be a shining example of what can be done with the right cooperation and investment.”

He added that they want to capture the “oral history” of Dobbins Heights through conversations with elder members of the community.

Holloway said he’d like to see a grocery store, a FastMed clinic, and financial institutions to promote growth.

“With us partnering with the Calhoun Group I think we can achieve these goals relatively quick and effective,” Holloway said. “That way we can all grow and enhance our quality of life because we are not second class citizens — we are first class citizens like everybody else and we deserve what everybody else gets.”

Blue said that this partnership with Calhoun Group is an opportunity to create “generational wealth” in the town.

“We can sit by and let time pass us by or we can get on board and move with the times,” Blue said. “When we look back, and those of us who are from here that’s been here for a long time, we know what it once was like, so now we can make it better now … and leave generational wealth for people to come behind us.”

The connection between Dobbins Heights and Calhoun Group was made by former NFL player and Dobbins Heights-native James Hamilton, who played in the NFL with Rasby, according to Holloway. Rasby came to the town in summer 2020 for an event where the Health Department was passing out PPE and COVID-19 information, with food from Seafoodie, and Blue built the relationship from there.

Blue recounted that his and Rasby’s conversation focused on the ways in which the planning of cities and counties tends to cut minority communities out of economic opportunities, “pigeonholing” them so that they can’t grow. Rasby said he had never heard of Dobbins Heights prior to talking with Hamilton.

The Calhouns assured those in attendance at the meeting that the new developments will come at no cost to the town, other than to reinvest the additional tax revenue they receive. Asked in an interview whether the new housing would result in increased costs to residents, Damien Calhoun said that they would build in a homestead exemption for long-time residents to “allow them to participate in the upside” of the new developments while at the same time “creating value in the community for the homes that they have.”

“[Including a homestead exemption] is the right thing to do and it’s the biggest way to transfer wealth between generations and create a step forward for the next generation,” he said.

Madison’s Place to aid teen moms

Richardson and Martin will rent 123 Earle Franklin Dr. from the Town of Dobbins Heights for $1 a year, following a motion by Councilwoman Angeline David and unanimous approval from the other council members. They are still in the process of getting nonprofit status for Madison’s Place, Inc.

Richardson was inspired to found Madison’s Place, Inc. because of her own experience as a teenage mother at 18 years old. Now, she is a senior contract account executive for United Healthcare without having a college degree and while raising two children mostly by herself. Once up and running, she would hire staff to manage the facility 24/7.

“I see a lot of teenage girls in the county who I don’t feel have a lot of guidance and I just wanted them to have a place to come to get resources such as fill out job applications, do resumes, give them some kind of life skills, parenting skills,” Richardson said. “I wanted it to be somewhere if they needed somewhere to go in an emergency we would have beds or somewhere for them to go if needed.”

To spread the word, Richardson plans to reach out to the Department of Social Services and school counselors who are in the closest contact with people in the most need of assistance. Like the Calhoun Group, Richardson wants to expand Madison’s Place nationally after starting in Dobbins Heights.

By providing these young women these skills, Richardson hopes to keep them from being “stuck in the system” for too long with repeated pregnancies and worsening financial needs.

“Working hard, having good work ethic, and just knowing that there’s resources out there for you, or someone out there that has your back and will listen to you without being judgmental — that’s what I think a lot of these teenagers need now,” she said. “Sometimes you just have to listen, not be judgmental, and dig into what the root of the problem is.”

The fathers in these young families would be able to participate in group therapy sessions and have access to resources as well, though the main focus of the facility will be supporting single mothers, according to Richardson. The facility will serve anyone in Richmond County, not just Dobbins Heights.

The next step, now that they have approval from the Town Council to move forward, is to access the needs at the house to get it in working order. The facility already has an 11-member governing board with a wide range of expertise. The members are currently: Kathy Carpenter-Liles, John Carter, Kinetta Davis, Robert David, Melinda Eberhart, Chip Knotts as an advisor, Michael Legrand, Melinda McDonald, Stephanie McSween, Tanika Martin as an advisor, and Cheryl Streeter.

For information about how to get involved with or support Madison’s Place, email [email protected]. The nonprofit has also started a GoFundMe which can be found here.