Questions remain concerning Hotel Hinton’s restoration plans and lacking oversight.

The small coastal town of Edenton, North Carolina, had always been a town that celebrated its rich history. The town’s colonial past is visible in its well-preserved colonial houses, the oldest operating courthouse in North Carolina, and the site where American Founding Father Joseph Hewes operated his mercantile store. But amidst this history, a problem exists – the once-grand Hotel Hinton.

The Hotel Hinton location had been a part of the town’s history since the 1750s when inns first appeared at this location. It had seen many ups and downs over the centuries. Still, it had always been a prominent feature of the town’s landscape. It even served as the County Government office building. However, as time passed, the hotel continued to descend into disrepair, becoming a public safety concern.

The county government did not or could not maintain the building and offered it for sale ten years ago in coordination with the Town of Edenton. The county commissioners were preparing to tear it down if they could not sell it. A major Outer Banks construction company, SAGA Construction, with no historic hotel rehabilitation experience, purchased the hotel through a third party, the non-profit Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, or short; Preservation North Carolina, a preservation organization specializing in historic preservation in North Carolina. The price of the hotel was set at $125,000. 

The plan was that this well-resourced organization would restore the hotel to its former glory and expand it to a modern boutique hotel in harmony with the town’s historic district. As the company officials declared at the August 4, 2014, planning board meeting, SAGA Construction was using a “Rock Star” team, everyone pulled in was “pretty much top shelf.” It would take them 12 months if everything came together

SAGA Construction stated at September 9, 2014, meeting that there would be no impact on not getting N.C. General Assembly historic tax credit and they were eligible for Federal and New Market Tax Credits. The future vision was well received and needed to enhance the town’s Historic District further and save the Hotel Hinton, the county commissioners, Edenton Town Council, and the planning board. 

After a decade of inaction, the Hotel Hinton has continued to deteriorate, and little if anything has been done to protect it, much less rehabilitate it. The Hotel Hinton stands silent with ongoing vandalism and decay, now a monument to the impact of well-intended efforts that are impacted by poor policy and lacking oversight.   

In reviewing the real estate transactions between Chowan County, Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc, SAGA Construction, and Hotel Hinton, LLC, it is unclear how the citizens of Chowan County and Edenton benefited from this transaction or why Hotel Hinton was allowed to deteriorate further, as a contributing building to Edenton’s Historic District with protective covenants. No records show ongoing oversight or accountability to the proposed SAGA Construction rehabilitation plan by the county, the Town of Edenton, or Historic Preservation North Carolina or is publicly available. 

Only now, after a small group of residents raised public concerns, the Hotel Hinton project is being revisited, coinciding with the start of the Chowan County and Town of Edenton government election cycle. It is still being determined if the Town of Edenton’s Preservation Commission has acted to protect the building or if the Towns building inspector would consider the structure unsafe. Note that the Town of Edenton Preservation Commission is an appointed town organization that is not affiliated with the Edenton Historical Commission, which manages the Barker House and other great projects in the Town of Edenton.

Based on the purchase price of $125,000, the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc, was paid 6% ($7,500) of the sales price for its marketing and organization of the sale of the Hotel Hinton. 

Additionally, Chowan County received $263,238.52 from insurance coverage concerning water damage and mold found at the hotel before SAGA Construction’s purchase. The county maintained insurance coverage on the Hotel Hinton, supported by county taxes. The purchase date was extended several times to afford SAGA Construction more time, extending the purchase timeframe from July 2013 to July 2015. The county continued to spend money on removing ground oil tanks and other requested improvements, such as contaminated soil mitigation requested by SAGA Construction. Once construction starts, the county has accrued money for paving and removing the contaminated soils.

Chowan County decided on June 15, 2015, to transfer $263,238.52 to the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc., who counter-signed the entire amount to SAGA Construction, according to the President of Preservation North Carolina, Myrick Howard. 

Surprisingly, we reviewed no documentation or meeting minutes that outlined conditions, requirements, or timelines associated with the remediation of the damages the insurance payment intended to address. Only last year was the leaking roof of Hotel Hinton repaired. Preservation North Carolina believes that some repairs were made with the money. However, no documentation exists with Preservation North Carolina concerning this.   

In talking with Myrick Howard, he indicated that his contract, which was not the final contract as it is not counter-signed, did have a Rehabilitation plan, which highlighted that SAGA Construction would weatherize the building within six months and have three years to complete the rehabilitation plan, only if they received funding for the rehabilitation. If SAGA Construction did not secure funding, they would meet and determine a good path forward for the hotel and the Town of Edenton around the May 2023 timeframe. He highlighted that they are currently discussing the rehabilitation timeline and actions with SAGA Construction if funding is not secured. 

In the end, the county received $125,000 for the sale of the Hotel Hinton. However, It transferred or paid $263,238.52 to the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc, who signed the check over to SAGA Construction Inc., resulting in SAGA Construction making $145,738.52 in the transaction.  If you factor in that, the county has also set aside $114,257.00 for the contaminated soil removal and paving of the rear parking lot that was requested by SAGA Construction, resulting in a net loss to the county of $259,876.00. For clarity, the county minutes state that the plan for the $114,257.00 was to be taken from sale proceeds, then a month later, reports that it would be paid for with the insurance proceeds. It is unclear what insurance proceeds this references (November 6, 2017).

Resulting in not only the net gain of the Hotel Hinton for SAGA Construction, with the building tax value of $394,720 in 2016 being raised to $593,784 in 2022 with no rehabilitation or noticeable improvement, but also SAGA Construction receiving a quarter of a million dollars insurance payment from the county and the contaminated soil removal and paving money that remains in the county budget for the SAGA Construction Hotel Hinton project.

Once a crown jewel of downtown Edenton, the Hotel Hinton continues to decay with no public plan to rehabilitate or deliver on the proposed vision. Recently, SAGA Construction created a new Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HotelHintonInfo) to provide frequent updates concerning the project.

Based on the review of the public records, it does not appear that the purchase contract that the county has on file is the final contract, as the contract on file is incomplete as it does not have dates of the required rehabilitation plans, which are generally expected in historic preservation agreements, Exhibit “C” Rehabilitation Agreement, of the purchase contract or any notary stamps. The dates and corporate entity referenced do not agree with the recorded deed.   

The County Commissioners reviewed three offers for Hotel Hinton and have yet to unseal those materials to the public.

The sale of Hotel Hinton intended to ensure the Hotel was rehabilitated and returned as a contributing member to the Edenton Historic District; as such, it was placed under protective covenants. Exhibit “B” of the purchase contract indicated the property’s conveyance under NC General Statute §160A-266 and §121-35. §121-35 forbids or limits changes in the appearance or condition of the site detrimental to the appropriate preservation of the structure or location.

In reviewing public records obtained by the Edenton Gazette, we can present the following summarized observations;

The Hotel Hinton was sold via Preservation North Carolina to SAGA Construction Inc. with the intent to restore the building for $125,000.  The estimated restoration and expansion cost is around 25 Million dollars.

SAGA Construction Inc received $263,238.52 insurance payment from Chowan County.

The county has $145,738.52 available to SAGA Construction for the contaminated soil removal and paving.

Little if no oversight concerning the Hotel Hinton Rehabilitation has been conducted by Chowan County or the Town of Edenton.

Policy relating to record keeping, performance-based project management, and conflict of interest guidelines need review and updating to ensure improved performance and to maintain an accurate accounting of large projects in the future based on what has been permitted to occur with the Hotel Hinton project, to avoid another failure of this kind.

For more details and transparency concerning our research, we provide the following research information on the Hotel Hinton Rehabilitation in Edenton, North Carolina, and attempt to piece together what occurred. 

• Chowan County decided to sell the Hotel Hinton for $125,000. 
• Chowan County paid the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc $263,238.52 from an insurance payment to the county for water and mold damage to the Hinton Hotel. Preservation North Carolina indicated they counter-signed the check over to SAGA Construction. 

• The Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc counter-signed an Offer to Purchase and Purchase Contract (August 7, 2013) almost one year before having a counter-signed Offer to Purchase Property for Historic Preservation from Chowan County (August 18, 2014).

• Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc counter-signed an Offer to Purchase and Purchase Contract with SAGA Construction, Inc, not Hotel Hinton, LLC, that is listed on the recorded Deed prepared by Samuel B. Dixon, Dixon & Thompson Law, PLLC, 117 W Eden St., Edenton NC 27932.  

The Edenton Gazette has requested or is seeking additional clarification concerning the following to ensure the accuracy of our reporting and correct representation of the facts surrounding this topic;

Edenton Gazette suspects that the Purchase and Purchase Contract between the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc. and SAGA Corporation provided by Chowan County is incorrect as the dates do not support a proper transfer of real property. The document lacks details concerning the proposed schedule of work and Exhibit “C”, Rehabilitation Agreement. The offer should include expected notary seals as it is expected to verify the identity of the signers. The county indicated this is the only document they had that we would need to ask the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc., which we did; Preservation North Carolina does not have a counter-signed copy either. 

The county record where Hotel Hinton, LLC or SAGA Construction, Inc. received the insurance payment for water and mold damage of $263,238.52 from the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc. and what repairs were completed based on these funds to address the recorded water damages and deterioration. 

Clarification concerning the time-bound rehabilitation requirements of SAGA Construction Inc. (or Hotel Hinton, LCC) that is standard in a preservation agreement.

Clarification concerning why the Proposed Schedule of Work is blank concerning specific dates, and why is Exhibit “C” is blank in the SAGA Construction, Inc signed Option to Purchase and Purchase Contract with the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc.? 

Completed copy of the offer to purchase contract from the Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, Inc. with SAGA construction.

Clarification if N.C.G.S §121-35 does not apply to the Hinton Hotel?

N.C.G.S §121-35 states; A “preservation agreement” means a right, whether or not stated in the form of a restriction, reservation, easement, covenant, condition, or otherwise, in any deed, will, or other instrument executed by or on behalf of the owner of the land or any improvement thereon, or in any other [order] of taking, appropriate to preservation of a structure or site historically significant for its architecture, archaeology or historical associations, to forbid or limit any or all (i) alteration, (ii) alterations in exterior or interior features of the structure, (iii) changes in appearance or condition of the site, (iv) uses not historically appropriate, or (v) other acts or uses supportive of or detrimental to appropriate preservation of the structure or site.

Requested Information from the Town of Edenton referenced in a FOIA request.