By Scott Jenkins, Salisbury Post KANNAPOLIS -- An investment group led by a China Grove developer has signed a contract to buy the vacant Pillowtex Plant 4 on Main Street. Margaret Rabon, president of Light Investments Inc., said she anticipates closing on the plant sometime in January. She declined to say how much the group is paying for the plant, which Pillowtex marketed for $1.25 million. As the Post reported in September, Rabon's group wants to use one of three mill buildings for a mix of retail, office and residential. "There are some things, obviously, to get worked out on anything this large,"Rabon said. "But I'm sure we'll get it worked out." And if negotiations to bring an indoor track and field arena to Kannapolis fall through, another building on the site could house a skate park and possibly an ice rink, developers say. Rabon said her group intends to renovate the 155,000-square-foot main building facing Main Street. Plans call for retail shops at the front and office space behind that, she said. On the second floor, Rabon envisions loft apartments that feature high ceilings and maintain the original hardwood pine floors. As for the rest of the plant, which includes 20 acres, two more mill buildings and a warehouse -- all totaled around 700,000 square feet under roof -- Rabon said plans are "still up in the air." One possibility is the use of a 310,000-square-foot building facing West D Street to house a skateboarding park and ice rink. Developer Ken Lingafelt has been negotiating with Cabarrus County and Kannapolis officials to bring a $36-million track-and-field arena to the city which would include a skateboarding park, ice rink and health club under one roof. As an incentive to build here, Lingafelt and his partners want the local governments to provide some 70 acres on which to build. But negotiations have been slow, and Lingafelt is now talking with officials in at least one other location, Lancaster, S.C. The Mount Pleasant resident said he still hopes to build the arena in Kannapolis but would still want to bring the skate park and ice rink to Cabarrus even if the arena goes elsewhere. "There is a huge demand for the skate park to stay in Kannapolis or to have one here as well,"Lingafelt said. "It's premature to pick a site when we haven't decided where the arena is going ... but Plant 4 is a good option." Lingafelt has said retired pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, a legend in the skateboarding world, would endorse the park. While she has had no direct contact with Lingafelt, Rabon said others familiar with the concept have told her plans might include removing part of the second floor to create a balcony with shops and restaurants overlooking the park. Though she calls that part of the development "a long shot," Rabon said the possibility excites her. "I think that would really be neat and unusual," she said. "It's what I would like to see there, and I'm sure a lot of other people would, too." Rabon said her company has no immediate plans for the third mill building and warehouse in the center of the complex, but she added there are no plans at this time to demolish them. Contact Scott Jenkins at 704-797-4248 or sjenkins@salisburypost.com.
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