When the Empire Hotel finally opened back up for construction crews in late 2024, it ended a 60-year vacancy on one of the most prominent corners in downtown Salisbury. The Beaux Arts landmark at 212 South Main first welcomed guests on May 17, 1859 — originally as the Boyden House, built by local attorney Nathaniel Boyden and opened the same season the railroad arrived in town. It cycled through names (Davis House, Central Hotel, finally the Empire), got a major 1907 remodel from architect Frank Milburn, and operated as a hotel from 1859 to 1963. Since then it has been the building everyone walks past and wonders about.
That changes now. Downtown Salisbury Inc. picked Charlotte developer Brett Krueger to take it on in late 2021, and Krueger and local developer Josh Barnhardt held a groundbreaking ceremony in October 2024 to start a three-phase, roughly $25 million restoration. Phase one — known as Empire Row, on the southern half of the block — has a hard deadline: it must be complete by October 10, 2026 for the developers to exercise the option on the main Empire Hotel structure.
Empire Row brings two two-story rowhomes, seven additional residential units, and ground-floor retail facing South Main. The later phases then tackle the Empire Hotel itself, with plans for three retail spaces, 37 hotel rooms, nine apartments, and a full restoration of the original grand ballroom. According to the project's own history page, the team is treating the building as a working piece of Salisbury's railroad-era story rather than just a development play. That's part of why downtown supporters have been patient through more than a decade of false starts.
For buyers eyeing homes near the Main Street corridor, anchor projects like this one tend to move neighborhood values quietly but persistently. A working downtown — with hotel rooms, residents, walk-up retail and a ballroom back in commission — gives buyers a reason to choose South Salisbury over a comparable suburb 40 minutes south. We're not there yet, but for the first time in a long time, the trajectory is unambiguous.