The Board of Aldermen officially declared the space — located at 110 East Main St. — surplus and no longer necessary for town use.
Bethany Chaney, a member of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, said the board has directed staff to move forward with the sale. The town’s next step will be to hire a real estate agent to list the property and filter through various bids.
“We have no preferences regarding what the space will be used for,” Chaney said. “Our responsibility is to ensure that we get the most value out of the property as possible.”
Kevin Callaghan, the owner of Acme, said the restaurant has been around for 17 years, so it is unlikely that a new business would interfere with the restaurant’s success.
Nonetheless, he said the ideal business would be open for day hours, in contrast to Acme, which is only open during the evening.
“You could have all of these fantasies about what you would like to see happen with the space,” Callaghan said. “However, by and large in Carrboro, most businesses will have similar models and goals.”
Until November, the property housed the headquarters of Fleet Feet Sports, a local athletic apparel company, on a lease purchased by the town. The business had several offices spread out across the town and was looking to consolidate.
The town originally purchased the property above Acme to house Fleet Feet because the company creates jobs and improves Carrboro’s tax base. More than 60 percent of Carrboro residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher, but the town’s biggest employer is the Harris Teeter on North Greensboro Street.
