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2024 NC Main Street Champion
As City Manager from 2014 to 2024, Michael Ferris played a key role in the revitalization of Downtown Albemarle, overseeing the development of a streetscape master plan that created a new identity and sense of place. This plan transformed a former alleyway into a vibrant pedestrian plaza and inspired numerous other improvements.
Under Ferris’s leadership, downtown growth flourished alongside the creation of new educational opportunities for the community. Since 2020, the Pfeiffer University Center for Health Sciences has brought over 200 graduate students to downtown Albemarle, helping to draw new businesses and housing developments. This project previously earned a North Carolina Main Street Award for Best Public-Private Partnership.
Ferris was also instrumental in the historic conversion of the Albemarle Hotel into market-rate residential and commercial spaces. His leadership helped transform a vacant former fire station into Albemarle’s first brewery, spurring job creation, economic growth, and vibrancy in the area. To further encourage downtown building improvements, Ferris established a catalyst grant program in 2022, providing matching funds for building stabilization and internal improvements. In its first year, the program contributed nearly $90,000 to downtown property enhancements.
For his visionary leadership and lasting contributions to downtown, Albemarle is proud to honor Michael Ferris as its 2024 Main Street Champion.