Developer Roy Carroll may build Greensboro’s tallest office tower

[HRVT]

3 hours ago, cityboi said:

Got a tip from a fellow poster who ran into developer Roy Carroll. He asked Carroll about the status of Project 561, a proposed 561 ft tall skyscraper. He kind of dodged the question but then smiled in a sly way and said "I have some exciting news for downtown Greensboro in 2017" I don't know if Carroll is in the process of securing a major tenant for what would be the tallest building in North Carolina outside of the Queen City. That's two thirds the height of the Bank of America tower in Charlotte. We will find out in 2017  Carroll said he will start construction once he secures a major tenant. Several small and mid sized companies have already expressed interest in leasing office space in the tower despite the higher than average leasing rates.

We will see. Developers tend to always have exciting news ahead, but that doesn't actually mean that anything is actually about to happen. 

Eventually, Greensboro will build a bigger tower, probably within the next 10-20 years. I just can't see Greensboro being ready for a 561 foot tall structure. Maybe 461? But not 561.

[cityboi]

We will see 

[KJHburg]

I think a combination of office and hotel and maybe even apartments would work to that height in Greensboro. But the real thing is the office portion of can you get someone to pay for that premium space. Overall office rents in Greensboro are fairly low compared to Charlotte and Raleigh for example and high rise construction is very expensive. It will depend on that anchor tenant. I would stack it this way: office space on top with hotel on lower floors. Higher floors always get a premium in office space.  

[cityboi]

The biggest challenge is finding the anchor tenant. There are some small to medium sized companies that have expressed interest leasing space at above market rates. That really says something about the business climate in Greensboro. If this were strictly an office tower proposal without the hotel and without the stacking of the parking deck beneath the office space, it would not be feasible to build it at 561 ft tall. The deck, hotel and spire is what gives the tower a big boost in height. Together they add roughly an additional 20 stories give or take a few floors. The reality is that we are only looking at about 20 floors of office space which is comparable to other downtown office towers in terms of office space square footage.

 

Roy Carroll is looking at a design option that resembles the sail building in Dubai. I'm sure it won't be as dramatic (would be too dramatic and out of place for Greensboro), but he said it could have a similar design in terms of the curved glass. I would expect a more modest American contemporary design with a similar shape or a variation of that shape if he goes down that road but it would still be a striking design for Greensboro.

[kcw1988]

cityboi - Can you do a rendering will all the current projects included?  That would be neat to see.

 

 

[cityboi]

sure would be neat  right now I can't draw anything I need a new graphics program. 

[kcw1988]

 Bummer! 

[drawscape]

Any new news on this project? 

 

I have lived in Greensboro most of the 28 years I've been alive and I never thought we would ever witness another tower being built. So naturally I'm on pins and needles to see if this project will actually move forward.