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Downtown Greensboro is getting a Westin Hotel


cityboi

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1 hour ago, gman430 said:

Is this dead? :dontknow: 

Not officially. But I don't think much has been happening on the site. I know there was another quibble between the city and Rocky Scarfone that apparently got ironed out but that was a couple months ago and still nothing has happened. I'm thinking this will die quietly over the coming 6 months or so. Which is probably what should happen. With the Hyatt Place near completion and the Hampton Inn and Suites under construction, there really just isn't a need for the Westin. I know the demographics are different, but it's not as if downtown had a major need for new hotel rooms BEFORE they started the two under construction. And there are plenty of other high end hotels outside of downtown Greensboro.... and very few who visit Greensboro are coming for downtown.

I'd put the chances of the Westin going up at about 20%. And that might be a little high.

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Here is the Davie Street elevation of the Westin Greensboro. This is what you would see if you were standing on the News and Record property across the street. I have an interesting theory. Notice that there is a break in the design on the lower levels. It looks unfinished and the break doesn't make any sense architecturally unless there are future plans for an "addition", similar to the lack of balconies and false windows on the north side of Center Pointe where Roy Carroll plans to build a tower there at some point in the future.  Greg Dillon, a developer from Maryland is building the Westin Greensboro. I find it interesting that he has purchased the News-Record property across the street. This could explain the intentional break in the design on the lower level of the deck. Does Greg Dillon have plans to build a multi-level skywalk to a future development he has planned across the street? While plans are not concrete at this point, rumors are that the development will be a mixed-use project that will have a conference/convention center as the anchor. While the Westin will have meeting space, the current Elm Street Center, Dillon may be looking at larger meeting space for his hotel and maybe even a second  hotel which has been talked about as being part of this mixed-use development. To me it looks like the Westin could connect to  a conference/convention center across the street via skywalk. Despite the fact that Greensboro has the Koury Convention Center and 1,000 room Sheraton Hotel at I-40 and Gate City Blvd, city leaders are now seriously talking about a second convention center for the city but this one would be downtown. The News-Record property is a strategic location for such a facility. Just south of the property is the depot  (Amtrak, city bus, greyhound bus and regional bus station) Downtown Greensboro Inc. president Zack Matheny is pushing for a downtown convention facility. However it would not compete head to head with the 250,000 sq ft  Joseph S. Koury Convention Center. A downtown facility would likely be much smaller around 100,000 sq ft, which is the size of the Benton Convention Center in downtown Winston-Salem. But the odd break in the design of the Westin seems to indicate it may connect to something across the street being planned.

In regards to the News-Record property....

Zack Matheny:

“We’re not in a situation to host conventions downtown, but they’re certainly wanting to come downtown,” Matheny said. “Convention space should certainly be on the table.”

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Edited by cityboi
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Speaking of hotels. This hotel in downtown Greensboro is often overlooked. Its not large and its called the Biltmore Greensboro Hotel located on West Washington Street. The building was originally built in 1895 (124 years old) as the home office of Cone Mills and was converted to a hotel in the mid 20th century.  Its the Triad's oldest hotel. The hotel has made several lists as being one of the most haunted places in the United States. It ranked 7th in the nation on one list. Two people were murdered in the building, an accountant named Phillip thrown out of a window during the Cone Mills era of the building and a red headed prostitute named Lydia was murdered being pushed down the stairs when the building served as a brothel. Both their ghosts have been spotted in the building. It has been said when some walk up the stairs where the prostitute was pushed down, they have a feeling of someone trying to push them back. 

Philip was found in the alley below the window he was thrown out of with his throat slashed. It was found out later Philip was embezzling money from Cone Mills and he was the second accountant of Cone Mills that died under suspicious circumstances.

Both room 223 and 332 have been said to be haunted.  Lydia and Philip were in those rooms. Some women have said they were horrified when they saw Philip's ghost try to climb in to bed with them in the middle of the night. 

A few years back there was an explosion in front of the hotel where gas had built up and blew a man hole lid off on the sidewalk. I actually heard it.

Interesting fact: Greensboro's first electrical elevator was installed in this hotel and is still in use today and includes the sliding black cage door you have to shut. So if you are not afraid of ghosts, this is the place to stay if you don't want to stay at a typical hotel. It has history and a romantic feel to it.

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Edited by cityboi
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Developer of the Westin Greensboro is now listed on a contractor bidding website with a construction date set for the latter part of the summer. The hotel will be built on top of a future city parking deck (12 stories). The deck itself will stretch a block with retail lining the ground level along Davie Street. Looks like both city parking decks will be under construction at the same time. The other deck being built by the ballpark with a planned adjoined hotel/ office tower (Aloft Greensboro) retail and residential development planned by Roy Carroll 

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Edited by cityboi
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I'm not going to lie. I actually like the last rendering. Instead of overall 12 stories it was 17 stories. The final design is shorter in height because the hotel footprint is larger. The design in the older renderings actually resembles the parking deck more.

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Edited by cityboi
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I feel these are really excellent projects for Greensboro’s cbd, it adds two high rises and several mid rises, So that will really add a nice density and some height to the current skyline which has not changed for 20+ years. 

Specifically, I always thought the 5 tallest buildings were a nice starting point for a decent skyline and that the potential was there; so i’m glad they’re finally doing some major changes to the skyline after all these years.

I’m aware in the past that several projects have fallen to the wayside, however it’s certainly great to see some transformative projects actually making progress and the overall city continue to grow.

 

Edited by GSOcitizen
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