News & Record to move press operations to Winston-Salem..possible redevelopment site in DT Greensboro

[cityboi]

It's happening in Charlotte and Raleigh and now the Greensboro News & Record will move it's printing operations from downtown Greensboro to Winston-Salem, opening up prime real estate downtown. 

The Greensboro News & Record will move a significant number of employees from its press operation at East Market and Davie Streets in Greensboro to Winston-Salem.  The News and Record said it would be willing to sell the massive building that takes up 2 to 3 blocks. For years downtown advocates have been wanting the News & Record to move so it would open up that site for development and create activity along South Davie Street and South Church St. The News & Record creates a dead zone in downtown Greensboro and is also an eyesore  Its a huge amount of land that could be ripe for a large scale project. It sits across the street from the Davie St side of the future Westin Hotel and the depot is directly to the south. Id be glad to see that ugly building go. I'm sure this news has developer Roy Carroll's ears perked. 

Here are some ideas as to what could go on the site

mixed-use development that could include

- apartments
- entertainment venues
- restaurants/retail
- downtown conference center or small convention center

News & Record to move press operations to Winston-Salem - Local Business - News-Record.com

[luvdowntowngso]

Cityboi, you are totally correct. This is a prime chunk of land in the middle of downtown Greensboro. I dream of the day it will be developed into something wonderful. However, it must also be noted that the News & Record is turning it's back on Greensboro and our downtown. I have another dream, the day N & R goes belly up and completely goes out of business! Newspapers of so 20th century! Worthless in today's society.

[cityboi]

And now the city of Greensboro is interested in the site and woukd like to work with a developer if they decide to buy it

 

http://www.greensboro.com/news/greensboro-expresses-tentative-interest-in-news-record-site/article_1a77ff34-0dc5-54d8-8474-1cdcf2dc6076.html?TNNoMobile

 

"We can't let this opportunity pass us by," Mayor Nancy Vaughan said Wednesday, a day after the News & Record announced it was moving its printing operation to Winston-Salem.

Vaughan said the property could be "transformative" for downtown if the city partners with a developer to create a high-rise office building, a shopping complex or some other type of development.

Developer Marty Kotis says this:

" A coordinated downtown project may not turn Greensboro into Charlotte, he said, but it could draw residents, shoppers and tourists. Such cities as Asheville, Wilmington and Greenville, S.C. are good examples, he said. 

Kotis, who expressed no interest in buying the land, said the land would be perfect for a mixed-use project with a hotel, conference center and retail. Depending on the intensity of the development, he said, developers might spend from $100 million to $500 million at the site."

The most likely players for that are going to be some national large-scale developers out of an Atlanta or DC or Chicago that have done 20 of these things already," he said.