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Will Burlington get a new high-rise office building downtown?


cityboi

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What do you guys think? The city of Burlington will give Lab Corp incentives to build a new corporate headquarters downtown for more than 400 employees. The new building will consolidate operations. Lab Corp is Burlington's largest employer and this could be a big deal for Burlington. The city could get another high-rise downtown. Currently downtown has a 9 story building and I think Lab Corp is in that building. That being the case, the new building should be a highrise. lets keep our fingers cross. A nice size tower around 12 or 15 stories would instantly give Burlington the status of having the fourht best skyline in the Triad. There is more to Burlington than strip outlet malls. If you go near downtown, there is a city park that has a caroseul and a train ride attraction for kids. The city does seem like a mini-Greensboro.

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Hopefully Burlington won't.

I am tired of the tax incentives big companies are given for doing certain things.(yes, I know, supposedly it is to draw more jobs in-but I think it is a bad practice for towns to continue to do this sort of thing) It also would leave an awful lot of office space empty around other parts of town and the county. Last thing this downtown needs is a highrise...and last thing Burlington needs is a lot of empty office space. Please Burlington, leave your downtown alone....it is good the way it is, and unique in it's own way. You dont have to be like all the other towns around.

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What do you guys think? The city of Burlington will give Lab Corp incentives to build a new corporate headquarters downtown for more than 400 employees. The new building will consolidate operations. Lab Corp is Burlington's largest employer and this could be a big deal for Burlington. The city could get another high-rise downtown. Currently downtown has a 9 story building and I think Lab Corp is in that building. That being the case, the new building should be a highrise. lets keep our fingers cross. A nice size tower around 12 or 15 stories would instantly give Burlington the status of having the fourht best skyline in the Triad. There is more to Burlington than strip outlet malls. If you go near downtown, there is a city park that has a caroseul and a train ride attraction for kids. The city does seem like a mini-Greensboro.

Sorry But I think Burlington will ever be like a mini-Greensboro.

:blush:

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I think its a good thing. Once Lab Corp move out of the 9-story building and move into a new and larger building, the 9-story building could be converted to condos or apartments. More residential means more retail and entertainment options for downtown Burlington.

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In the short term, how much demand do you see for residential space in downtown Burlington? I suppose Labcorp employees could live there, but riding through town on the bus / train, it always seemed pretty deserted and fairly run-down to me. This may be a case of "build it and they will come" but then again it also might not.

In the long term, though, you're certainly right cityboi. More residential is good for just about any downtown.

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Basically Burlington Downtown is more "family friendly" than anything else. The events that the town has downtown are centered around bringing the family downtown, more so than the individual. It is an older looking downtown, but is fairly busy most of the time I am down there(usually at least once or twice a month). Run down, IMO, doesnt come to mind when I think of Burlington Downtown . :blink: The library was recently renovated. The new train station was built w/in the past 10 years. I believe one building was also transformed into a senior housing unit within the past 10 years. There have been small improvements here and there...but mainly it is just a nice town.

Lab Corp doesnt just occupy one building downtown, they occupy several throughout the county. Building one central headquarters downtown would mean vacating the rest of what they occupy leaving a serious void in the rest of the City and County. While there is some residential downtown, you really dont have to go but a block or two in any given direction to get to residential neighborhoods outside of the main core streets. It is much different from Greensboro's Downtown. (especially in size and proximity to housing) The feel and the atmosphere is different. The look is different-and I think it is a good thing.

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The new Lab Corp building is only going to be 4 or 5 stories. There was a rendering of it in the Times News a few months back. Im not sure how familiar everyone is with Lab Corp in Alamance County, but it is everywhere. It is the largest employer in the county. It seems like every office building in Alamance County houses some of their operations. I really dont think this new building is going to take Lab Corp out of any of its other spaces.

I think the biggest effect this will have is the about of buisiness travel it will generate. The paper said that it will be the new training are for Lab Corp employes worldwide.

B/T/W, if I had millions of dollars I would develope a hotel/convention center atop a small parking deck downtown. Nothing huge, maybe 150 rooms and a convention center large enough for Lab Corp, High School proms/graduations, Elon University events, etc. Downtown is close enough to Elon to attract the weathy parents as well as people in town for Lab Corp and the various sporting events that Burlington seems to attract. Parking is scarce in the area so a couple level deck might make a little cash.

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The new Lab Corp building is only going to be 4 or 5 stories. There was a rendering of it in the Times News a few months back. Im not sure how familiar everyone is with Lab Corp in Alamance County, but it is everywhere. It is the largest employer in the county. It seems like every office building in Alamance County houses some of their operations. I really dont think this new building is going to take Lab Corp out of any of its other spaces.

I think the biggest effect this will have is the about of buisiness travel it will generate. The paper said that it will be the new training are for Lab Corp employes worldwide.

B/T/W, if I had millions of dollars I would develope a hotel/convention center atop a small parking deck downtown. Nothing huge, maybe 150 rooms and a convention center large enough for Lab Corp, High School proms/graduations, Elon University events, etc. Downtown is close enough to Elon to attract the weathy parents as well as people in town for Lab Corp and the various sporting events that Burlington seems to attract. Parking is scarce in the area so a couple level deck might make a little cash.

If the building is going to be 5 stories then it must have a large foot print. I was hoping for something a little taller. But Burlington should revitalize downtown and improve the streetscape. I think downtown could support a little residential. I dont think downtown is ready for a whole lot of residential but I could see some new apartments

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Being a native of the Gibsonville area, I seriously doubt that anything residential will come downtown for at least the next 15-20+ years. Like earlier mentioned, it is a family friendly town. Although it is growing by leaps and bounds and Elon University's accolades and popularity are gaining fast, Burlington will still harbor a suburban/small city feel for many years to come.... not a college town by any means, either.

If the building is going to be 5 stories then it must have a large foot print. I was hoping for something a little taller. But Burlington should revitalize downtown and improve the streetscape. I think downtown could support a little residential. I dont think downtown is ready for a whole lot of residential but I could see some new apartments
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oh ok, Moser Mayer Phoenix Architect of Greensboro designed it. Would look really nice if it were 12-stories. It kinda looks like it was designed to look like a textile mill with a modern twist. The architect also designed the multi modal hub for downtown Greensboro as well as Greensboro's ballpark.

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I'd have to disagree with that. Downtown Burlington is so much more than Lab Corp. (important, yes...but not the only hinge that the door swings)

As I mentioned before, I've only ever seen downtown Burlington from inside a Greyhound bus or Amtrak train, and it didn't seem particularly lively; maybe you (or someone else) could show us what it looks like with some photos?

I had seen the 9-story building from the train/bus before and wondered if it was occupied by LabCorp, used for something else, or abandoned; now I see that it's LabCorp's HQ, which I think is very cool.

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As I mentioned before, I've only ever seen downtown Burlington from inside a Greyhound bus or Amtrak train, and it didn't seem particularly lively; maybe you (or someone else) could show us what it looks like with some photos?

I had seen the 9-story building from the train/bus before and wondered if it was occupied by LabCorp, used for something else, or abandoned; now I see that it's LabCorp's HQ, which I think is very cool.

I agree with you. After going to BMOC we ventured down to downtown to see what there was and it was only 8:00 PM and the place was vacant! Nobody was on the streets and it was a Friday night. The area seemed to look mismatched and it made Huffman Mill Rd look like an urbanist's heaven!

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After going to BMOC we ventured down to downtown to see what there was and it was only 8:00 PM and the place was vacant! Nobody was on the streets and it was a Friday night.

That is because it is not a town with a "night life". Not everyone desires that. It is a town that is family friendly, (as stated not just by me, but affirmed by another )Perhaps it's just a different set of values and standards as to what makes a good town. ::shurgs::

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but even if you go downtown during the day, most of the people you will see walking around are lab corp employees. there really is nothing to do downtown except to eat at a handful of restaurants. i think paul's pastery is still there. that was one place i used to go to get donuts.

when my dad was growing up, downtown was a much busier place. he has taken me around and shown me what used to be where.

even though there is a real effort being placed on the revitalization of downtowns all over the country, it will take the longest for the smaller downtowns like burlington's to really start to come alive again.

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but even if you go downtown during the day, most of the people you will see walking around are lab corp employees. there really is nothing to do downtown except to eat at a handful of restaurants.

when my dad was growing up, downtown was a much busier place. he has taken me around and shown me what used to be where.

Downtowns in general were busier places when our dads were growing up-no matter where they were.

When we go downtown in Burlington, we usually are headed to the main library. While in town, we often will visit the homeschool hub. I have also visited different shops that exist downtown. I know many that are like us that also are involved in classes at Arts Alive-a Christian based business that offers classes from dance to drama. While not directly downtown, but still in it's vacinity, we also , when the kids were younger, would often go swimming and to the park that has rides . The businesses of downtown work together to bring families downtown with events like the lighting of the Christmas tree, trick or treating in the afternoon and other various times through the year when they invite families to bring their kids downtown. We went to many events that were held at the old train depot after it was renovated . We have visited bakeries and other restaurants, but generally that is not what brings us down there. Seems like generally when I've been downtown, while not busy by Greensboro's standards-it isnt dead either. (and not everyone walking around is a lab corp employee) Every town doesnt have to have a night life to be considered successful. The whole feel of Burlington overall is different-and should be. I ride through the downtown and I like what I see, as a parent and resident of this area. I could add more-but I think our measuring sticks are different, and what we are looking for is different.

http://www.ci.burlington.nc.us/index.asp

I also am not saying Lab Corp isnt important to Burlington's downtown, my main point is that it isnt the only business down there making the city successful, nor nessessarily the most important. (I also dislike tax incentives).

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Greensboro seems to have had the highway (probably historically dirt roads) infrastructure and much more in the way of educational opportunities than Burlington did back 100-200 years ago. Greensboro also drew Jefferson-Pilot and other major business, which back then, drew more people and more businesses. All Burlington had was textiles and Western Electric. LabCorp wasn't major in the area until the early-mid 1990s.

I wonder why Burlington didnt boom like Greensboro? both were major textile towns many years ago and both were were railroad hubs. What lead to Greensboro growing much larger than Burlington?
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