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Union Station & Excelsior Street Development

kevinhiggins

By kevinhiggins
in The NC Triad

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kevinhiggins Crossroads

kevinhiggins

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Article on Journal Now

August 30, 2006

"Developers working with property owner Harvey Davis are proposing a $38 million project that would include refurbishing the old Union Station Rail Depot and building a 13-story residential tower near Winston-Salem State University."

Would be a nice combination use of a historic old building. I personally hope they make a connection to the bike trail nearby on the south side of the site.

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ncbrian Whistle-Stop

ncbrian

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Normally, I favour development in the downtown core as I think that it is critical that the downtown reaches a critical mass so that it can be self-sustaining and becomes foremost in people's minds if they want to open up an office, reside in a neighbourhood, go out for entertainment etc... In my satellite developments means that development dollars spent on Hanes Mall Blvd means dollars not spent downtown. Still I like this development because it fits in with the other developments South of Main with the Gateway development and the new condos elsewhere in the area. It is a bit too far out to be considered part of the downtown and from my persepective a bit far for a leisurely walk but I like to think it strengthen the WSSU area as an anchor for development on one side of the greater downtown area and it is up to future developers to help fill in the areas to connect to the South of Main area especially along Stadium Dr though Hwy 52 is pretty much a barrier in how people perceive where downtown ends and East Winston begins.

BTW, does anyone have any photographs of the station in its heyday, i.e. before its current incarnation as a garage?

Update: I found a picture of the station attached to this document about one plan for the station and the immediate area.

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wagwa2001l Unincorporated Area

wagwa2001l

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ok various answers to various questions...

1. the line did not come from GSO... winston was much larte than GSO and the lines came though winston naturally for much of its history... it was Amtrac who bypassed winston.

2. this is not downtown... not really even close... the farthes corner of downtown in tha dirction is still a mole and a half from here... t

his would be great though... but really only useful as a downtown booster if done with light rail or trolly to get people downtown from the station.

3. Harvey Davis does not want to sell and never has this will... most likel have to be a taking for the station element to go through...

by the way... I can;t blame him... winston abandonded this station and did nothing for it for half a century. Davis put his business in it decades ago and has really tried to keep as much of the building together as possible (cigarette displays... travel kit places... ticket windows... trim... etc.

i would recommend getting your car's opil changed ther and asking to look around...t he place is great...

this city has (and certain residnets in the area have) tried to vilify him for hloding on to this place... but woud you sell... he should be rewarded for keeping this place as close to what is was as possible. I do want the station to happen though.

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twincity Burg

twincity

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ok various answers to various questions...

1. the line did not come from GSO... winston was much larte than GSO and the lines came though winston naturally for much of its history... it was Amtrac who bypassed winston.

2. this is not downtown... not really even close... the farthes corner of downtown in tha dirction is still a mole and a half from here... t

his would be great though... but really only useful as a downtown booster if done with light rail or trolly to get people downtown from the station.

3. Harvey Davis does not want to sell and never has this will... most likel have to be a taking for the station element to go through...

by the way... I can;t blame him... winston abandonded this station and did nothing for it for half a century. Davis put his business in it decades ago and has really tried to keep as much of the building together as possible (cigarette displays... travel kit places... ticket windows... trim... etc.

i would recommend getting your car's opil changed ther and asking to look around...t he place is great...

this city has (and certain residnets in the area have) tried to vilify him for hloding on to this place... but woud you sell... he should be rewarded for keeping this place as close to what is was as possible. I do want the station to happen though.

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yadkinv Whistle-Stop

yadkinv

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It's not officially downtown, but that doesn't matter because what is downtown to most is what their particular perception is of downtown (certain projects require use of the so-called official definition). Also, recall that the official definition was recently expanded so that the proposed basebal park would be considered Downtown. Personaly, and I know it's a stretch, and most won't agree, but I consider Hawthorne Hill as being downtown.

If this project is built, it will probably expand perceptively most people's opinion of what is downtown especially once the street car or light rail is rerality.

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orulz City

orulz

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This would seem like the ideal application for a TIF - the TIF money would be used to refurbish Union Station into a train station and a bus depot. Not sure why council is uninterested. The station certainly qualifies as public infrastructure - much more so than a baseball stadium.

They will probably get money from NCDOT for the train station, and hopefully they'll get some money from the city in some way, too.

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