Downtown Greensboro Developments

[cityboi]

any one have anymore information about the proposed project next to the Guilford Building?

[cityboi]

Apparently the lot beside the Guilford Building is being looked at for some sort of project. I would love to see this lot get developed since it's probably the biggest blank spot on Elm St.

http://www.news-reco...or_new_building

One thing I did find out is that this building could be as tall as 8-stories but no details of the nature of this building has emerged.

[DCB]

Nice. I'd assume it'd be a mixed use building or maybe just apartments, though a hotel wouldn't be entirely out of the question based on who's looking at the site. There's going to be a lot of new housing coming downtown in the coming years with the expansion of CityView, the apartments proposed at the ballpark, the South Elm street redevelopment, and the Southeastern building's renovation. TND Partners is also looking at building some apartments just south of Southside on MLK across from the old fire station.

[cityboi]

Plans for the Greenway at Fisher Park Apartments have been revealed. the planned 196 unit downtown apartment complex will feature a yoga studio, rooftop terrace overlooking downtown and also include a sports lounge/bar. The property is adjacent to New Bridge Bank Ballpark. The future full service downtown grocery store will be located across the street. The property is also located on the Greenway loop that is being built around downtown so this apartment complex will be great for those who want to use the greenway for jogging or bicycling. The 196 apartment units will start taking tenants in the Summer of 2012. BTW the expansion of CityView Apartments at Southside on the other side of downtown are well under way. That expansion includes a new 4 story apartment building with 80 more units. They are currently putting up the frame work for the second floor.

http://www.digtriad....ty-In-Greenboro

http://www.construct...Park+Apartments

Edited November 16, 2011 by cityboi

[twincity]

_{The really exciting news is that its already under construction.}

_{I have no doubt that this will be just as popular as CityView. I do like the linear brick details. Im still not a fan of adding so much surface parking, but still I consider this a good project for downtown. Hopefully that rooftop bar is facing the ballpark.}

[cityboi]

Plans for the Greenway at Fisher Park Apartments have been revealed. the planned 196 unit downtown apartment complex will feature a yoga studio, rooftop terrace overlooking downtown and also include a sports lounge/bar. The property is adjacent to New Bridge Bank Ballpark. The future full service downtown grocery store will be located across the street. The property is also located on the Greenway loop that is being built around downtown so this apartment complex will be great for those who want to use the greenway for jogging or bicycling. The 196 apartment units will start taking tenants in the Summer of 2012. BTW the expansion of CityView Apartments at Southside on the other side of downtown are well under way. That expansion includes a new 4 story apartment building with 80 more units. They are currently putting up the frame work for the second floor.

http://www.digtriad....ty-In-Greenboro

http://www.construct...Park+Apartments

_{The really exciting news is that its already under construction.}

_{I have no doubt that this will be just as popular as CityView. I do like the linear brick details. Im still not a fan of adding so much surface parking, but still I consider this a good project for downtown. Hopefully that rooftop bar is facing the ballpark.}

yep construction started yesterday and there will be five apartment buildings. It would have been nice if this complex included gated underground parking as oppose to surface lots but I guess that would have driven up construction costs. One thing unique about this complex is that it will have a salt water pool. Its great for a change to see plans actually happen. Lately we have been hearing about downtown projects that have either been canceled or put on the back burner. This is certainly great news. More downtown residential will only lead to more retail and entertainment options downtown.

http://www.bizjourna...-apartment.html

Edited November 17, 2011 by cityboi

[cityboi]

Jim Jones (not the cult leader LOL), owner of the site of the Greenway at Fisher Park Apartments says he's not done. The rest of the site, which overlooks the baseball stadium could see more apartments and mixed-use retail and commercial. Jim Jones alluded to the fact that the next phase could include a mid-rise to high-rise building. That part of the project could emerge in about 2 and a half years.

"That development could follow in two to two-and-a-half years. Or further down the road, the site could produce “something special,” Steve Jones said. “Something Greensboro hasn’t seen in a long time — a mid- to high-rise building.”

New downtown apartments start of bigger development

http://www.news-reco...ipe_for_complex

Here is a News Carolina 14 news clip about the high demand for downtown apartments in Greensboro. The demand is so high there is a long waiting list for tenants to move in at CityView Apartments, which prompted the 4-story 75-unit expansion. CityView will have over 300 apartments after the expansion. There are at least two other apartment/mixed-use projects in the works. The conversion of the 9-story Southeastern Building and the multi-story building Weaver Company is looking at building on South Elm Street next to the Guilford Building. That building could be as tall as 8-stories. Looks like we are beginning to see a downtown residential construction boom similar to the one we saw 6 or 7 years ago. But instead of condos, its apartments. Roy Carroll might want to dust off his plans for tower number two next to Center Pointe Apartments work well in downtown Greensboro for two reasons. One, they are a draw to young professionals who don't have $250,000 to $500,000 for condos in their budget. Secondly there is a large college population in the downtown area. Two major universities and two other colleges border downtown and there there is Elon Law School in the heart of the city. Many Elon Law students live at CityView Apartments. But the housing crisis is another reason there is a great demand for more apartments.

http://triad.news14....-greensboro--nc

Edited November 17, 2011 by cityboi

[luvdowntowngso]

Now that they are turning dirt for the new Greenway at Fisher Park Apartments, is Deep Roots Market still in the works? Seems like the apartments are going to take up most of that space. Is it possible they are also turning dirt for the market too?

Edited November 21, 2011 by luvdowntowngso

[cityboi]

Now that they are turning dirt for the new Greenway at Fisher Park Apartments, is Deep Roots Market still in the works? Seems like the apartments are going to take up most of that space. Is it possible they are also turning dirt for the market too?

Deep Roots is suppose to be built across the street. I'm not sure which side.

[cityboi]

The groundbreaking on The Greenway at Fisher Park Apartments took place yesterday

http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-greenway-fisher-park-apartments-breaks-ground-20111214,0,6573164.story

[cityboi]

Looks like we are seeing a little improvement in the economy.

Downtown Greensboro's next new restaurant will be called "The WORX" and will be located in a 19th century building at South Elm Street and Barnhardt St next to the railroad tracks. Originally a restaurant named SideTrax was suppose to open there but it never materialized. The WORX should be open in April. The building was constructed in the 1880s and was once a saloon. The WORX will have open-air front porch dining as well as indoor tables surrounded by a kind of 1930s industrial, textile mill decor.

Also construction on a new 4-story building at the CityView apartments is well under way

Cheesecakes By Alex will likely have to move to a new location downtown. Weaver Co. is indeed planning a six story building on the lot between the Guilford Building and Cheesecakes by Alex. Alex is leasing the space from Weaver Co. and the new development would involve tearing down the outdoor patio area next to the building. The new building will have a parking deck in the back. Alex was offered space on the ground floor of the new building.

A new restaurant, African Continental Cuisine is open as well. The restaurant is located in On North Greene street in the building Riva's use to be in. Its a few blocks from the ballpark.

Loaf Bakery in an Alley off of South Elm Street is now open

Rally Monkey's Sports Bar on South Elm Street is now open (some of the earlier renovation photos.) There will be wall mounted TVs all over the restaurant.

Edited December 28, 2011 by cityboi

[cityboi]

A collaborative college campus could be built in downtown Greensboro. A very unique concept for North Carolina.

N.C. A&T, UNCG, Bennett College, Greensboro College, Guilford College, GTCC and Elon’s law school would all be involved. If NC A&T lands the state's third architecture school, it could locate in the downtown campus. The question that remains, where in downtown Greensboro could such a campus be built?

http://www.news-reco...ming_attraction

Edited January 15, 2012 by cityboi

[cityboi]

more on the proposed downtown joint college district.

http://www.myfox8.co...0,7417718.story

Also tell DGI what you think should happen next downtown

http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-downtown-greensboro-inc-seeks-input-on-building-ideas-20120130,0,6485484.story

Edited January 31, 2012 by cityboi

[cityboi]

The city is clearly behind a downtown performing arts center now after a flood of calls and emails from citizens demanding it be built downtown instead of at the coliseum. Over the past few years Greensboro has been losing events to Durham's new downtown performing arts center. War Memorial Auditorium at the coliseum is indeed obsolete and there hasn't been many changes since it was built in the 1950s. City leaders want to use private funds to offset any additional cost of having it downtown. DGI president has identified at least 10 sites downtown. The center would rival the one in downtown Durham and would become an architectural icon for Greensboro. What does this mean for downtown? Orchestra concerts, Broadway productions, major nationwide traveling stage plays, famous actors, actresses and musicians. This would help create even more street activity in the evenings with more people dining downtown and attending other entertainment venues in the center-city. Other downtown facilities such as Triad Stage and the Carolina Theatre will only compliment a major downtown performing arts center that will attract people from all over the Triad and beyond making it the largest tourist destination in the center-city. A proposed performing arts center in Greensboro is expected to have over 3,000 seats which would dwarf any current theater in the Triad. In many ways this would benefit downtown more than the ballpark.

Durham's downtown performing arts center

Edited February 1, 2012 by cityboi

[cityboi]

More on Greensboro's effort to build a performing arts center. Local leaders say the facility has to just as good or better than Durham's. Durham's Performing arts center attracts 200 plus events a year. The facility has attracted more businesses and restaurants in downtown Durham.

http://www.myfox8.co...0,7721459.story

Edited February 3, 2012 by cityboi

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Go Greensboro! Awesome idea.

[cityboi]

I think if we want this to be a done deal for downtown Greensboro, the performing arts center must be built with some private dollars. Greensboro voters have already rejected bonds to upgrade War Memorial Auditorium twice. Then again, if the city wants a venue greater than Durham's, it will have to take a combination of public and private money. Some estimates for a downtown venue reach $70 million. Durham's was about $48 million. Its possible that a bond could pass this time around if its a new facility downtown because of the excitement level. City Leaders need to make the case to tax payers that if we don't do this, War Memorial will eventually close due to lack of events. This would open the door for other cities in the Triad to build a major regional PAC. Greensboro has lost a lot of events due to the obsolete War Memorial Auditorium. It stands out like a sore thumb at the coliseum because everything else at the complex is upgraded. But I will only support a bond if this is built downtown. Whenever the city gets a new venue, War Memorial Auditorium will be torn down. Coliseum director talks about lack of parking at the coliseum. Build a parking deck in its place.

War Memorial Auditorium (compare this with Durham's.....this is why we are losing events to Durham. This facility hasn't changed since it was built in the 1950s)

War Memorial Auditorium with the old coliseum arena before expansion

renderings of renovation voters rejected several years ago...not bad at all, but this belongs downtown. However it would not likely look like this because they would tear down War Memorial and build a new venue from ground up if the downtown plan fails. Furthermore, downtown groups want a venue downtown that is "architecturally significant". These designs below are great but we can do better.

This rendering shows a bigger facility than Durham's. There are three balcony levels as oppose to Durham's two. This would be great for downtown Greensboro. I believe a downtown performing arts center of this caliber would have a greater impact on downtown Greensboro than the ballpark. There are only a limited number of home games a year at the ballpark during the spring and summer months, but with a performing arts center attracting 200 events throughout the year, that's getting close to having something going on almost every day of the year. Plus many events held here would attract people from other cities outside of the Triad. We are talking about famous actors, music artists, and comedians such as Steve Harvey and Aretha Franklin performing in downtown Greensboro along with broadway productions and traveling shows like Tyler Perry. Local orchestra productions would be held here too. With a state-of-the-art venue, Greensboro won't have trouble at all attracting a lot of events with the city's central location. This would only help attract further development downtown and make it even more feasible to add more hotel rooms in the center-city. If Greensboro does this right, we can have the best performing arts center in the state for many years to come. We have to build this bigger and better if we want to have the highest attendance venue in North Carolina. By comparison, Charlotte's uptown Blumenthal PAC seats 2,100. Durham's PAC seat 2,800. Greensboro is looking at a venue that will seat as many as 3,600 putting in on par with performing arts centers in much larger cities. Touring shows evaluate locations based on potential gross revenue assuming sold out shows. Therefore, a larger theater will be more effective in competing for acts and will have greater revenue potential. As far as downtown locations, Action Greensboro has identified a number of potential sites for a PAC including: (The Weaver property or old Duke Power site next to the Children's Museum, the current city owned Greensboro Transit Authority property between E Market Street and Friendly Ave., News & Record lot across from the depot and a triangular area between N Elm, Summit Ave and Lindsay Street) The architecture would likely reflect the area of downtown it would be located. A venue built on the north end of downtown would be sleek and ultra modern. A venue closer to the southern end of downtown would have a more historic look. I'm in favor of a sleek contemporary design.

Edited February 7, 2012 by cityboi

[DigitalSky]

Thanks for that history and insight into War Memorial!

[cityboi]

It turns out the city was planning to build a parking deck anyway. Why not kill two birds with one stone providing parking for the performing arts and the planned hotel and other establishments.

Another configuration

Meanwhile the idea is being toyed around of making a downtown performing arts center the anchor of the South Elm/Lee Street project.

http://www.bizjourna...e-for-gsos.html

Edited February 6, 2012 by cityboi

[billyjones]

Too bad Greensboro's downtown boosters don't want to tell the rest of the story:

[cityboi]

The Greensboro Performing Arts Center Task Force Ready To Start Work

City Leaders want the performing arts center downtown instead of at the coliseum. This makes this most sense considering that Durham, Raleigh and Charlotte all have their big performing arts center downtown.

"This project is still just an idea but if approved, where does the money come from? Managers at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex say a large sum would come from a hotel/motel tax paid mostly by tourists. They're also expecting private donations from arts supporters. However, we don't yet know how much of the project would come from taxes."

http://www.digtriad....arts-Groundwork

Edited February 15, 2012 by cityboi

[krazeeboi]

City Leaders want the performing arts center downtown instead of at the coliseum. This makes this most sense considering that Durham, Raleigh and Charlotte all have their big performing arts center downtown.

It doesn't make sense because a couple of other in-state cities have their's downtown; it's because performing arts centers often serve as an anchor development for other projects and generates larger amounts of pedestrian activity which contributes to more dollars being spent at downtown establishments after events held there. Other cities realize this and that's why they have built their's downtown, not simply because other places did it.

[cityboi]

It doesn't make sense because a couple of other in-state cities have their's downtown; it's because performing arts centers often serve as an anchor development for other projects and generates larger amounts of pedestrian activity which contributes to more dollars being spent at downtown establishments after events held there. Other cities realize this and that's why they have built their's downtown, not simply because other places did it.

I agree and thats what I meant. Those cities realize that a cultural amenity such is that belongs in the heart of the city.

[billyjones]

Before Greensboro Destroyed My Home

I live in the community once known as Bessemer. My family bought our home in 1958 when I was 2 years old. My first memory is of driving to our home on an oiled gravel road in Daddy's black '56 Pontiac and my mother telling my younger brother and I, "This is our new home."

As an unincorporated community, Bessemer had no city limits but it was generally assumed that Bessemer was the community between White Street to the north to McConnell Road to the south. To the west, Bessemer shared a border with the City of Greensboro and the eastern edge would have been near where the Sears/Kmart Distribution Center sits today.

Bessemer High School stood on East Bessemer Ave as a pillar of the community, on the site where Erwin Elementary School stands today. The gym at Erwin is all that remains of Bessemer High School. When Greensboro annexed the area they closed our high school and bused us across town even before court ordered busing for racial issues began. That was when the continuity of our community began to fall apart.

Bessemer had it's own street gang called the Bessemer Boys. The Bessemer Boys were notorious throughout the rest of Greensboro but here in Bessemer they served as a quasi-police force that kept the rest of Greensboro's bad boys at bay. I'm not trying to pass them off as saints but the streets were a lot safer under their rule than they are today.

The Bessemer Community had it's own community center that was bigger than any Greensboro community center that existed at the time. The picnic shelter and basketball courts are gone but the building remains just south of Wendover Ave and west of Elwell. The Bessemer Community Center was jointly owned by Bessemer United Methodist Church, Bessemer Baptist Church and a Presbyterian Church on Phillips Ave at the intersection of White Street. As members left the neighborhood and those churches to flee to safer neighborhoods the 3 churches could no longer afford to keep the center open. Today, only Bessemer United Methodist Church-- home to the Blessed Table Food Pantry and former home to the IRC-- remains. Members tell me they doubt the church will remain open for another year.

We had our own baseball and softball field at what is now the location of Peeler Recreation Center across the street from the abandoned Winn-Dixie Grocery store that marks the center of the little green circle-- the site I've suggested for Greensboro's Performing Arts Center.

The Bessemer Swim Club was located in the King's Forest Subdivision. It was closed because the white community leadership wrongly opposed integration of the pool. Racism existed in the community in pretty much the same proportions that racism existed everywhere. As a child I couldn't understand why the black kids next door went to one school and the white kids to another but as soon as we walked home from school all the kids in the immediate neighborhood, black and white, gathered in my yard to play.

Summers were spent playing in the woods the City bulldozed to build parks where now abandoned basketball courts of broken concrete remain. Sometimes we swam in the rock quarry where the rock that built Greensboro was mined. Other times we fished in ponds that once existed inside the little green circle. If we caught Brim or Catfish, then my mother would fry them for supper and if we caught Carp, Mrs Pennix, the black lady next door, would feed us along with her sons and other kids black and white. Despite public opinion, Carp is good if you know how to prepare it but like too many white folks, my mother never learned the secret recipe.

And while they moved to better neighborhoods many years ago, the Pennix Brothers still visit from time to time.

In the late 1950s, the City of Greensboro expanded into the East Market Street area and began bulldozing the mostly black owned businesses that existed there. There was concern among white downtown developers that the thriving businesses along East Market were taking away downtown's profits. Their solution was a taxpayer funded and completely unnecessary widening of the entire length of East Market Street that took the parking lots and many of the buildings that were located there. Even then the project costs $Millions and only downtown Greensboro benefited. Of note: in the most recent wave of "downtown development" East Market Street has been narrowed. Again, at taxpayers' expense the cost running $Millions per mile .

In the 1960s an era of "downtown rejuvenation" swept the country and Greensboro was no exception. And while downtown Greensboro got $Millions in Federal aid, Greensboro's other neighborhoods like Bessemer got nothing. Bessemer had a number of small commercial areas where high end retailers, doctors, lawyers and others set up shop. Today there are none that I know of.

The area in which I live, the area inside the little green circle, was annexed circa 1964. Shortly afterwards, the City of Greensboro built Claremont Courts, a low income housing project that still belongs to the City of Greensboro. Later, because of public outrage, the City began "distribution" of low income housing projects "throughout" the city. Then they came back and built Patio Place Apartments-- another city owned low income housing project-- next door to Claremont Courts.

Greensboro's realtors, whose offices were downtown, spent the 1960s, 70s and 80s promoting segregation of blacks and whites by directing prospective home buyers towards the neighborhoods in which the developers wanted them to go. Roy Carroll Sr and other developers promoted and built-up Greensboro's urban sprawl while existing neighborhoods like ours emptied out. One now former Greensboro City Council Woman got $Millions to build affordable housing while existing housing that was even more affordable emptied out.

While our streets are all paved, many still don't have curbing and gutters or storm drains. Streets that were already paved before annexation 40 years ago remain narrow and dangerous in comparison to other city streets. And sidewalks... What are sidewalks? I live on a City Bicycle Route but there's nothing to remind motorists for miles on end-- never has been. More people in East Greensboro use bicycles as everyday transportation than any other area of the City and yet there is no safe place to ride a bicycle to get to those "downtown jobs."

Why not put the jobs where most of the people live instead of forcing us to travel what for many will be a hour or more each way? Those new commercial properties the Mayor is promoting outside the city limits along the county line to our east don't even have bus routes and riding a bus there would require we first ride a bus downtown before changing buses to ride right back through our own neighborhood. How many people living downtown have to live like that?

All through the late 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and until 2007, the City of Greensboro deliberately concentrated police efforts in more affluent areas of the city including downtown. East Greensboro residents often waited hours for police response to emergency calls while crime was unheard of in Greensboro's more affluent neighborhoods. Things eventually got to the point that victims no longer called the police, choosing instead to deal with it on our own. I remember one incident where I called GPD to report that my car was being broken into at that very moment and being told by the 911 dispatcher than an officer would be dispatched the next day. That's right, the next day. I won't say what happened next but the officer's trip the next morning was null and void.

Black and white, people got out as quickly as they could afford to leave. Most of the houses went to Greensboro's slum lords but in recent years even the slum lords are ignoring the 40 or so empty houses inside the little green circle, many for 10 years or longer.

GPD does better these days, response times are usually minutes at the most but but the neighborhood still isn't coming back. Building the heart and soul of Greensboro destroyed the heart and soul of Bessemer. I ran a two week write-in campaign for Mayor of Greensboro in 2007 solely because Johnson and Kern were denying Greensboro's gang issues when 200 members of the Bloods Gang were located in the house across the street from me. I knew I couldn't win but with some help from my 30 or so supporters we forced gangs into the discussion.

Downtown Greensboro is now enjoying its third wave of "downtown rejuvenation" in the last 50 years but Bessemer and communities like Bessemer continue to die because the Greensboro City Council has never become vested in East Greensboro or any other community outside of the 99 blocks that make up downtown Greensboro. . Building the Randall Jarrell Performing Arts Center inside the little green circle will force Greensboro, once and for all, to become vested in our communities.

It's the only right thing to do.

Some will argue that we should wait on the $20 Million economic development bond as proposed by Councilman Zack Matheny just yesterday but promises like that are too easily broken. We must demand what they cannot afford to forget, a gem the City will treasure and do everything in their power to protect.

[cityboi]

Task force asks consultant to find a location for the proposed performing arts center. The priority is downtown and three locations so far stand out.

1) The triangular land surrounded by Lindsay St, Summit Ave and North Elm St

2) The News & Record lot across from the depot

3) South Elm/Lee St site.

The triangular land was identified by Action Greensboro 10 years ago for a performing arts center. At the time a 15 to 18 story office tower (proposed federal courthouse) was suppose to be attached to it. Here was the original conceptual design. Federal courthouse plans across the country were put on hold after George Bush cut government spending to help fund the Iraq war. There is no word on when these federal courthouse projects will be put back on the table. Construction on the high-rise courthouse was suppose to start in 2006. Charlotte's downtown performing arts center is also attached to an office tower.

http://myfox8.com/20...ng-arts-center/

Edited March 9, 2012 by cityboi