Downtown Greensboro Developments

[cityboi]

Officials clear way for construction to begin on Eugene Street Parking deck. The deck will serve the parking needs for Project Slugger and the ballpark across the street as well as the Carroll South of the ballpark development 

https://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/officials-clear-the-way-for-parking-deck-construction-in-downtown/article_8b835cc0-31b3-5b4e-99d1-1695d7b6de80.html

[Genesis704]

2019 Photo update,

westin lot has officially begun.(picture 9)

includes a 6 story parking garage, with a  9 story building placed on the far north side for a total of 15 stories.

project sluggers tower crane has arrived, and has been setup, so we should see it rise pretty briskly.

tanger center construction

carroll south lot has been given the green light by the city,

[first an 8 story parking garage will be constructed by city, once that is complete Carroll south can begin, Carroll south includes a 6 story 350 unit apartment building, 9 story aloft hotel followed by a 20 story mixed use highrise, the lot sits right beside the project slugger lot.]

Hampton Inn nearly topped out.

**last two photos are credit to Cityboi, for his crane up photos** I did not take those last two.

Edited September 10, 2019 by GSOcitizen

[KJHburg]

That Tanger Center is just beautiful and will do wonders for downtown Gboro. 

[cityboi]

New restaurant opening in the ballpark district (lo-fi) neighborhood right next to Craft the Art of Street Food and Preyer Brewing.

https://www.greensboro.com/entertainment/dining/downtown-greensboro-getting-bakery-bistro-concept/article_0dcb49f9-852c-5d81-87c7-69b68605966d.html

Edited October 5, 2019 by cityboi

[cityboi]

South End Brewery opens today in the district along South Elm Street south of the tracks now being dubbed as South End.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2019/10/23/photos-southend-brewery-to-open-today.html?iana=hpmvp_triad_news_headline

[SteveFromFuquay]

Does anyone know if there's a map of current projects for downtown Greensboro? 

Also, does anyone know if anything has been proposed for the News and Record property? 

[cityboi]

6 hours ago, SteveFromFuquay said:

Does anyone know if there's a map of current projects for downtown Greensboro? 

Also, does anyone know if anything has been proposed for the News and Record property? 

DGI releases downtown development maps every few years or so but haven't done so in about 3 years. Currently there are no plan development plans at the moment for the News and Record site, at least that the public is aware of.  Based on the rate of construction with current projects, it will likely be a 10 to 12 year build out into phases. Add another 3 years to that because on average it takes about 3 years from revealing of plans to groundbreaking with downtown projects 

Edited October 31, 2019 by cityboi

[SteveFromFuquay]

Hey thanks, man. I was hoping someone might have their own Google MyMaps of development they could share. 

 

[Rufus]

6 hours ago, SteveFromFuquay said:

Hey thanks, man. I was hoping someone might have their own Google MyMaps of development they could share. 

 

If I felt comfortable about mine, even though I've never lived in GSO, and now live in New York, I'd share it haha. It's also for Raleigh and Charlotte too, so you would have a glimpse of those projects. 

[cityboi]

Centric Brands officially open in the old denim mill in downtown Greensboro. There was a celebration with a block party and ferris wheel.

https://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/centric-brands-holds-grand-opening-at-gateway-center/article_4fe9813a-ab9e-5e3e-9977-867ac9794dba.html

Related video about new downtown businesses.

https://myfox8.com/2019/11/01/new-businesses-are-helping-downtown-greensboro-grow/

Edited November 2, 2019 by cityboi

[cityboi]

DGI is inviting the public to a few workshops to get the public's reaction and suggestions for a 2030 downtown plan. One of the ideas in the plan was a little shocking. DGI did say it is about making "big moves"

"Build a multi-use arena: It would be designed to showcase music, sports, conferences and more. The arena "will build on the momentum in the Ballpark neighborhood, bringing thousands of visitors to downtown each year."

The questions I'd have where would an arena be built near the ballpark? How big would it be? Also how would this affect the Greensboro Coliseum Complex? Who will pay for it? I know many cities have multiple arenas. If it were to come to fruition, it would likely be a small arena between 5,000 and 10,000 seating capacity. Certainly nothing the size of the Greensboro Coliseum arena. I guess a small arena could be built on the Greensboro Merchants Association property on the southeast corner of Eugene and Bellemeade Streets diagonally across from the ballpark. A portion of Sternberger Place would likely have to be closed to make way for it and  it would be across the street from Carroll South of the Ballpark/Aloft  to the west and Carroll at Bellemeade/Hyatt Place to the north. The site is also 2 blocks west of the performing arts center. It could also bring hockey back to Greensboro and the NBA G League Greensboro Swarm could relocate there. Parking would not be an issue with two city parking decks within a block.

I love the idea of a downtown arena, particularly near the ballpark, but some questions need to be answered first.

As for transit connecting the colleges and neighborhoods to downtown, self driving shuttles sounds interesting.

https://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/downtown-greensboro-inc-wants-community-reaction-to-ideas-for-long/article_163a1b43-8aa8-5140-946c-65b7f0751931.html

Did a little site sketch.

The red area is a potential arena site. The green areas are hotels. The one to the north is Hyatt Place and the green area on the undeveloped site is the future 9-story Aloft Hotel. The shaded blue areas are future residential. The shaded yellow areas are office development. The one at the ballpark is the 9 story Project Slugger and the shaded yellow area across the street is the future site of Roy Carroll's 20-story office tower. The shaded purple area is the 8 story 1,000 space city parking deck. The 8 story Bellemeade deck to the east is just out of view on the map.

Edited November 18, 2019 by cityboi

[jthomas]

On 11/17/2019 at 9:15 PM, cityboi said:

DGI is inviting the public to a few workshops to get the public's reaction and suggestions for a 2030 downtown plan. One of the ideas in the plan was a little shocking. DGI did say it is about making "big moves"

https://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/downtown-greensboro-inc-wants-community-reaction-to-ideas-for-long/article_163a1b43-8aa8-5140-946c-65b7f0751931.html

 

I went to the workshop last night (at the new SouthEnd Brewing Co. - cool spot BTW). There was a great turnout and overall a lot of enthusiasm for the ideas presented and for downtown in general. The consensus seems to be that downtown has made great strides in the past 15 years, and now we need to build on that and get more of everything - more residents, more retail, more restaurants, etc. There was also a lot of interest in improving and promoting walkability, transit, and car-free mobility, which I find very encouraging.

I thought that DGI had come up with lots of good ideas. The one that seemed to get the best reception was to develop the area around the Depot into an active mixed-use district. I think this would be a home run. If our region, state, and country ever joined the rest of the developed world in investing in rail transportation, the Depot would become Greensboro's front door.  High-intensity mixed use development is a natural fit with railway stations, and as the city already owns almost the entire block that the Depot sits on, I see this as a great opportunity.

Support for the arena idea seemed a little more lukewarm. To me, this one came out of the blue - I'm not opposed to the idea, but I don't see it as a priority. And I certainly don't think it should go in the middle of an area (like the ballpark district) that is already developing. Arenas can be dead spaces in an urban fabric. Even if it hosted 200 events a year (which I think is ambitious given the other venues in town), that is only 55% of the calendar, and each event would only activate the area for a few hours out of the day. Better to put more active uses on the prime land, and put something like an arena on the fringe of downtown.

There is another workshop today from 11-1 in the Triad Stage lobby - anyone who is interested should swing by!

[SteveFromFuquay]

I've always been curious about the Depot. It's a beautiful little station in a great location, but it's definitely kind of isolated from the rest of DT.  Between that property and the News & Record property, that area could really be something interesting in the future. 

Side note: The NC railroad plan calls for increasing the daily trains between Raleigh and Charlotte, which would presumably grow ridership in Greensboro as well. Once Charlotte's Gateway Station gets built, it will be a lot easier to travel by train to Uptown Charlotte. Any development at the Depot should include an expansion of capacity without damaging the historic nature of the station. 

[KJHburg]

I think a convention center or meeting space should be a higher priority than a small arena.  To have 2 in the city could be a financial drain.  Only recently has Bojangles arena (the old old Charlotte Coliseum) been able to make money after having an anchor tenant of the Charlotte Checkers hockey team. with the Spectrum Center uptown home of the Hornets.   I don't see how how arena like this downtown would not diminish the huge and successful Greensboro Coliseum complex.  

As mentioned above downtown Gboro needs more office workers, more residents, more retail and restaurants and do I think the Tanger Center will help with all that. 

[cityboi]

 

High Point and Greensboro are putting together joint incentives to keep the headquarters of the Fresh Market in the area regardless of whether they move to High Point or stay in Greensboro. The Fresh Market needs more office space and a "downtown Greensboro site" is North Carolina's finalist location according to the Business Journal. The current headquarters is on Green Valley Rd near Friendly Shopping Center in Greensboro.

The Fresh Market operates 159 stores in 22 states. It specializes in fresh produce, meats and seafoods with a high level of customer service.

In addition to the jobs, the company says it will invest up to $2 million in equipment and upfit of an existing building in downtown Greensboro.

Fresh Market and local leaders were tight-lipped about the potential downtown location.

But its one of the few examples of High Point providing incentives for a company relocating to a new headquarters in Greensboro. 

Maybe they'll open a downtown Fresh Market store to compliment its downtown headquarters.

https://www.journalnow.com/business/greensboro-high-point-councils-ok-major-incentive-package-for-the/article_87d6af79-0a6c-556e-9694-447d4034cba4.amp.html

https://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2019/11/21/greensboro-high-point-each-approve-301-000-in.html?iana=hpmvp_triad_news_headline

Edited November 22, 2019 by cityboi

[rancenc]

It does look like that Fresh Market is not only keeping their headquarters in Greensboro, but also adding positions to their current workforce!

https://www.greensboro.com/business/fresh-market-announces-headquarters-to-stay-in-greensboro-it-will/article_33b1fb11-0001-5d70-ac75-f8c7d9ed1e8c.html

[cityboi]

1 hour ago, rancenc said:

It does look like that Fresh Market is not only keeping their headquarters in Greensboro, but also adding positions to their current workforce!

https://www.greensboro.com/business/fresh-market-announces-headquarters-to-stay-in-greensboro-it-will/article_33b1fb11-0001-5d70-ac75-f8c7d9ed1e8c.html

Not to mention high paying jobs.

[RichardC]

One thing is for certain, I’m sure their higher rent and “high paying jobs” won’t make Fresh Market prices go down.  It is the highest joint around.  I’ll stick with HT, Lowe’s, or Trader Joe’s.

[cityboi]

Downtown Hotel updates 

https://myfox8.com/2019/12/03/work-continues-on-downtown-greensboro-hotels/

[cityboi]

GSOCITIZEN has some insight on some potential future residential development near the ballpark.

He said Novare Group out of Atlanta is interested in purchasing property near the ballpark and that he heard representatives from Novare Group recently came to town and met with Mayor Vaughn and other city leaders. Novare Group is the same company that has built SkyHouse residential towers in both Charlotte and Raleigh. 

These rumors could be true because there were some reports of additional residential development near the ballpark and even Roy Carroll hinted in a tweet that there is other development planned and that he wish he could reveal what he knew.

I would love to see Greensboro get a SkyHouse apartment tower.

This could be in Greensboro's future near the ballpark....only time will tell 

 

But if I had to guess where it would go, it would be built on the corner of Bellemeade and Edgeworth Streets right across the street from the ballpark box office. The reason would have to be because that site is adjacent to the city deck going up and Skyhouse towers are usually built next to city parking decks so the towers will have parking. The city deck would be shared by Skyhouse, 400 Bellemeade (Project Slugger) and Carroll South of the Ballpark.

Edited December 7, 2019 by cityboi

[cityboi]

Guilford County plans to sell Edgeworth Building/property. The interesting thing as that the property butts up against the land where the city parking deck and Carroll South of the Ballpark are going. Great timing for a company....let's say like Novare Group to come in a purchase. If there is no upset bid, local developer Samet Corp will purchase the property. There has been rumors that Novare Group out of Atlanta recently came to Greensboro and met with the Mayor and city officials about a possible Skyhouse tower and they are interested in purchasing property near the ballpark. The timing of the rumors and this announcement is interesting. But we'll see.

https://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/guilford-county-gets-m-offer-for-downtown-greensboro-building-that/article_60638cf6-085f-5544-b8ce-0d14de105c59.html

 

- YELLOW- epresents Project Slugger

- BLUE - represents Carroll South of the Ballpark (9 story Aloft Hotel, apartments and 20- story office tower. )

- PURPLE- represents the city parking deck

-RED- represents the property the county is selling for development.

Edited December 12, 2019 by cityboi

[cityboi]

Greensboro selected to host the 2020 Vanguard Conference.

The conference will give Greensboro the opportunity to display its urban development projects, share innovations with the emerging leaders and to solicit ideas from young thinkers.

Next City’s gathering of rising urban leaders from around the world will next meet in Greensboro, North Carolina, May 11 through May 14, 2020

pretty cool considering the vast majority of conferences are held in large cities like Chicago or Washington DC.

https://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2019/12/17/triad-city-selected-for-next-citys-2020-vanguard.html?iana=hpmvp_triad_news_headline

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by cityboi

[rancenc]

Follow up article to CITYBOI's December 11 post on the potential sale of the Edgeworth building.

https://www.journalnow.com/business/upset-offer-opens-second-round-of-bidding-for-the-edgeworth/article_7c81bb34-10c7-565b-a8eb-b8ea1a0bd5f2.html

[cityboi]

A look back at 2019.

https://www.wfmynews2.com/amp/article/news/local/greensboro-job-growth-economy-growth-in-2019/83-39807239-f82a-4a71-8b4a-fa276bf0d3c4

[KJHburg]

2 stories today from the Biz Journal about growth in downtown Greensboro and what to look for in 2020

https://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2020/01/09/15-storylines-to-watch-in-the-20s-steven-tanger.html

I agree the Tanger Center is a game changer for downtown GSO

https://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2020/01/09/15-storylines-to-watch-in-the-20s-downtown.html