Downtown Greensboro Developments

[KJHburg]

These are just various photos  of downtown Greensboro.   DT Gboro is nice and vibrant.  More housing is only thing I think of you need a lot more of it on some of those surface lots.  Elm Street is a great street with buildings of various facades and lots of locally based retailers and restaurants.  Ate at the Liberty Oak restaurant very good downtown for lunch. 

Just keep building up your downtown with new apartments and maybe offices but with the growth of jobs coming to the area with Toyota, Boom Supersonic etc you will have many more people looking for an urban downtown to live and do things in.  All these apartments above some of the retail along Elm are good ways to activate the streets day and night. 

[cityboi]

Looks like Isaac Cain still has his "Greensboro Triumph Center" dreams but they'll likely just remain that.

[HRVT]

3 hours ago, cityboi said:

Looks like Isaac Cain still has his "Greensboro Triumph Center" dreams but they'll likely just remain that.

The second rendering looks similar to Carroll's Project 561.

 

Obviously this is extremely pie in the sky.

[cityboi]

1 hour ago, HRVT said:

The second rendering looks similar to Carroll's Project 561.

 

Obviously this is extremely pie in the sky.

What's even more puzzling as that he still "proposes" a convention center/2,000 seat concert hall. Does he realize we already have the Tanger Center? In the beginning when this news first broke out around 2008, the local media and many took this seriously because at the time no one knew who the developer was and it was reported in such a way that led everyone thinking a prominent out of town developer from Florida was planning this. Quite frankly much of what he has proposed has already happened by a number of different developers in separate projects with exception to a convention center. It would be very nice if his convention center, condo towers, hotel and office happen but not at this scale and scope at this time. No developer is proposing condos of any type in downtown Greensboro at the moment, only apartments. The design of the main tower which I assume is the hotel looks interesting though. But maybe a little bit too far out there for Greensboro. Look like something that would be built in Las Vegas.

Edited July 22 by cityboi

[cityboi]

Greensboro's original downtown train station which was built in 1899 will be presented and redeveloped for an unknown use. For those of you who don't know where it is. Its located at thr railroad crossing at South Elm Street. Greensboro is blessed to have preserved both its historic train stations. The other one is the 1927 depot which is now a part of the Amtrak Station/Multimodal transportation hub. 

There are plans to return it to its original look.

 

https://www.ncrr.com/ncrr-collaborates-to-preserve/

https://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2022/07/25/city-buys-railroad-station.html

 

 

Edited July 26 by cityboi

[KJHburg]

Hey is there anyway someone can get a full photo of the front of the building or the back side facing the tracks?  This is a great news.  Would be great retail space but even office space if you put some thick windows in for sound measures. 

[jthomas]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

Hey is there anyway someone can get a full photo of the front of the building or the back side facing the tracks?  This is a great news.  Would be great retail space but even office space if you put some thick windows in for sound measures. 

I'll try to grab some next time I'm down there, but in the meantime Street View gives a pretty accurate picture.

I doubt that the trackside awning will be restored due to how close it is to the tracks. Still, it will be great to see this building with the pitched roof and proper windows. I believe NCRR owns this building in Raleigh's Warehouse District which has been nicely restored and activated, so I have high hopes for this project.

Office would work here - maybe retail/restaurant on ground floor and office above? I have been in the Cascade Saloon building across the tracks, and while you certainly hear and feel the passing trains, it's not unworkable. Could have been a signature landing spot for the ACC, but I believe that train has left the station...

Edited July 26 by jthomas
more appropriate metaphor...

[cityboi]

I can think of multiple uses. Maybe a Greensboro transportation museum or a railroad themed restaurant microbrewery with live Blues music.

 

If some how the ACC remained in Greensboro clearly they need to move the headquarters and it needs to be downtown. But it appears thats unlikely. The ACC isn't going to go through all this just to remain in Greensboro.

Edited July 26 by cityboi

[KJHburg]

I think it could be a great restaurant or brewery.  That is a busy track I know but the old Biltmore Village train station is a restaurant in Asheville and every now and then a train comes right next to the restaurant.  Now I know these are busier tracks but still could be a neat place.  Wonder if they will restore that cupola that was on the corner? 

[cityboi]

4 hours ago, KJHburg said:

I think it could be a great restaurant or brewery.  That is a busy track I know but the old Biltmore Village train station is a restaurant in Asheville and every now and then a train comes right next to the restaurant.  Now I know these are busier tracks but still could be a neat place.  Wonder if they will restore that cupola that was on the corner? 

I hope they do restore the cupola. That was a form of architecture in downtown Greensboro that is just about extinct  (Chateauesque style). It would be very unique. There is only one example. The West Market Street Methodist Church. Much of that architecture in downtown Greensboro was either destroyed by fires or demolished for newer buildings. Remember this was a time when buildings were too old, they were demolished. They really didn't think about preserving 19th century buildings in the early 20th century. But there are still a handful of buildings built in the 19th century that still stands....btw, the 17 story Jefferson Standard Building turns 100 years old next year. It was built in 1923.

This church was built in 1893, 6 years earlier than the train station. I'm not certain but this may be the oldest standing church in Greensboro. I've always wondered if the architect of the Lincoln Financial tower addition built in 1990 used this church's tower as inspiration. It looks remarkable similar.

Notice the similarities.

Edited July 26 by cityboi

[cityboi]

It appears that the old train station will return to its original design. DGI president Zack Matheny says he hopes space will be utilized for a restaurant/bar with a social atmosphere. The renovation project is expected to be completed by 2024

https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/historic-downtown-greensboro-train-depot-revitalized/83-97287b98-f028-48ff-b4e0-97bda72f95ec

[KJHburg]

couple drive shots of downtown Greensboro earlier in the week.