crowe1856

What's with the AC units along the sidewalk? Seems real chintzy (as does the fence they slapped together).

I'd be happy if they put it back the way it was. Wouldn't shock me to see a large footprint structure, but I actually wouldn't mind seeing the parcel split into 4 blocks (adding a 2 lane North/South). At the very least, close the service road that is Hughes St and extend Feb One to Sycamore so it opens up the east side of downtown. More on-street parking, more reasons for pedestrians to venture off Elm & say "What's down here...?".

Well, on the bright side, I suppose another year of staring at a cleared site will condition pedestrians to stay away, thereby making the 300 car VIP lot less offensive.

Welcome to Greensboro: "You can't get there from here."

Well, let's see... we're gonna build something to bring more people downtown, so of course we need to make it more difficult for them to get around. As added bonus, the traffic we displace will be forced onto surrounding streets, diminishing their appeal for motorists and pedestrians alike.

Agreed. Makes me a little nervous there have been no renderings made public. This town has a baffling habit of building suburban structures downtown. Carroll put together a nice looking building with Center Point, but then again the bones were already in place. Regardless, something pedestrian friendly to offset ballpark's wall of fence across the street would be welcome. If it can tie in Commerce Place, even better. Pull up the meters & median in the middle, flank the street with trees, and turn some of those offices into sidewalk cafes & bistros, and suddenly Commerce Pl becomes a cozy little nook and an inviting pedestrian link from the heart of downtown to the ballpark. I've always liked the little glimpse you get of the county courthouse through the alley there. Getting back to the question of scale, anybody have a sense of how the 8-story hotel will impact the skyline view from the ballpark? Will it enhance or obscure?

I drive by each day on my way to work and have wondered the same thing. Crews are often there in the morning. Appears they're removing & replacing the brick exterior, presumably to get to what's behind the veneer. Dunno if there was faulty materials/design/workmanship when they were constructed that's now being corrected, but depending on the reason (and who's footing the bill), I'd be less uptight about the scaffolding than I would be my HOA dues.

I didn't realize they were tearing down War Memorial before the new PAC is built; was this always the plan? War Memorial hosted 50-60 events a year, many of which are too big for the Carolina Theatre and too small for the Coliseum/White Oak Amphitheater, so you're looking at an 18 month void in programming? This makes the planned surface parking at the new PAC seem even more desperate (yet no less inappropriate). Have any decisions been made on the design of the park, or will it more likely be announced when the PAC's final plan is released? I sincerely hope the mall isn't the way they go. We should focus on making downtown a pedestrian-frendly environment as a whole, rather than create separate "pedestrian spaces" and "car spaces". Part of downtown's problem is that we already have such an irregular grid with numerous "superblocks" breaking up the flow of traffic. It's like putting a boulder in a stream; you stop the water where the boulder is, but the water runs deeper and faster around it to compensate. Elm street is very walkable, but driving it it a pain (inherent congestion from its narrow width, compounded by slow/poor parallel parkers, delivery trucks parked in the middle due to lack of alleys, and the absence of cross-traffic turn lanes at its primary intersections of Market and Friendly). To avoid Elm, drivers take other North/South streets, which, save sections of South Greene and North Davie, are overbuilt pedestrian wastelands. Closing another street will only worsen the situation. Moving towards a more uniform grid gives drivers more options as far as routes (spreading out rather than concentrating traffic), creates more on-street parking (which is evenly distributed, rather than concentrated in surface lots), fosters a more pedestrian friendly mindset (cars & people interact on more equal terms, and drivers themselves may actually have to walk a block or two), and makes for a more walkable environment (where you can walk a couple blocks in any direction rather than be relegated to one street or designated space). We should seek to create an environment that integrates rather than segregates cars & people.

How old are the Katalyst renderings? They have the ballpark on South Elm.

It's been a few years since I've heard anything about it; were any real teeth put in the downtown GSO design manual? My commute takes me past the corner of Market & Spring, and it still makes me angry twice a day that such suburban structures (the Y, Arbor House, and Carolina Bank) were built downtown in the recent past. Don't get me wrong, each is a valued asset, but looking at those buildings, it's like this town doesn't know better, can't afford better, or simply doesn't care- none of which speak well of the community. Hence, I cringe at the thought of the PAC, proposed hotels, or other projects following a similar design path. The scale and placement of the trees next to the new jail don't lead me to believe the manual carries much weight.

Looks like GSO didn't make the final three in contention for the 2016 Swim Trials. http://www.news-record.com/home/1036691-63/greensboro-out-of-running-to Convenience for swimmers was the reason cited. In Omaha's case, Century Link Center has an attached convention center which, like Greensboro, allows everything to be under one roof, but also has an attached Hilton and is downtown close to numerous restaurants and other hotels. Being a stone's throw from the airport probably doesn't hurt either. Having grown up in Nebraska, I'm a little biased, but it will be interesting to see if they go with one of the domes or play it safe. Having Michael Phelps certainly didn't hurt attendance the last two go-rounds, so one wonders how much they can grow the event by moving to a bigger space. Either way, I look forward to Greensboro learning from the effort and making an even more serious run for 2020.

This isn’t a new idea, but my daily commute takes me by the Bryan Y and new jail in downtown Greensboro, and literally every time I see that surface lot (and so many others for that matter) all I can do is picture something like this: Recently built in my hometown. On the first floor: 17,000 sq ft of retail. The middle six floors have 647 parking spaces. The top three floors consist of 52 apartments- all of which were already leased when the building opened. Project was built with $14.5 million in private investment and $16.5 million in public funding. I’m only posting because I’m reminded of it every day and just want to say, “Please Greensboro, build more stuff like this.”

I'm not feelin' it. Makes for an awful lot of surface parking along Lindsay considering the Wrangler building across the street. This design looks like it could be plopped down on the Coliseum campus without any changes. Wonder if that's intentional.

Cityboi, thanks for sharing the historical photos of Davie. I've only lived here since the mid 2000's and assumed the entirety of pedestrian wasteland along that street was due to urban renewal; I had no idea there was a fire in '85 to further the damage (though the N&R building would've already swallowed much of the corridor). I've often joked that if I won the lottery I'd buy the News & Record just so I could tear down that building. You're spot-on in your assessment of the intersection of Spring & Market. Truly a shame that we continue to build suburban structures downtown. Each of those buildings represents welcomed recent investment in downtown but are also each a wasted opportunity that now scars our city. While far more appropriate for their setting, the Greenway apartments, and Cityview to a lesser extent, are also somewhat suburban in nature. Both are on the outskirts, have a cluster of low-rise buildings with a shared clubhouse, and are just a gabled roof and vinyl siding away from the standard formulaic suburban complex. One could even look at the greenway itself as being in essence a bike/ped beltway around what should already be the most bike/ped friendly part of town.

To hear the spin some have put on it, guidelines deter developers- yet here they are asking for them! Unfortunately, without any enforceable regulations, someone can still build freely outside the guidelines so long as they're willing to put up with some additional bureaucracy. Every new downtown project is an opportunity to enhance and redefine our city, and to my understanding the guidelines as passed do little to concretely deter mediocrity. My reaction to the guidelines as written is likely the same as the city's will be towards non-conforming buildings: "It's better than nothing."

Not to fan wild speculation, but I noticed the other day that the "for sale" sign at Davie & Washington was gone from the lot south of the N&R building. Don't see it on the Hagan Properties website, either. Anyone know if it was purchased or pulled from the market?

Perhaps I went in with too great of expectations, but I thought In & Out was just okay. Granted, I didn't get mine animal style or anything (maybe a double-double next time, 'cause the single left me cold). Five Guys, however was everything I'd heard. Anyone know what part of Friendly they're going in?

My alma mater was an urban campus and downtown had a number of lofts that were income restricted & filled with students. Don't know for fact, but presumably the developer got tax incentives for renovating these historic buildings, and additional incentives for making them low income. Even if apartments weren't as immediately profitable, they could still shift their tax burden, and the downtown land would surely appreciate. Why do I not see that here (aside from the fact that many would-be suitable structures are now parking lots)?

Agreed. Maybe a joint venture like the Gateway Research Park, except put it someplace equally convenient to both schools (ie downtown). Greensboro is in a unique position by having two decent sized universities so close to downtown, but doesn't seem to have done much to cash in on that fact. I'd say students & recent grads are the most likely demo to live downtown so long as there's affordable options (fewer luxury condos, and more apartments).

From ACC's website: "The Atlantic Coast Conference was founded on May 8, 1953, at the Sedgefield Inn near Greensboro, N.C., with seven charter members - Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina and Wake Forest - drawing up the conference by-laws." As much as I want to see activity downtown, having it near the coliseum makes sense, but just throwing it in an underutilized corner of the coliseum seems pretty half-assed. Personally, I like the idea of putting it downtown and using part of the existing rail corridor to run light rail from the coliseum to downtown. Immediately practical & cost effective? No. On the subject of focusing on downtown for tourism & general identity, any coincidence that the Greensboro Visitor Information Center recently moved from downtown to HP road over by Four Seasons? Our city talks a good game, but all too often takes the cheap/easy way out.

Haven't seen much in the plans to address this, but I hope they scrape up funds for a pedestrian bridge or two. Fox 8 story says the loop will cross "26 major intersections", which comes to one every .18 miles (obviously some will be further in distance, with several being just a block apart). "Stop & go" isn't any more fun on a bike than it is in a car, and you're gonna have a lot more stopping on the greenway than on the streets it intersects.

Been a couple of times. Didn't rock my world, but then I'm not much of a Mediterranean connoisseur. Think much of their business comes from the office lunch crowd. Only place I know of downtown that carries Odwalla. Atmosphere is akin to say, a Pita Delight; more "quick bite" than proper "sit down" dining.

It's kind of tucked away so I haven't noticed any work from just casually passing by. 99 Blocks article said fall is target date for the restaurant/bar. They're planning an events grounds for part of the property, and there's a schematic site plan that includes parking for 150 or so.

There's an article in the new 99 Blocks about the planned Sidetrax restaurant & associated few acres along the NS railroad tracks west of Elm. Looks like they're kicking around the idea of converting part of the land to public/private parking, which would benefit the Mellow Mushroom & other businesses down there. Can't find a link to the article, but here's info from the design group, as well as a N&R article from a while back.

Or should we say the 5-story building will be 3 doors down from this project? Miller has had this in the works since closing the furniture store, with 6th & Vine being in the mix for quite some time. Glad it's moving forward. I like the quote about talking to half a dozen banks- guess he should've hit the city up for some incentives.