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I'm not sure why members of the council are upset about DFI's recommendation. On page 30 of the document below, it's clear that the DFI recommends MARKET RATE apartments, not student housing. Students can live in the proposed housing, but i don't think they'll actively be marketing towards students.
We talk time and time again about "small town/time" mentality and IMO some of the council members are still infected with it. It's really a shame. But there were plenty of people who said the ATC in Durham would never work and thought it was a waste of time . It's probably one of the most significant & successful redevelopments in the entire state and maybe even the country. We have the chance to build our own ATC and really make some bold changes to the city.
Seems everyone has an opinion...mine is that there is no need for more commercial space in that area. There is plenty to be filled in the 10th St complex, to redevelop downtown and in the Dickinson corridor.
Housing...maybe, but we are seeing that in other places nearby so its just not necessary. Put that close to the Town Common and closer to downtown.
The West Greenville Redevelopment Plan called for a Middle School for that area, which would replace Eppes, a site ECU would like to buy (and Eppes is about past its useful life) and Aycock is a few blocks away. This could benefit West Greenville, it could be sold to the County for just what the City had in it, AND if the City worked out a deal with the County, they could utilize space to build a ballpark closest to Dickinson that could be both used by the school and the City...like Edenton does with the Steamers. Would be also a nice transition between West Greenville to the Dickinson commercial area.
Why not just go with the plan in place....why spend $100K for studies it doesn't need. Work a deal with the county for a school, which IMO would compliment the area, add natural landscape and is something of a need.
I'm not sure why members of the council are upset about DFI's recommendation. On page 30 of the document below, it's clear that the DFI recommends MARKET RATE apartments, not student housing. Students can live in the proposed housing, but i don't think they'll actively be marketing towards students.
We talk time and time again about "small town/time" mentality and IMO some of the council members are still infected with it. It's really a shame. But there were plenty of people who said the ATC in Durham would never work and thought it was a waste of time . It's probably one of the most significant & successful redevelopments in the entire state and maybe even the country. We have the chance to build our own ATC and really make some bold changes to the city.
I agree. I don't think Uptown is saturated with Market Rate apartments. There's hardly any - it's 99% "student" housing. Connelly seems to pop up frequently as the dissenting vote in a lot of topics that I support. I believe he owns (or manages?) quite a few properties in the ECU area. I hope that is not influencing his decisions against new housing developments.
I drive 10th Street a lot between downtown and Lowe's. The jaywalking isn't a problem near ECU, really. I guess because there's so many stoplights?
Between the Blvd intersection and Copper Beech it's ridiculously bad. I saw someone come VERY close to getting hit when car in #2 lane stopped to let them cross south->north and the car behind went into the #1 lane to pass.
The other problem I see daily is at the intersection of Cotanche and....whatever the name of the street is that goes between the rec center and McDonalds. One of those pedestrian state law signs is there and because of it some pedestrians make no attempt to even look for cars. It's a sign. It's not a force field.
Connelly, Smith and Glover expressed concerns during the planning session about DFI’s proposal.
Connelly, who has advocated for an outright sale of the land, said development should be weighted toward job creation.
“It’s no secret that I have been against this deal from the very beginning,†Connelly said during Monday’s meeting. “Why are we building more housing if we aren’t helping to create jobs to support that?â€
Smith and Glover were concerned that DFI’s plan would isolate west Greenville neighborhoods from downtown.
“We don’t want the people in west Greenville to be left out,†Glover said. “We need to come up with a plan that will benefit people in that area.â€
“If there is going to be housing on that site, I would like to see some type of affordable housing,†Smith said.
DFI Project Manager Jordan Jones on Monday said that DFI would develop alternative plans for the site based on input from the public as well as feedback from the City Council.
“Public input is a major component in this process,†Jones said. “We will continue to work with the City of Greenville to develop a plan for this property.â€
Will someone please explain what this virtual building thing is that PJ Connelly references he's like to see done with the Imperial site? I'm totally confused about this, despite what I have read....all aspects of this really.
As far as I know, a virtual office/building is just an office building with space that businesses (or individuals) can rent on a yearly, monthly, daily or even hourly basis. The business gets a fancy address, mail service and they can even have their own receptionist and host meetings in the building if they wish. But they aren't tied to leasing an office for time not spent at the office. Rentable space can include options like a small personal office, conference rooms and study areas.
I believe this type of building is popular in some areas of the very small business world and the IT field where people can work from home and occasionally need to meet face to face for meetings. It's apparently cheaper to rent this way than a traditional office setting. You can lease the address and if you only need to use the building to have a meeting every Thursday at 8 am for 2 hours, you only pay for those 2 hours and another business comes in at 10:30 to have their meeting. Or if your company only needs to work 40 hours a week, it may be cheaper to just rent the office from 8-5 M-F instead of having to pay for your own office space somewhere else.
I'm not sure if this would be the best use for the space (maybe a small center within the imperial site), but it probably would work well in some of the available office spaces in Uptown Greenville. I think it's wanted in that area to increase traffic. Having different businesses using the same site on a daily basis could increase foot traffic in that area.
Regus is a big brand in the virtual office world. Here's an example of what a virtual office is.
He was also extremely concerned about the Theatre last night stating how much the city had already put towards it. In my opinion, the theatre is a quality of life amenity that I would LOVE to see my tax dollars go to. It has potential to draw some big name artists and would bring a ton of people to Greenville.
Thanks MichaelBond for that explanation above. I am not sure I personally see any benefit in using the imperial site for that, when, like you said...there are other spaces in uptown Greenville that you do do that with.
I'm glad PJ is all about protecting our tax dollars, but there is that line of wasting tax dollars & then doing nothing to benefit the city with those tax dollars. For so many years Greenville was just sitting on their hands not doing anything, it's nice to see things actually happening in the city, even if some of the things and 'studies' I think are a bit of a waste of money, I accept that pretty much any government entity wastes money on the regular. I work at the University & I can't even begin to tell you about the wastes of money around here.
We've already invested so much time & money in that theatre, just get it done. I'm looking forward to seeing Greenville welcome back a music scene, since The Attic left Greenville has not been the same. If that theatre can bring in anything close to the acts that the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh brings in, it will be a huge success for Uptown Greenville & the city as a whole. The amount invested in that property will pay off in the long run IMO as compared to it sitting there & rotting.
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