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CRANE WATCH:
Carroll: Meeting parking deck deadline in time for office building is 'feasible'
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If a file photo, developer Roy Carroll stands at the corner of Eugene and Bellemeade Streets in downtown Greensboro where a parking deck in tandem with the city continues to be negotiated. At issue is whether Carroll could construct the deck, which he plans to top with a hotel and office space, in time for the opening of the neighboring Project Slugger office building planned by developers Robin Team and John Martin.
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If a file photo, developer Roy Carroll stands at the corner of Eugene and Bellemeade Streets in downtown Greensboro where a parking deck in tandem with the city continues to be negotiated. At issue is whether Carroll could construct the deck, which he plans to top with a hotel and office space, in… more
JULIE KNIGHT
By John Brasier
Reporter, Triad Business Journal
May 16, 2018, 1:47pm EDT
Updated 11 minutes ago
There may be a solution that gives the city of Greensboro an aesthetically pleasing, 1,050-spot parking deck facility next to First National Bank Ballpark in time to meet the needs of Project Slugger, the $17-million, six-story office building planned next to the home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
That's what developer Roy Carroll told Triad Business Journal on Tuesday afternoon. Carroll plans for a $100-million hotel/office/retail complex atop a proposed city-owned parking deck at the southwest corner of Eugene and Bellemeade streets, seemed abandoned by the city three weeks ago. But he told TBJ Tuesday that his planned public parking deck could be completed by the end of 2019, when Project Slugger is scheduled to open. Construction of office space and a hotel on top of the deck would come later.
"It's certainly feasible," Carroll said. "We need to get together on all the deadlines. That's what we're discussing now."
Carroll said a text last week from David Parrish, the interim city manager, reopened discussions. In late April, outgoing City Manager Jim Westmoreland and Mayor Nancy Vaughan said the city had veered toward a "Plan B option ," a 600- to 700-space, free-standing parking deck that it was confident could be ready in time for Project Slugger's opening. Westmoreland and Vaughan said they were not satisfied sufficient progress had been made in negotiations with The Carroll Cos.
An early rendering depicts the Bellemeade deck, though Roy Carroll's broader plans call for additional office space and a hotel on top of the deck that he has said would make it the tallest building in the city.
An early rendering depicts the Bellemeade deck, though Roy Carroll's broader plans call for additional office space and a hotel on top of the deck that he has said would make it the tallest building in the city.
Though Carroll said he had "never been treated" in a similar fashion to the city's April decision to introduce Plan B, which he said caught him "off-guard," he said he considers city government leaders and Project Slugger developer Robin Team as "family and friends," and harbors no ill will toward them. The situation is sensitive in that has the city negotiating conflicting concerns between two of the Triad's most prolific developers, each of which was recently noted by The Business Journals as national commercial real estate "Influencers."
"Regardless what decision the city makes, I'm still going to do developments in Greensboro," he said. "I have no hard feelings with anybody. I fully support Project Slugger."
If the city opts for Plan B, Carroll said he would proceed with plans for a hotel (listed as an Aloft by a Starwood Hotels website, but not confirmed by Carroll), along with office space, retail and restaurants on his property at 201 N. Eugene, but his private parking deck and the project would be smaller.
The six-story Project Slugger office building planned by Robin Team and John Martin needs parking in place by the end of 2019, when the office building is slated to open.
The six-story Project Slugger office building planned by Robin Team and John Martin needs parking in place by the end of 2019, when the office building is slated to open.
Vaughan and Westmoreland told TBJ that having a parking deck ready for Project Slugger tenants, which include the Tuggle Duggins law firm on the top floors, was their priority. Team told the city that he had lost prospective tenants for the office building, originally planned as nine stories, due to delays in building a parking deck. Carroll had told the city that he wanted to wait for tenant commitments for the project before beginning construction.
Last week, Vaughan told TBJ that she preferred Carroll's parking deck -- if it could be completed in time to meet Project Slugger's needs. Team said meeting Slugger's December 2019 deadline was of paramount importance. But he seemed to leave a crack in the door -- if a firm schedule could be agreed on with Carroll. Carroll has expressed frustration because it was the city that first approached him about a city-owned parking deck when his original plans called for a smaller, private deck to accommodate his hotel.
"Temporary solutions won't work long-term," Team told TBJ previously, referring to any delays that could push deck completion past when his building is slated to open. "I'd have to go back and talk to the tenants."
While expressing support for Project Slugger, Carroll told TBJ that the city should consider a bigger picture when making a parking deck decision. The city estimated that Plan B, a free-standing parking deck on Guilford Merchants Association property on the southeast corner of Eugene and Bellemeade, could cost up to $25 million. Carroll's proposed deck, designed by Gensler, the nation's largest architectural firm, was budgeted for up to $30 million by the city. With the city-owned parking deck, Carroll's project is expected to be the Triad's tallest building.
"Why would you build a $25 million parking deck for a six-story office building?" Carroll said to TBJ. "I don't want people to look out the door of my hotel and see a precast (concrete), standalone parking deck. I don't think that's in the best interest of downtown Greensboro. We need to consider what's best for the development of the entire downtown area."
Carroll said a handful of Greensboro City Council members had contacted him, offering him support. After Plan B was made public, Greensboro Downtown Inc. President Zack Matheny told TBJ that he would like to see Parrish contact Carroll to see if the original plan could be saved.
Carroll and Matheny told TBJ they believe "timing," including an April 15 tornado in Greensboro and the April 27 retirement of Westmoreland, were major factors in what they believed was the city's abrupt decision to pursue Plan B.
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