2 days Ago By Elizabeth 'Lilly' Egan
While hopes of a grocery store coming to the corner of South Elm Street and Gate City Boulevard in downtown Greensboro will likely not come to fruition, developer Andy Zimmerman plans to officially submit a proposal for a mixed-use innovation campus on the site, which he said already has "strong support," from the city council. Zimmerman's proposal centers around transforming the South End of downtown Greensboro into a "makers and innovation district," that would create a mixed-use development. The project would center on a new home for community maker space The Forge and include workforce housing and open space for farmers markets, maker spaces, makers fairs and craft fairs.
Zimmerman has broken his vision for the project into four phases of development: While there are still specifics to be ironed out for the workforce housing, including price points, Zimmerman said the units would likely target teachers, firefighters and police officers. He said he is looking into opportunities to make the apartments more affordable, such as receiving funding from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. Zimmerman said the proposal's inclusion of parking spaces would also benefit Greensboro, since there is a lack of parking in the South End, which has no public parking lots. While the lots would likely be filled during the day, Zimmerman said they would likely be free for public parking at night and on the weekends.
In addition to parking challenges, Zimmerman said the site also has environmental issues because of ground contamination. However, he said he has hired an environmental attorney and is confident that the problems can be solved. "This project will be great for the local community," he said.
"It's in Ole Asheboro, it's across Gate City Boulevard where development has been avoided — this project will be great for the city." The project would also aid in City Manger Trey Davis' goal to build 10,000 new housing units in Greensboro, Zimmerman said. However, he added that his goal for the site is not just to provide more housing but make it an interesting place to live and an asset to downtown.
"The new city manager has a goal to build a lot of roofs over heads and we're wanting to help that with more people living downtown in a cool development," he said. "It's not just apartments. We're going to activate it with farmers markets and fairs and The Forge — it's really going to be an active community development.
" Zimmerman said in addition to the South Elm site, there is property on Eugene Street that he is considering purchasing for the development of dense housing. Zimmerman said a large reason why his project would benefit the community is because of the new, larger space for The Forge. Zimmerman, who is a member of the organization's board of directors, said the Forge supports economic development and workforce development in the city.
Tiffany Jacobs, executive director of The Forge, said the organization is similar to a gym in that it offers memberships and members can come and use the equipment in its wood, metal, ceramics, textiles, laser, 3D printing and electronics shops. What started as a community tool share 12 years ago has since grown into the largest community maker space in the Southeast with over 400 members, Jacobs said. Just as a gym has personal trainers, she said The Forge also has shop leads who are there to train members in how to use the equipment safely.
The Forge has a focus on workforce development, as the skills people development can be easily transferred to a variety of skilled trades, the majority of which have a lack of employees, she said. "Part of our focus is helping our local employers be able to build a talented workforce — so they're able to come here to The Forge to gain those skills to also transition into business and industry," Jacobs said. Jacobs said the new space would more than double the Forge's footprint.
The organization has a 12,000-square-foot space at 219 W. Lewis St. She said the Forge feels the new space will be beneficial both because it would be able to own its own building and because it could expand its offerings as it is growing.
The 3.4-acre site that was once slated for a Lidl grocery store is owned by the city's Redevelopment Commission, which is tasked with reviving blighted areas of the city, including the 10-acre South Elm Redevelopment Area. Last April, both Zimmerman and Wisconsin-based developer The Alexander Co.
presented proposals for projects for the site to the Redevelopment Commission. Russ Clegg, manager of the Greensboro planning department's long range and strategic planning division, said neither group ever submitted an official proposal to the commission. Zimmerman said he has increased the density of the development since he first discussed the proposal with the commission.
Zimmerman said he expects to officially submit the proposal and sales agreement for the site at the commission's meeting in June, at which point the project would go before the Greensboro City Council, likely in July. He added that he has spoken with every member of the city council about the project and as of now, has "very strong support." The Alexander Co,'s preliminary plans for the site called for a six story mixed-use development called Southgate that would include 30,000 square feet of retail space, 160 apartment units and 530 parking spaces.
At the time, the company said it been talking with grocers, including Lidl and Publix . Attempts to reach officials at The Alexander Co. were unsuccessful.
Zimmerman said the company still is interested in the site. Zimmerman said it is unlikely that a grocery store would be coming to the city's downtown any time soon, since they typically have specific metrics for how many people live in an area in order to build a store. However, he said he hopes that with the South Elm project and additional development downtown that the area will one day be able to attract a grocer.
This is not the first time Zimmerman has submitted a proposal for the site. He previously submitted a proposal for an apartment complex and had hoped to partner with Lidl on the downtown store but said the grocer was only interested a standalone store..
