A downtown design exploration

Unspoken vision has no power.

1. The former News & Record site

Anchor of a new Entertainment District

goals

Activation: Fill this central puzzle piece of vacant land with family-friendly reasons to come downtown.

Community: Tie together the existing assets and features of Greensboro, like the Depot, parks, parking lots, Tanger Center, and Greenway, so that each part of Greensboro flourishes.

Property tax & income to the City: Build new retail and restaurant businesses, office buildings, hotels & residential development, all contributing to the financial sustainability of our City.

Gathering: Create an environment with every day places to meet, have fun and enjoy the City. A reason for the college grads to stay! A safe and clean downtown where all will want to convene.

Catalyzation: Spark the development of the many surrounding empty lots and unused buildings, once this central venue and all of its supporting elements exist!

As the central piece of the new development, a stadium gives Greensboro the chance to become an exciting new premiere professional and amateur soccer venue. Because of the close proximity of a rejuvenated Depot area, we can create a unique dynamic gathering combination. Additionally, the street-level of the stadium can be developed for shopping and dining. The Stadium District can catalyze many underutilized lots within several blocks.

Around the stadium, on the perimeter of the site, there is an opportunity for a mix of retail, restaurant, residential development, office, entertainment and hotel. Reasons to come and enjoy the day in Downtown Greensboro!

Here are the proposed elements on the News & Record site:

The site defined, in pink, above:

From Market Street, south to Washington Street — which inclues Hughes Street that cuts through — and from Church Street, west to Davie Street.

Just across from a new parking deck and very near many unused or vacant properties.

10.2 acres of land without any structures on it. A blank canvas for thoughtful development and a keystone for the life of our City! This kind of opportunity rarely comes available. This is a chance to plan and create community and activity that will last for generations.

This site is currently under the ownership of an inspired group of local people who care about our City… and how the site might be used. Instead of continuing to wait and hope that some company will come along and develop something meaningful, this group invested in a real way! We should all be aware of the commitment they have made and be thankful — hopeful — for the future of our City.

A stadium venue:

Imagine a stadium structure with a field that can host soccer, rugby, flag football or any sport with a rectangle boundary. Then imagine that same venue for concerts. A stadium that might seat 5 to 6 thousand spectators in seats, with the ability to increase that capacity by adding people on a covered field. Many mid-siized cities like Greenville and Port St. Lucie have recently announced soccer stadium projects. But Greensboro is uniquely positioned with both the infrastructure (think hotels & transportation) and the athletic organization affiliations to really lead — to become known for their professional and amateur soccer and sports, throughout the country.

And as the key piece on the News & Record site, the exterior of the stadium will give us a chance to build retail, restaurant, office, residential and hotel opportunities around it. Developments that wouldn’t be as much of a draw without the presence or activity of a stadium.

Connection to the Galyon Depot

Just across Washington Street is the Galyon Depot, a valuable asset to our Gate City and an incredibly inspiring way to enter and leave our Downtown. Exquisite restoration and a time-gone-by beauty exist there but it is greatly underused. But there is a lot of great energy and design work being done to help bring new life to the buildings and spaces within the campus — spaces that could be reimagined as food halls, market places, breweries or just inviting gathering steps, while still keeping the transportation ports active. In fact, one could argue that our trains and busses might be used much more if there were other reasons to come to the Depot and it felt active and fun. Once this campus is recreated, there will be even more value to developments on the News & Record site. Part of this exploration includes ways to tie these projects together. A walking bridge, over Washington Street and a water feature under that bridge are shown in this design exploration as a destination of its own. And, once on that level, could be both a way into the stadium and a walking path to compliment the Greenway.

A collection of reasons to stay, shop, gather and arrive:

Because the News & Record site is so big, the stadium can be surrounded and supported by many other experiences.

But these retail developments actually pay for the stadium in many ways. The viability of developing smaller parcels into restaurant, retail and office space increases greatly when the stadium plus the Depot tells a compelling story of traffic numbers to contrast to the currently quiet dormancy of this part of downtown. And a bustling block of retail can contribute to the City’s taxbase in an incredible way.

Retail spaces on the street level of the stadium become even more realistic when we consider that the majority of concession and entertainment associated with the events of the stadium can be located on the second level — the walking bridge level — of the stadium, where there is no traffic danger and there can be a focus on gathering, fun and entertainment.

Either or both!

Two large parcels of this exploration are dedicated to buildings of considerable size on the western side of the site.

These buildings could be three levels or 13 levels. Office space for one large tenant, or many smaller businesses. One of the buildings dedicated to condominium residential living, or a mix of residential with office.There really are so many possibilities and the specific solutions will come from showing these opportunities to the new companies and residents considering our City.

On this plan, the visuals assume that there will be both and they value their location in an active, fun part of the Gate City!

Location matters…

A hotel can be a key determining factor to those traveling to a see a sporting event, staying through a tournament, or just to coming to visit a vibrant city center for a couple of days.

Conference meetings in our downtown districts require large blocks of hospitality. Business travelers often choose their accommodations based on the surrounding entertainment offerings. And a centrally-located hotel creates income for all surrounding businesses.

The hotel in this exploration could grow beyond what is shown. And, we could consider underground parking in addition to the parking decks in the area. The point of such considerations is to begin discussions with developers, but all of the possibilities above rely on each other… the sum of all of the parts suggests an active, safe and exciting new part of our City, and increases our chances that such a district will be developed.

THE NUMBERS

Stadium Capacity: 5,640 seats, plus 18 single skyboxes + 4 double skyboxes, plus field capacity for concerts and special events up to 12,000 people

Hotel Capacity: approximately 140 rooms as shown on map, possible additional parking below

Residential / Office Space: Two buildings shown; North Building (32,000 sf) 8 levels - 4,000 sf / level, South Building (59,300 sf) 5 levels

Retail Space: 7 units shown on corner. 45,000 sf to 60,000 sf as shown… servicing & specific tenants will affect overall leasable square footage

VIDEO ANIMATION

2. The Weaver parking lot site

An activation within the Cultural District

Greensboro’s Amphitheater

At first we were trying to get a stadium AND an amphitheater on the News & Record site. Both didn’t fit there and so we wondered if we could just use the stadium for concerts and special events. But, while it is true that some concerts will happen in the stadium, there will be times when an amphitheater venue is exactly the kind of environment that touring bands are looking for. Tiered seating focused on a smaller, more centralized stage. With standing room up front in a pit for concerts that could be repurposed as a skating rink in the winter. Above, a kind of lawn platform. All covered and protected from the elements, but also still outdoors. Here, on this page are some images that put that vision to life.

ONE BLOCK FROM THE STADIUM & HOTEL, TWO BLOCKS FROM THE DEPOT, CREATING A NEW ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT

HOTEL

STADIUM

WEAVER AMPHITHEATER

DEPOT TO THE SOUTH

PARKING DECK

Protected from the elements with a cover, but still outdoors.

  • The Weaver Amphitheater

    View from Friendly Avenue

  • The Weaver Amphitheater

    View from the Children’s Museum

  • Open but protected for concerts

    Lots of seats, a standing pit in the front and standing room above.

  • An innovative roof concept

    Covering the crowd and the stage is going to be a challenge but in the end, the solution could become an iconic architectural element, representing a new Greensboro!

  • A skating rink in the winter

    Open to the elements during the colder months could be a benefit. This venue could be open to public skating any day or night that it is not used for a show.

  • Shows in the winter

    There are shows like Disney’s Disney on Ice that would love this place!

VIDEO ANIMATION

Let’s start in the Stadium and get a sense of location, but quickly fly through and head north to the Weaver lot, currently used for Elon Law parking, just across from the Church St Parking Deck.

REFERENCE MAP

Many underutilized parcels could be activated by the development of these anchor elements. The rejeuvenation of the Depot, a new Stadium connected to retail buildings including a hotel and an Amphitheater. All of these sites will serve as reasons to visit and stay in Downtown Greensboro.

inspiration

The links below show elements that we could incorporate into our planning. Several together, in the right combination could create the catalytic community gathering place that we are all hoping to see for Greensboro. Look at the images in these links as examples, but obviously they have been right-sized for their specific communities. The magic happens in the right amount of each, tied into our opportunity of the best possible Gate City.

Amphitheaters