News-Record.com

ive heard mention on message boards that this is a themed developed designed to attract people from Charlotte and RaleighThe developement company is from Florida. someone on a forum those knows somethings that we all dont know says it could make Greensboro a destination. cleary to me this means more than just a high-rise hotel, a few entertainment establishments and residential. Ive heard wild rumors about Disney even being involved but I suppose all kinds of rumors are spreading with the hype this project is stiring up. I think if Greensboro gets what ever it is, it will be very surreal for the city. Maybe such a "destination" developement could attract other types of unimaginable developments such as a Hard Rock Cafe' or something. who knows.

http://thetroublemaker.blogspot.com/2007/05/canada-dry-rest-of-story.html

One thing that really puzzles me is why all of a sudden is the city jumping on purchasing the Canada Dry site for the ACC Hall of Champions when we have a developer saying that he would build space for a Hall of Champions in the secret potential downtown development. I think this Hall of Fame should be built downtown and not next to the coliseum. Is Charlotte building its NASCAR Hall of FAme next to the Lowes Motor Speedway? NO..they are building it uptown miles away from the race track. There is a reason its going uptown which doesnt seem apparent to some people in Greensboro. Supposedly a study was done and it was recomended that the downtown site would not be suitable for the hall of fame. But things have changed dramatically since that study. We now have a ballpark, center-city park, Center Pointe is under construction and now we have a pontential MAJOR and MASSIVE development that could be coming to downtown Greensboro. These obviously werent factors in that report at the time. To me its backwards thinking. Its a no brainer, the Hall of Champions should go downtown. I still beleive the Koury Convention Center should have been built downtown. Its like we cant shake the notion of always building projects near the interstates when they need to be downtown.

Having a "major" anything built downtown in a good thing, IMO, and I'm sure (but have no insider info) that adding the ACC Museum to the package is a complex set of negotiations. Whether or not it's built downtown or near the Coliseum, the bigger picture is the important one.

Having museums downtown (Children's Museum, Historical, Civil Rights, maybe ACC, Green Hill Gallery) is what completes the destination 'package' and creates the 'stay in a hotel and walk' to a variety of locations for the family package that we need to attract both a new hotel downtown and growing eateries and drinkeries.

Add to that Triad Stage, other theaters and Community Theatre productions and you've got a nice overnight or weekend package, especially on a First Friday.

I'd do less speculating over helping build a museum than I would keeping my eye on the bigger picture - a destination city/downtown is a jewel that helps a city grow and eventually attract national companies who want good city life for their workers.

Sure, there will be tax or other incentives for the development. It's the 'new rule' of economic development and every city gets to play. Here's hoping we win without giving away the farm.

I was let in on a few things from a source but I still dont know what this project is. I will say that this development is larger than anyone can imagine and the the media is far from know the details of this potential massive project. A few thing I wont say here because I dont want to reveal to much here but according to a source, there are 3 diferent possible plans for this project and the smallest scaled down version is about the size of Charlotte's future EpiCentre project which is an entertainment complex that features a 50-story tower along with a bowling alley, themed restaurants like ESPN Zone and a hotel. From what I am hearing the largest plan of this potential development would be larger than EpiCentre and Peabody Place (in Memphis) combined. I heard that the largest plan would turn Greensboro into a "destination city" The reason these Florida developers are looking at Greensboro, has to do with the city's history and its location between two other major markets (Charlotte and Raleigh) so the development is obviously counting on a statewide draw.

Another thing I was let in on without revealing details is that depending on the plan that is chosen, this project could dramatically alter Greensboro's skyline!!

That last tidbit makes me worry we'll get some awful architecture. few developers have half a clue about great design. They follow trends and hire cheap firms when they can, rather than world-class or even really artistic architects. All the money goes into doo-dads.

That said, Greensboro seems to be trying to build a split-personality: a great place to raise kids (by carting them around infotainment complexes) while also wanting to attract and sustain the excitement of young singles. Hard two-pronged attack to pull off. Usually, this ends up in either debilitating compromise or absurd contradiction.

I know it was very odd that Justin Catanoso from the Business Journal did not mention this at all on Friday Morning's Business Journal report which say to me that even some part of the media is involved in the secrecy. Thats never happened before Justin always mentions big things that happens to the region on Friday mornings and he was silent on this. It almost looked like Rosemary and Jay were waiting on Justin to say something about it.

Whats your take on this Allen?

Tim:
Justin normally speaks on stories in the current issue of the Business Journal in those WFDD reports, so I don't think he really deviated from his routine. But I could be wrong.