New office building will be integrated into Greensboro baseball stadium – Greensboro News & Record

GREENSBORO A group of Triad developers plans to build the first major downtown office project in two decades at the entrance of the Greensboro Grasshoppers First National Bank Field.

The 111,869-square-foot building is another part of a building boom expanding downtowns urban core.

The nine-story building, at the northwest corner of Eugene and Bellemeade streets, will be integrated into the ballparks

entrance and overlook the baseball diamond, said Robin A. Team Jr., the president of Carolina Investment Properties of Lexington, which is developing the building in a joint venture with GEMCA Development of Winston-Salem.

The $24 million building will be designed with existing ballpark elements, including a brick masonry facade, arched openings and a sloped roof.

It will occupy the half-acre stadium entry plaza that currently features baseball sculptures on a brick walkway.

Team said the Grasshoppers organization will own a portion of the office project.

Tuggle Duggins law firm will occupy the top 21/2 floors of the building, which is about one-third the size of the Lincoln Financial Building on North Greene Street.

Retail-oriented space will occupy the first floor and 65,000 square feet of Class A office space will be available for lease.

Moser Mayer Phoenix and West & Stem Architects designed the building with balconies for tenants and a 1,200-square-foot shared entertainment and conference space for all tenants that will feature a balcony overlooking the ballpark.

The ballpark has become the catalyst for a building boom that is reshaping the northern end of downtown.

The Carroll Cos., based in Greensboro, is developing Carroll at Bellemeade, a $65 million hotel and apartment complex on Eugene to the east of the ballpark. Aloft Hotels plans to build one of its boutique hotels to the south of the ballpark, on Bellemeade. The hotel will be integrated into a planned $30 million city parking deck on property also owned by developer Roy Carroll.

Two nearby apartment projects, including the Greenway at Stadium Park apartments, which overlook the left field side of the ballpark, have opened since 2014.

Carroll said Wednesday by email: I have seen the renderings on this project and consider it a great addition to our downtown. This project along with other proposed projects in the area would not be moving forward without the vision and support of the Greensboro City Council in providing parking in the area. Im expecting a boom around the ballpark. I can easily see $200 million plus in additional unannounced development around the ballpark within the next 5 years.

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said this new development, along with proposed projects on the southern end of downtown on or near Gate City Boulevard, are revitalizing the entire central business district.

You look at whats going on at the other end of downtown. It really is spreading out nicely, Vaughan said. Thats one of the things weve always said is we want to expand the footprint, and its nice to see the investment.

In addition to Carrolls projects and the apartments near the ballpark, northern downtown is growing on the eastern side with last years opening of the $10 million LeBauer Park on North Davie Street and the planned $78.1 million Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts to be built over the next two years among North Elm and East Lindsay streets, Abe Brenner Place and Summit Avenue, on a site diagonal to LeBauer Park.

The lead developer of the new office building project is Coleman Team, a partner in Linville-Team Partners. He also will oversee leasing of the building.

Coleman Team said that only 7 percent of the office space downtown is vacant, which suggests pent-up demand for new office space.

Team said office buildings integrated with such amenities as ballparks and near apartments and hotels attract young, bright talent to businesses and communities.

A lot of office builders are willing to invest in space that appeals to millennials, Team said. Their space helps them create a culture that attracts people and can help Greensboro compete with such hot job markets as Charlotte and Raleigh.

Vaughan and Carroll recognized Zack Matheny, the president and chief executive officer of Downtown Greensboro Inc., who has helped coordinate efforts between the city and developers to boost and broaden development.

Matheny said Wednesday in his South Elm Street headquarters that to have this level of interest with this creativity is a tremendous asset to all of the energy thats been going on in downtown.

In April, the Greensboro City Council approved a deal with CHI Greensboro, which will build the $30 million Bellemeade parking deck, which will have 1,050 spaces. The city will own and operate the deck after CHI builds it.

Construction of the office building is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2017 and end in about a year.

Contact Richard M. Barron at 336-373-7371 and follow @BarronBizNR on Twitter.

See more here:
New office building will be integrated into Greensboro baseball stadium - Greensboro News & Record