Purchase and Renovation of the O'Hanlon Building

http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/blog/morning-edition/2016/07/downtown-building-sells-for-2m-renovations-planned.html

Pepper Building becoming Hotel Indigo and Sir Winston Restaurant

You may have heard that the Pepper Building had been purchased again, this time by Mayfair Street Partners of Cumming, GA in the the Atlanta metropolitan area. The firm focuses on retail and hospitality properties; the Pepper Building is the "Featured Project" on their website. They will be operating the property through a franchise agreement with Hotel Indigo which is an international chain in which, like Kimpton Hotels, every hotel is unique. Their most recent projects include a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand and Helsinki, Finland. They are truly international, operating over 50 hotels in 15+ countries. According to this Winston-Salem Journal article, approximately $15 million will be invested.

Proposed $240 Million Development Around BB&T Ballpark

Called the "Brookstown District", the development is proposed by Brand Properties of Atlanta and would include retail, residential, hotel and office space as well as provide parking for itself and BB&T Ballpark. To give an example of the scope and size of the project, approximately $1 billion has been spend on the main upfits in Wake Forest Innovation Quarter.


Here are links to local news outlets with more pictures:

Triad Business Journal

Photos on WXII12

Winston-Salem Journal

U.S. Cycling Facility Coming to Downtown Winston-Salem - the National Olympic Cycling Center!!!

Lambert Architecture posted on their Facebook page  that they would be remodeling 505 N. Liberty Street so that it could become the National Olympic Cycling Center, similar in its association with USA Whitewater's National Training Center in Charlotte, NC. There are only 16 such National Training Centers in the U.S. Landing the Center seems to be the work of Richard Rouck, the chairman of the Winston-Salem Classic cycling event, Mayor Allen Joines, and of course USA Cycling. Lambert's architectural mock-up posted on their website depicts the Olympic Rings displayed prominently on the 5th Street building! Yeah! I imagine this will do wonders for the Winston-Salem Classic as well.

GMAC Building Redevelopment?

CBRE is listing, reportedly has "under contract" - unsure whether that is an "option to purchase" or an actual purchase - and is evaluating multiple "offers"? See this Triad Biz Journal article for more information. 

Reynolds Building to Become Boutique Hotel, Restaurant, and Apartments

The building was purchased by a partnership between Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants of San Francisco, and PMC Property Group of Philadelphia both of which specialize in high-end and historic renovations and have worked together on previous projects.

The sale price was $7.8 million, CBRE brokered the deal.

New Five-Story Office Building to be Built at Fourth and Broad

The building will feature 55,000 sq. ft. of Class-A office space including a roof-top conference room. It is 60% pre-leased which the developer John Reece II, of Commercial Realty Advisors believes is a good sign for the market generally. Construction is set to begin in June and is estimated to be completed by mid-2014.

The Winston-Salem Cycling Classic!

Don Flow and Co., the group that brought professional tennis to the Twin City through the Winston-Salem Open, is now doing the same with cycling through the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic. The race will be an official USA Cycling event.

Wake Forest Innovation Quarer

The Piedmont Triad Research Park has been re-branded:  Wake Forest Innovation Quarter (this is a link to the new website.) Distilled from talking heads, the idea behind the re-branding seems to be 1) distinguish its from Research Triangle Park (PTRP v. RTP), 2) to leverage Wake Forest's brand, and 3) broaden appeal away from biotech to include IT and other high-tech industries.

Other Articles on the New Quarter:
 - The Winston-Salem Journal
 - The Triad Business Journal
 - Press Release from Wake Health

The Pepper Building

 The Pepper Building located at 104 Fourth St., has been purchased by a joint venture between U.S. Development and local developer Michael Coe. Local architect David E. Gall will design the project while McCrory Construction is to complete the work which is scheduled to begin immediately. Plans include moderately priced apartments ($800/month) with retail on the bottom floor. According to the Triad Business Journal, a Brazilian steakhouse has already been secured as a ground-floor tenant.

Downtown's First Grocery Store: the Washington Perk

Downtown Winston-Salem's first full-line grocery store wil be a duplicate of the Washington Perk , the popular "neighborhood market, coffee shop and deli" on Acadia Avenue in the Washington Park neighborhod. The new store will be located on Fourth Street in the old Associated Artists space.  This is a link to the Winston-Salem Journal article about the same.

Incentives for Downtown Mast General Store Approved

The City Council voted 6-1 to approve $1.27 million in incentives to lure Mast General Store to downtown Winston-Salem. The proposed site is between Trade and Cherry Street on the north side of Fifth Street:  click here for a link to the Winston-Salem Journal article which contains an excellent graphic of the proposed location.

Weeks Plant Purchased; County Reveals 7 Potential Library Sites; Isner Wins Winston-Salem Open

Merinos Home Furnishings Warehouse purchased Hanesbrands' Weeks textile plant in northwest Winston-Salem off Highway 52 near SciWorks with plans to turn it into a giant (850,000 sq.ft.) furniture showroom. The company operates three other showrooms in converted warehouse spaces in Mooresville, N.C., Fort Lawn, S.C., and Jefferson, Ga. 

In other news, John Isner won the Winston-Salem Open (it is so cool to see Winston-Salem on major news and media outlets - I got to go the final!) and list of potential sites for a new or renovated downtown library were submitted to Forsyth County. Click here to see the Winston-Salem Journal article.

Mid-Sized Company, Murray Supply Co., Moves Headquarters Downtown

 

Murray Supply Company, a wholesale distributor of residential and commercial plumbing products, industrial and commercial piping products, HVAC and multi-family housing maintenance supplies, has moved its headquarters into the Liberty Plaza Building at 102 West Third Street. The company has warehouses, in addition to Winston, in Charlotte, Raleigh, Hickory, and Apex and employs approximately 100 people, 14 of whom will be in their new downtown headquarters. They are also currently hiring.

Inmar Moving Downtown!

 

Since Inmar announced in April that it would stay in Winston-Salem, there has been speculation:  would they renovate and add on to their existing headquarters or would they move downtown to the Piedmont Triad Research Park or the GMAC building? On July 31st, the company announced that their new corporate headquarters would be in two former Reynolds buildings, 90-3 and 90-1A, in the North District of the PTRP. The buildings, located at the southeastern corner of Seventh and Vine Streets are owned and will be renovated by Wexford Science and Technology LLC, the company which did that did such a fabulous job on Wake Forest Biotech Place. According to the press release, the buildings are 51 years old and contain 240,000 sq.ft.  The project will be LEED certified and will preserve the historic character of the buildings; it is scheduled to be completed in 17 months - December 2013. Click here for a Google Maps Street view perspective of the buildings as they currently stand. 

Consultant to Evaluate Benton Convention Center

 

The Winston-Salem City Council and the Forsyth County Tourism Development Authority each agreed to provide $50,000 (for a total of $100,000) to hire a consultant to make recommendations about updating the Benton Convention Center. The Center is owned by the city but managed by an Atlanta-company which owns the adjacent Marriot and Embassy Suites hotels and operates them together as the Twin City Quarter.

Tropical Smoothie Cafe to Open April 27th at 4th and Cherry

Tropical Smoothie Cafe is set to open its doors on April 27th in downtown Winston-Salem on the southeast corner of Fourth Street and Cherry Street across from the Nissen Building.  Interested job applicants can apply here.  Tropical Smoothie Cafe is a franchise that opened in Tallahassee, Florida in 1997.   They currently have more than 275 stores and provide catering services in addition to sandwiches, smoothies, and breakfast:  Click here for a menu.

New: Old Salem Cobblestone Farmer's Market

The market will be located at the corner of West St. (my street!) and Salt St.; it will run from May 12 - November 19 from 9am-noon on Saturdays and host 20-25 vendors.  The market is a partnership between Old Salem and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.