Frequently Asked Questions
This section offers answers to many of
the common questions regarding the South Elm Street Redevelopment.
If you don't find an answer to your question here please
contact
us and we will be glad to assist
you.
Where
is the South Elm Street area?
The
South Elm “core area” covers over 10 acres, bounded
by Lee Street to the north, Arlington Street to the east,
McCulloch Street to the South and the Norfolk Southern rail
line to the west and includes the former North State Milling
Co building. A larger area will be studied in the master planning
process (see map).
Why redevelop this area?
1. South
Elm Street leverages existing public investment. Greensboro’s
citizens have invested over $25 million in the adjacent neighborhoods
of Southside, Ole Asheboro and Arlington Park.
2. South
Elm helps the City use existing infrastructure to preserve
undeveloped land and tax dollars. Greensboro’s taxpayers
have already paid for the roads, water service and utilities
at the South Elm Street site. Why not use it?
3. South
Elm will provide an attractive welcome to downtown. South
Elm Street is the visitor’s first view of downtown from
two highways. The City of Greensboro and Downtown Greensboro
Inc. believe that this site should convey a positive first
impression.
4. The
City’s Comprehensive Plan supports infill and brownfield
redevelopment. Connections 2020, the result of extensive research
and community visioning, recognizes the need for more balanced
development patterns and characterizes the development present
pattern as “highly fragmented sprawl at the urban fringe,
a pattern which is fiscally and environmentally unsustainable
and which compromises the economic viability of the City’s
long-term growth. It is vital to the City’s future that
this reactive posture be reversed.” The redevelopment
of South Elm Street as Greensboro’s first public brownfield
project offers a valuable opportunity to develop a broad-reaching
approach for sustainable brownfield reuse, particularly in
Greensboro’s urban core.
What are the goals for the redevelopment
project?
The master planning process will involve extensive community
participation to design the “look” and reuses
for the South Elm Street site. The City of Greensboro and
Downtown Greensboro Inc. are looking toward this process to
achieve three main goals:
1. Create development anchors to
create stability in the area and increase employment opportunities;
2. Improve
streetscapes and pedestrian paths to access downtown from
adjacent neighborhoods;
3. Design
a thoughtful reuse plan that will achieve the vision of the
many stakeholders in the planning process.
What is a brownfield? Where
can I learn more?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines brownfields
as:
“Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment,
or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant,
or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties
takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land,
and both improves and protects the environment.”
To learn more about brownfields and to see examples from
other cities, visit the U.S. EPA website at: http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/index.html.
You can also download our Brownfield
Information Sheet
How is this redevelopment project
funded?
The South Elm Street area involves a diverse number of funds,
each with its own requirements for reporting and uses. The
sources of funding for the redevelopment project are below:
| Sources of funds: |
|
| EPA Grant |
$ 200,000 |
HUD Brownfield Economic Development
Initiative Grant |
$2,000,000 |
| CD Section 108 Loan |
$3,000,000 |
Community Development
Block Grant |
$398,000 |
| City of Greensboro |
$1,050,000 |
Total |
$6,648,500
|
How long will redevelopment take?
Public-private redevelopment projects are multi-year efforts
involving many different partners and entities. A more defined
development schedule will be available once the master planning
process is completed. The general “milestones”
for the South Elm Street redevelopment project are as follows:
Complete master planning process: late 2005
Complete Property Acquisition: now – late 2006
Environmental Remediation: late 2005-late 2006
Site Redevelopment: mid 2006-2010
|
