Downtown by Greenfire: The SouthBank building Sells
If the name "Empire Properties" wasn't already a well-known Raleigh development company, I'd certainly suggest to the Lemanski brothers and Carl Webb that it was time for a name change.
The Herald-Sun this morning confirms that Greenfire has purchased the SouthBank building, which consumes 1.84 acres of towery, asphalty goodness at the critical junction between Five Points and West Village/Brightleaf.
It's hard to argue with the purchase, as I think it is the essential piece of the puzzle (along with changes to Great Jones St.) to make downtown whole again on the west side - particularly any aspiration to have Five Points be an area where people really want to spend any time.
A year ago, I likely would have been ecstatic at the purchase. However many buildings later, it's become increasingly harder to discern what Greenfire is doing, other than taking an essential first step in the development process - property control - to intense propotions. I remain amazed that the apparent patience (and deep pockets) of their investors. It is hard to believe that they have enough revenue coming in from their acquisitions to put much of a dent in their capital outlay.
So the 'towering' question is, what is their plan for the building? Because if Greenfire is just another landlord, then who cares? While I don't think it is essential that the SouthBank building be completely demolished (you could wrap the base with two-story structures that front the street) - it is essential that it changes. The worst offense of this building is the site plan, which is a hard thing to remedy effectively. As with the NC Mutual building, it's hard to discern whether they have a plan beyond property control, but this is one time that I would cheer the bulldozers.
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2 comments:
Gary: good thoughts on the situation; I've posted an analysis on why they might be going after so many property buys over at Bull City Rising, too. I'm a little more sanguine than I once was about their acquisition spree, based on some feedback I've gotten from others in the development community. In the end, there's some plausible reasons for why they're making the investment.
Still, I wouldn't object to seeing some serious, serious site redevelopment and bulldozers come out. Would seem to make some sense, though, for the city to decide what they want to do with that end of the Loop first -- something Greenfire now has more say in than they did before, no?l
Kevin
Agreed - I've posted at your place as well - great analysis over at BCR, and your points about the ability to push the city/county/DOT are well-taken, and as I said at your place, I'm probably being too flippant with the "who cares."
In the end, I simply think this building and site are, perhaps, (as we've both noted before) the linchpin to the Brightleaf-5 points connection - and, I think, the success of the retail frontage on West Main st. at 5 points. While I'd love to see a couple of new flatirons on the E-W points, I think they are far less essential than the Main-Morris frontage to creating the 'enclosure' necessary for 5 Points to thrive.
Thanks for commenting!
GK
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