Front Street Capital, Carter, and WFU aim to start $35M infrastructure work for redevelopment project within a year
Front Street Capital and Atlanta's real estate development firm Carter have $35 million to get started on the first phase of the planned redevelopment project around Wake Forest University’s off -campus athletic facilities.
Winston-Salem City Council unanimously approved earlier this month to receive a $35million grant from the state budget that will go towards infrastructure work in the area. Coleman Team, partner at FSC, projected at the city council meeting that shovels would be in the ground towards the end of 2024 or early 2025.
The area hosts more than 750,000 patrons annually across 260 event days for Wake Forest sports, the Carolina Classic Fair, the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds and the Winston-Salem Open, among other concerts and events.
Similar to downtown’s Innovation Quarter, plans for the Baity Street Redevelopment project call for a variety of retail, restaurant and residential spaces.
“On a night when there’s not a major event, [the goal is for this to] become a community asset that is a walkable destination, where people can shop and dine and play and experience and stay,” Coleman Team told TBJ.
The infrastructure plan includes road widening and reconfigurations, greenways and pedestrian trails, plazas and underground utilities. And even though the work is not revenue generating, Team said it is “absolutely” critical to attract future investment dollars and the retail, restaurant and residential companies envisioned for the area.
“As we’ve experienced with similar large-scale developments, we know that private investment follows public investment,” said Adam Parker, vice president at Carter. “The state’s $35 million grant to fund crucial infrastructure for this project will serve as a catalyst not only for a thoughtful, connected environment, but also for additional investment in the area.”
Team told the Winston-Salem Journal that, over time, the Baity Street Redevelopment project could attract hundreds of millions in new taxable development on land that is not currently taxable. “There is nothing there – it is a sea of empty parking lots,” Team said. “We are creating a destination. To do that requires a significant amount of infrastructure and placemaking amenities.”
Previous estimates for the infrastructure work totaled $50 million, but Team said they are aiming to keep the current work within the $35 million grant for the state and that other infrastructure work may come later down the line.
That includes a potential parking deck.
“[A parking deck] is inevitable to densify parking here. We have to balance parking needs for large-scale events with needs during the week where you don’t need these big seas of parking,” Team said, explaining that a deck will not be built until it is necessary for future development.
Team declined to give specific details on a timeline.
Correction/Clarification
A previous version of this story stated that the development could draw in $500 million in new development. The figure, from the city council presentation, was based on total development likely to occur over a period longer than 5 years.
By: Lillian Johnson, Reporter, Triad Business Journal