2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)

To accommodate increasing demand for additional downtown parking, two new City owned and operated parking decks are under construction. The City purchased property from Guilford County to construct the Eugene Street parking deck adjacent to First National Bank baseball park. The second parking deck, February One, will have an overhead walkway connecting to the proposed Westin Hotel. The two parking decks will provide approximately 1,570 additional parking spaces, cost an estimated $61 million, and are expected to open mid-FY2020/21. The debt on these projects will be paid with revenue generated from parking fees and property/sales taxes generated from new downtown development of approximately $170 million.

Many of the downtown developments are along Greensboro’s Downtown Greenway, a “linear park” that will allow residents to walk or bike safely across the city. This greenway, a collaborative project of the City and Action Greensboro, is part of Greensboro’s Parks and Recreation master plan, Plan2Play. This four mile downtown pedestrian and cycling loop, to be funded through public-private partnership. The greenway will connect to over 100 miles of existing and 460 miles of planned greenways throughout the area, serving as the hub of the greenway system. Construction costs are estimated at $36 million, with approximately $10 million in private donations and $26 million in public funds from both local bond referendums and state and federal funding. Portions of Phase I and Phase III of the loop are open with other Phases either under construction or in design. The full project is expected to be completed by 2020. Economic development studies related to greenway projects in Charlotte and Apex, North Carolina and in other states have shown that property values in close proximity to a greenway or park were valued higher and homes in these areas were reported to sell quicker. The greenways have also contributed to increases in adjacent commercial investment and real estate absorption, which the Greensboro Greenway is already experiencing.

Big Belly Trash Can The Big Belly Trash, one of the many features along the Downtown Greenway, are the future of trash collection and it’s greener, cleaner, smarter, and cheaper to pick up. The Big Belly cans hold five times more trash than an average can with the use of a solar- powered compactor, which sends a wireless signal to the City with updates on the can’s fullness level. This way, the City uses fewer resources for trash pick-up.

North of the City’s downtown area, a $100 million redevelopment project on the historic 45-acre Revolution Mill campus continues its expansion with the first phase of construction completed. Notable as the first flannel textile mill in the South and registered on the National Register of Historic Places, the mixed-use site includes 140 apartment units, 100 businesses with 240,000 square-feet of office space, three restaurants, 40 artist studios and open outdoor spaces for live music and movies. Two event centers were also completed with accommodations for up to 475 guests. The planning concept is to create a live-work-play community that supports the culture of arts in Greensboro. The extensive historic restoration project will also connect the VIII