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Thursday, February 12, 2015

A Lot of Concern: Neighborly Developments

My enthusiasm for downtown continues unabated. Regular blog readers know that, even though some might say it was built almost on top of me, I was very happy to see the development of the new office building known as 751 W Fourth.  The developer, Commercial Realty Associates, controls a scattered selection of acreage all around me, as shown in this graphic:


I realize that my quaint 0.28 acre is a pretty awesome spot of heaven to call home. I also know that living downtown, so close to the heart of everything, and at the outer edge of the residential portion of the Holly Avenue Neighborhood, means that my surroundings could become decreasingly quaint and increasingly commercial.

John Reece of Commercial Realty told me a while back that one of his hopes is that a sister building to 751 W Fourth might one day be built. I'm not anxious for that to occur, of course, because it will be very much on top of the house and will either block my view north to Fourth Street, or out to the west where I'm finally getting to enjoy sunsets. My bulwark against this is that there is a set of four office condominiums beside the house that are an obstacle to that "sister building" concept, as shown in these two pictures:



John Reece had told me that two of those four tenants had approached him about selling to him. However, my attorney's office has long been among those condos, and a few months ago we had a conversation that led me to believe that he would have no reason or interest to sell his office there.

Not long ago, though, I walked past his office (after noticing no activity there since January 1st) and saw this posted:


Also, notice was recently posted that the "developing entity" for Commercial Realty has approached the City of Winston-Salem with an offer to buy the Center City Parking Deck, the blank side of which can be seen across from the front of the house whenever I take photos of the city skyline:


Update: The Winston-Salem Journal published an article the next evening that fills in more of the details: "Questions Arise about Sale of City Parking Deck."


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