1.This story ran last night on Fox 8 talking about Commercial Broker Skeen Group trying to buy houses from unsuspecting property owners in Glenwood. From a letter dated September 17, Mark Lindsay of the Skeen Group writes (in italics):
As I have discussed in previous mailings, I represent a very reputable and capable out of state developer who continues to evaluate the area for potential student housing sites. At this point they have narrowed the search to two sites as shown on the next page.
[The map shows two areas. Site 1 is bounded by Midway, Holbrook, Fuller and Warren. Site 2 is bounded by Haywood, Richardson (roughly), Neal St. and S. Aycock. Site 2 is comprised of 47 individual lots with existing houses on them. In general, Site 1 is a combination of vacant lots and built lots with homes that are generally in poor shape.]
Last Wednesday and Thursday the UNCG Board of Trustees met to finalize a decision on whether or not to renovate the "Quad" or to rebuild and, as you may have read, the decision was made to renovate. The next decision was to decide what to do with the displaced students during this renovation, which is driving most developer's decisions in the area.
As I have discussed with many of the property owners who have contacted me, there are several factors that must be considered:
1. Time frame (developer needs about 18-24 months to complete the entire process and open)
a. Must be ready to open at begining of Fall Semester (Fall 2011)
b. Thus window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
2. Zoning (RM-26 or 26 units per acre. [Site 1 contains 34 lots, 8 of which are zoned mixed use commercial, 2 single family duplex and the rest single family. Site 2 is 100% zoned single family according to the Future Land Use Map adopted by the neighborhood association and the City Council.]
3. Parking
4. Neighborhood and Community Support [No one has contacted the neighborhood association yet. ]
5. Governmental support for permits, etc.
6. Pricing based on expected rents.
The developer also has criteria which both of the potential sites appear to meet:
1. 7-10 acres
2. Walking distance to campus
3. Visibility
4. Security
5. Potential for rezoning. (I suppose anything is possible, but it is not genuine to suggest these areas can be rezoned without first generating support from the neighborhood association.]
6. Property owners willing to sell.
At this point we would need each owner to suggest a price for his or her property. With all things
considered, the developer would then evaluate which site is the most feasible based on price and be r
ready to take the next step in making an offer during the next few weeks.
Again, the initial permitting and rezoning process will take anywhere from 4-8 months, so it would not
be an immediate impact. REALTORS will be available to help with any relocation needs as well.
Sincerely,
Mark J. Lindsay
Broker, NC REALTOR
2. UNCG has just announced that it is planning to increase the student housing on campus to 50% of all
students from its current goal of 25%. This results in the need for almost 4,000 new beds - 1000 of them
by 2011 and the rest by 2020. There is not enough capacity on the existing campus to accomodate
this growth which has the university looking at the northern part of the Glenwood neighborhood (Aycock to
Dillard and W. Lee St. to Haywood) to meet this demand. They are also looking at the Rolane mill
property but it doesn't meet many of their criteria.
3. Recently, local slumlord Bulent Bediz, owner of 60+ properties in Glenwood, went through bankruptcy
and lost several homes to foreclosure. One packet of these homes totaling 12 was initially targeted
by Gate City Corporation (a subsidiary of CFGG) for purchase but at the last minute they were outbid
by Atlantic Coast Commercial; however ACC's financing fell through and now those 12 homes are in limbo
once again, assumedly still owned by the bank.
It is likely Glenwood will look very different in 10 years. There is the potential for positive results, but
without the support and involvement of local Glenwood residents, there is also the potential to lose
much of what makes Glenwood a great neighborhood.
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