tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
The new pedestrian tunnel under Trinity opens up some interesting possibilities. The dirt lots over there are, at least in my view, an almost tragic under-utilization of prime acreage. That whole area just makes a ton of sense to hold street-facing businesses with parking decks behind or underneath.
Historically the issue is you don't want hordes of people crossing Trinity, but the tunnel takes that concern away. And with townhomes eliminating some of the old lots nearby, now is the ideal time to think about adding density. Throw some businesses in front or above the decks, and boom.
I think Centennial Authority would be pretty nimble. They're basically a development board by nature, and some of the key figures there have probably been thinking about this for 20 years.
NC State's been dabbling in property development over on Centennial Campus for the past few years, putting up a lot of residential and scientific buildings through outside parties. They have a whole office of real estate now, which I would assume is the group that would represent the University in these plans.
Not quite as sure about how the state government figures in. The lots I mentioned above are Fairgrounds property and that gets into a whole different set of rules. There are already some light-commercial elements on the Fairgrounds, but what we're talking about would be a whole different animal. I suspect the state government will be the straggler in these conversations.
Part of the challenge with all of this is lining up the various governing bodies... there are a lot of chefs in the kitchen.
