Bank site could be downtown catalyst

Last year the Town of Wake Forest purchased the former SunTrust Bank for $1.5 million and later hired UNC’s School of Government Development Finance Initiative (DFI) to analyze the site and community and help attract private investment for the property.

Tuesday evening members of the DFI group made their first public presentations about their activities to date, which include completing studies of current conditions and market analysis and being halfway toward identifying a private partner for the site.

Sonyi Turner, who presented, said it could be a “transformative development site” for downtown Wake Forest, given its location halfway between the Renaissance Plaza and Centre and the downtown retail core from Elm Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue.

Turner said the DFI’s market analysis of retail space found 137,000 people in the area during the day and 29,000 total households with an average yearly retail spending of $23,000. What they found on the ground is a low – 1 percent – vacancy rate when a stable vacancy rate is at 7 percent, with stagnant rents on the lower end of the scale.

There are also very little infill opportunities in Wake Forest’s downtown area, and none of the retail or office space is Class A standard, meaning recent or new construction with high quality materials, up-to-date technology and lobbies for office space, adequate parking for both along with good access and professional management.

In the Wake Forest office/retail market area there are 4,700 businesses with 58,000 employees. DFI estimates there will be 1,100 new office jobs in the market area by 2023.

Turner also said DFI found the area could support 65,000 square feet of retail space. About a third of that is being built, adding 41,600 square feet of retail in the downtown area. The Powerhouse Row building under construction at the intersection of Elm Avenue and South White Street will add 9,500 square feet of the 41,600. Turner did not identify the projects providing the remaining 32,100 square feet.

DFI also found the downtown has no Class A multifamily housing, but that also is in the pipeline with Powerhouse Row adding 18 or 20 apartments in the two upper floors and The Retreat at Renaissance adding 84 two-story townhouses.

Sara Odio, also with DFI, said the next step is engaging an architect to do a site analysis. The contract with the architect should be under $50,000 and the town can select whoever they want. It will be a challenge for any architect because the bank property stretches from South White Street down 30 feet or so to South Brooks Street.

The commissioners agreed with a set of guiding public interests. Those are that the redevelopment of the old bank and its lot will:

• Connect the downtown historic core and Renaissance Plaza and serve as a gateway to downtown
• Incorporate engaging street-level uses to increase pedestrian activity along White, Elm and Brooks streets
• Provide sufficient parking to meet the demands of development and other downtown uses (One of the requests the Powerhouse Row developers asked of the town in 2017 was that it was “essential our retail tenants have access to another public parking facility nearby. The upper part of the SunTrust Bank parking lot at Elm and South White would be ideal. It does not need to be exclusive parking to support our development but instead can also support other downtown businesses and special event parking. We ask for the town’s assistance in negotiating with SunTrust to provide public parking on this lot.”
• Minimize public investment and maximize private investment.

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The town board also:

*Recognized Lieutenant Mike Maron who is retiring after 21-plus years of service with the Wake Forest Police Department.

*Recognized the Heritage High School Girls Soccer Team who won the 2019 4A State Soccer Championship on May 25.

*Approved changes in the speed limits on West Oak Avenue, North Allen Road, South Franklin Street and Caveness Farms Avenue.

*Heard from Senior Planner Michelle Michael that the updated Historic Property Handbook and Design Guidelines for Local Historic Districts and Local Historic Landmarks has been adopted by the Wake Forest Historic Preservation Commission.

*Approved a Shopfront Overlay District for parts of these streets: East Roosevelt Avenue, Wait Avenue, East Jones Avenue, East Owen Avenue and South Brooks Street.

*Approved an amendment to the master plan for the Willows at Traditions that will allow for 10 more townhouses.

*Approved the 2019-2020 budget proposed by Town Manager Kip Padgett.

*Agreed to waive the development fees for the renovations planned by Tri-Area Ministries on East Holding Avenue with the amount to be no more than $2,000.

*Went into a closed session to give instructions to staff or negotiators about the price or terms of a contract for buying or otherwise obtaining real property or the amount of an employee’s contract.