The flailing economy may have slowed the pace of development downtown, but it doesn't mean that downtown development has to stop, officials of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership say.
The partnership has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday to discuss several issues intended to push downtown development forward.
For one thing, the partnership wants the city of Winston-Salem to change rules that govern how new buildings look. The partnership says it will ask city officials and state transportation officials for permission to hang signs along highways and around downtown pointing drivers toward parking garages.
The requests are all part of the partnership's "Downtown Plan," which was developed in 2007. Both the City-County Planning Board and Winston-Salem City Council have reviewed the plan, which focuses on attracting businesses to Trade Street, Fourth Street and the area around the planned Downtown Center for the Arts.
Jason Thiel, the president of the partnership, said that the organization wants opinions from citizens about what types of businesses it should focus on, how the streets should look and what it should do to help downtown thrive.
Rence Callahan, the chairman of the partnership's board, said that the partnership wants to fill open storefronts along Fourth Street and Trade Street with new retail shops, rather than see new businesses open somewhere else downtown.
"Infill in our walkable district is more valuable than retail randomly throughout downtown," said Callahan, a partner with Walter, Robbs, Callahan and Pierce Architects.
The partnership started in November 2001 as a merger between two other agencies that promoted downtown development -- the Downtown Winston-Salem Association and the Downtown Winston-Salem Development Corporation. In the past eight years, the partnership has supported a number of development projects downtown, including the new baseball stadium, the Gateway YWCA and the Civic Plaza. The Gateway YWCA opened in 2007; neither the stadium nor the Civic Plaza is close to completion.
Thiel said that the economy is part of the problem.
The partnership envisioned Civic Plaza as a downtown anchor, starting with luxury condominiums and expanding to include a park and underground parking lot. Plans for Civic Plaza also included an amphitheater and restorations for the old courthouse and Pepper Building. So far, just the condominiums have been completed.
"The economy plays into it, no doubt about it," Thiel said.
Still, he said, the economy has not stopped development cold. He said that although such downtown businesses as Bruegger's Bagels and Speakeasy Jazz have closed, others, such as the restaurant Noma, have opened.
The partnership has come up with a tentative list of the types of businesses that it would support downtown -- for example, a book store in the Downtown Arts District or a florist at Civic Plaza. The partnership has about $400,000 to distribute in low-interest loans to help potential downtown businesses get started. The partnership already has given about $500,000 in loans to existing business.
Thiel said that the partnership would listen to residents' ideas about the type of businesses they want downtown.
People can offer their comments at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the New Worship Center at First Presbyterian Church, 200 N. Cherry St.
■ Laura Graff can be reached at 727-7279 or at lgraff@wsjournal.com.
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