At the Sept. 2 City Council meeting, council members voted six to two to award four million dollars from an economic redevelopment fund to “The Grounds” development. They are also seeking an additional four million dollars from the Forsyth County government.
According to city documents, the developers originally expected that all infrastructure work needed for the residential and retail components would be covered by a $35 million state grant awarded to the developers in 2023. However, the total cost of infrastructure improvements exceeded the state grant by $20 million — necessitating further investment from the city and other parties.
Front Street Capital, one of the developers leading the project, insists they are not over budget. Rather, they say, the grant was awarded before the final costs were cemented, and now they are adjusting based on the project scope.
“The state funding was always intended to go towards a larger infrastructure packet and it was never intended to cover all of it,” Coleman Team, the President of Front Street Capital, said. “The Grounds is not over budget and never was.”
The developers appealed to the council, arguing that the tax-based benefits of the project would more than make up for the funds they were requesting.
“The Grounds is projected to generate $1.3 billion in economic impact in the first 10 years,” Adam Parker, vice president of Front Street Capital, said. “That is a generational investment by the private sector and the public sector that will, in turn, generate over 40 million dollars in taxes not in its lifetime, but in the first 10 years.”
Residents, however, were unconvinced and spoke against the appropriations during the public comment period.
One speaker, Linda Winikoff, pointed out that the money would be better spent as part of the City’s “Downtown Plan” investment framework, adopted by the city in 2023. The plan outlines public investment recommendations for several areas in Downtown Winston-Salem.
“To now ask the taxpayers of Winston-Salem for more is excessive,” Winikoff said. “This is about priorities. Council should stand firm in protecting the city’s current financial health and use funds to decrease the gaps between the two Winston-Salems.”
“It’s going to take business from out downtown that’s already struggling,” said resident Patty Gillenwater. “We have a great downtown plan […] it gives you lots of opportunities to invest 4 million dollars, according to a plan you made, that will help our core downtown and eastern Winston.”
Another resident, Sandra Stinson, spoke on behalf of the residents of the Boston Thurmond neighborhood, which is directly adjacent to the site of “The Grounds.”
“Our concern is, why are we investing money from our economic development funds into a private project?” Stinson said. “We think that the amount of investment that has already gone forward is enough. We think there are other ways those funds could be used in our community.”
Despite these concerns, a majority of the council passed the resolution. “We don’t make these decisions lightly,” Mayor Allen Joines said. “I think it’s a slam dunk.”
