The contract between Elm Street Hotel LLC and the City of Greensboro to build the February One Place Parking Deck-Westin Hotel complex was signed Monday, Sept. 23.
City Manager David Parrish had said on Tuesday, Sept. 17 that he expected the contract to be signed by the end of the week, so he was off by one business day.
Utility work had already begun on the site but Parrish said the actual site work and grading was underway. He said he expected that to be completed and the foundations poured near the end of the year.
Parrish said that people would likely be able to see the construction coming out of the ground around the first of the year. The deck will stretch from East Market Street south along Davie Street and over February One Place. According to renderings, the entrance to the Westin Hotel will be on February One Place and the hotel will be built over the six-story parking deck.
Parrish said that the negotiations had lasted longer than he had anticipated in the summer when he said he thought the contract would be signed in days. He added, “It’s been a process but we’ve come to an agreement and we’re moving forward.”
He said, “Some of it was cost. I felt like I had a directive from council to keep the cost as a certain point and I wasn’t going to go above that.”
Parrish added, “There wasn’t a point in time when we felt we couldn’t reach an agreement.”
To reduce costs, Parrish said some of the decorative items like the elaborate stone masonry had been removed and the city gave up some parking spaces from the original goal of 820. He said the final figure was around 750, which would be sufficient to serve the area.
The parking deck will be built by Elm Street Hotel LLC at a cost to the city of $25.8 million. Parrish said that the completion date would be in early 2021 and after it is completed the city would own and operate the parking deck.
