Remove ImagesThe Parity Study Not Limited By Facts
November 15, 2012
The City of Greensboro has paid Red Rock Global $90,000 for the East Greensboro Parity Study that recommends improvements to areas the city and private organizations have been investing in for years.
According to Managing Principal of Red Rock Global Michael Tabb, the recommendations don't depend on much of the data in the study, which is full of factual errors.
Tabb began his presentation at the Greensboro City Council's Friday, Nov. 9 work session in the plaza level conference room in city hall by acknowledging some errors in his data.
Tabb said he had presented facts from various sources that he had understood to be reputable.
"That research that you have, which we call the parity study, is a combination of facts that we have claimed as facts because people have attested that they are facts, or research that has been provided by others that we have purchased," Tabb said.
He said that Environment Systems Research Institute out of Redlands, California, had been a source for demographic information, and that real estate information had been purchased from a variety of sources including Co Star.
Tabb also said that not everything in his report was meant to be factual. "Some of them are pure opinions and insights as we have seen them," said Tabb, adding that the report moved back and forth between facts and opinions.
Many of the errors involve facts and measurements that do not leave room for interpretation or opinion.
Tabb said that some of the errors, including those about shopping center sizes and locations, had been corrected by his partner, Mike Neal, of Colliers International, who submitted an updated version of the "inventory of shopping centers" section of the parity study.
The list now describes Palmer Plaza as 73,000 square feet instead of 600,000 square feet, and correctly identifies the anchor tenant of that center as Save-A-Lot grocery store. The study previously said it was a Food Lion.
The inventory also no longer lists Spring Lane Galleria, which is a shopping center in Sanford, as being in Greensboro.
However, Wendover Ridge Shopping Center is still listed as having a maximum size of 0 square feet and more than half of the shopping centers in the inventory are listed with a minimum size of 50,000 square feet and a maximum size of 100,000 square feet.
Tabb said that the errors could have been brought to his attention months earlier.
"If there are any errors that we have made, please share them with us," Tabb said Friday. He also said the parity study was a "living, breathing document" and that the city should work with him to make sure information is correct.
Despite the mistakes Tabb stood by the integrity of the parity study's original conclusions and recommendations, saying that the huge factual errors had no material effects.
Tabb said that the demographic information, including population and average household income, is more important to the study than the sizes and locations of shopping centers.
Tabb did not address the criticism that the parity study overestimated the spending of east Greensboro residents by factoring in automotive sales, which draw customers from outside the area.
Councilmember Jim Kee, who Tabb repeatedly referred to as "commissioner" during the work session, said he was generally pleased with the study.
"There have been people in the community that have questioned the nuts and bolts of your study, but the theory of your study is something that I very much grasp and agree with," Kee said.
Tabb went through a PowerPoint presentation that covered four areas in East Greensboro said he thought the city should take action to improve.
One is the East Market Street area near North Carolina A&T State University and the United House of Prayer for All People, which Tabb said could be a signature entrance into the city except for a lack of development preventing it from living up to its potential. Tabb suggested encouraging a hotel and mixed-use retail in the area. He also recommended roadway improvements.
East Market Street Development Corporation has been working to improve the East Market Street area since 1997, and their efforts include a streetscape project in partnership with the city to improve landscaping and walkability. Funding for that streetscape project was approved by voters in 2000.
East Market Street Development has also been focusing on developing building sites, and leasing space in the area.
In 2007 United House of Prayer and East Market Street Development presented a plan to redevelop the approximately 15 acre former post office site on East Market Street, which the United House of Prayer owns, to include a hotel, housing and a produce market.
East Market Street Development paid the planning firm Kinzelman Kline Gossman $70,000 to develop that plan.
In 2010 the land was rezoned from light industrial to planned unit development, and United House of Prayer still planned to develop it for offices, housing and a shopping center.
Tabb suggested the former post office property be used for a performing arts center, which he said had nothing to do with the proposed Greensboro Performing Arts Center the council is currently considering building a couple of blocks away.
Tabb also addressed the area around Gateway Gardens on East Lee Street, which he said could be attractive to retailers because it already encompasses mixed-income housing south of I-85/I-40, the Gateway University Research Park and Barber Park.
The area around Gillespie Golf Course on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive is featured in the recommendations as a hotspot for development.
Tabb recommended that the city revitalize the golf course as a source of community pride and an anchor for developing the area, which he said could manifest in improved housing and retail.
His recommendations for the golf course included reaching out to youth and improving dining options at the course.
The Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department has been in the process of improving the golf course, which the department recognized as underutilized.
Tabb said that when he met with Greensboro Parks and Recreation Director Chris Wilson, everything he brought up was either already thought of by the department or feasible.
Recent additions to the course include the installation of a shelter at the driving range, and improvements to landscaping and the driving range netting are planned.
Tabb recommended that the city consider using the Bessemer Center on Phillips Avenue to attract retailers by preparing the infrastructure for move in and by setting rent at a percentage of the businesses income until the business becomes established.
The city bought Bessemer Shopping Center in 2008, and in 2011 agreed to sell the center to New Bessemer Associates, an LLC of East Market Street Development Corporation. A condition of the sale is reaching 75 percent occupancy, but so far Family Dollar is the only store and the center is still city owned.