GREENSBORO Developers are slowly coming back to Greensboro with small projects as the city reaches the bottom of a 15-year slump for major construction projects.

The number of large projects is down by 61 percent in the past five years, as compared with 2000-2005, the City of Greensboros Growth & Development Trends report for April shows.

From 2011 through 2016 developers planned 229 large-scale projects which generally involves the construction of public infrastructure compared with 593 in 2000-2005. During 2006-2010 those building permits also declined to 329, which reflected the end of the real-estate boom and the depth of the national recession.

The citys statistical report offers a picture of the citys population, employment and development patterns for the past 5 years.

Smaller site-plan approvals, which typically involve one lot or building, grew by 9 percent in 2011- 2016, compared with the previous 5-year period. The most recent periods 497 site plans is dramatically fewer than the 661 from 2000-2005 before the recession.

Industrial, institutional and a small number of mixed-use projects are leading that site-plan growth, and there was a continued slump in new commercial projects shown in both parts of the survey. Commercial projects include office and retail development.

Although overall numbers are down, a few noteworthy projects are making visible changes in the local skyline, including two major downtown projects at First National Bank Field, home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

Developer Roy Carroll is building the $70 million Carroll at Bellemeade which includes a hotel and apartments, and a team of local developers is preparing to build a $24 million, nine-story office building at the corner of Bellemeade and Eugene streets that will be integrated into First National Bank Field.

More broadly, the recession is not the only reason for the limited recovery in development, one member of the Greensboro Zoning Commission said.

Janet Mazzurco, president of Verona Marble and Tile, which is a construction contractor, said she supports smart development, but the citys tax rate and permitting processes are not as streamlined as they are in other cities and that makes it easier for companies to build elsewhere.

Its absolutely nothing to do with the recession in my opinion, Mazzurco said. When you visit other cities, they are thriving. Greensboro is lagging behind. Raleigh is thriving. Charlotte is thriving. Winston-Salem is thriving. Were eating Winston-Salems dust.

Greensboros being viewed as a city with a tax rate that is too high, that is not value-added, and we are developer unfriendly. Therefore we are no longer attracting outside developers from other large cities that are willing to bring larger developments and shopping centers that other cities have.

One small example, Mazzurco said, is Trader Joes, a specialty grocery store that opened in Winston-Salem after considering a Greensboro location at Hobbs Road and Friendly Avenue that drew neighborhood opposition.

Despite an open invitation from the Greensboro City Council to take a second look, Trader Joes officials said in May that the city is not currently on their list of sites.

Its heartbreaking for me as a zoning commissioner in this city to go to Winston-Salem and see things we would love to have in the city of Greensboro, Mazzurco said. It is heartbreaking for me to see the citizens of Greensboro spending their money in Winston-Salem and supporting their tax base when we could be supporting our tax base.

The way Greensboro residents earn their income also is changing.

During the past 15 years more than 15,000 Guilford County residents have moved to Forsyth County, nearly 2,000 more than moved from Forsyth to Guilford. In all, 54,761 people moved from Guilford to Forsyth, Rockingham, Randolph, Alamance, Davidson and Mecklenburg counties, which is 4,405 more than moved into Guilford from those counties, according to income-tax returns the city analyzed.

The majority of jobs in Guilford County are in the service sector, according to the report, with that category comprising 61 percent of 246,000 jobs in 2015. Despite heavy losses, the goods-producing sector, manufacturing, construction and other industries category is holding strong at 19 percent, compared with 23 percent 10 years earlier. In Mecklenburg and Wake counties, goods producing jobs make up less than 15 percent of the workforce.

Of the counties studied in the city report, only Forsyth comes close to that figure in goods producing, also with 19 percent of its employment base.

Contact Richard M. Barron at 336-373-7371 and follow @BarronBizNR on Twitter.

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Building permits in Greensboro have dropped steadily during 15-year span - Greensboro News & Record

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