DGDC takes look at new office
By Anessa Myers
Published in News on December 2, 2008 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/GREG SOUSA
This building located on North John Street between Ash and Mulberry streets might be the future office of the Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. The DGDC currently leases a county-owned office by the courthouse.
The Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. might have found a new office.
The Maxwell family recently donated the commercial buildings on North John Street between Mulberry and Ash streets to the city, and the DGDC is considering moving its office to the site.
The space is large enough for offices in the lower level and a boardroom for DGDC board of directors meetings in the upper level, with about 3,360 square feet in all.
DGDC Director Julie Thompson told board members at their November meeting that she went to the Goldsboro City Council to ask for initial approval, and in closed session, the council unanimously approved the idea -- "conceptually."
"I asked them if they could forgo the $35,000 revenue that they would have received if they had sold the building, and promised them that I would come back before them once I got concrete numbers and statements from the bank about financing," Mrs. Thompson said. "They agreed to both."
Mrs. Thompson said she wasn't sure of the exact numbers for the cost of renovating the building, but said it would be nice to move the staff out of its current Wayne County-owned office into its own place downtown. And, she added, it would be an asset to have a space for board meetings instead of having to meet at restaurants and other businesses.
The building would qualify for tax credits if it is restored in agreeance with the historic covenants.
Mrs. Thompson also said the revenue from the sale of a home at 412 E. Walnut St., which was recently donated to the group from Branch Banking and Trust, would be put toward the renovation. The home has already received some interest and should be sold in the near future, she added.
The rest of the commercial buildings on that North John Street block, except the Reflections storefront, are still available for sale through Preservation North Carolina.
The properties do have restrictive covenants and rehabilitation agreements, however.
The large building at 205/207/209 N. John St. with three storefronts to the south of the block is about 10,500 square feet in total. The property addressed as 213/215 N. John St. is 3,500 square feet, and the one story building closest to Ash Street addressed as 221/223 N. John St., is 3,000 square feet.
Mrs. Thompson said the DGDC sees them as mixed use structures, with commercial uses likely for the first floors and residential uses for the second floors.