news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Representatives for one of the country’s largest student housing developers will meet with the Greater Glenwood Neighborhood Association on Thursday as neighbors weigh a student housing project in the area.

“We’re not opposed to development in the area at all,” said Brian Higgins, vice president of the association. “The thing that people were upset about is the way that this was done — they didn’t come to us first. We found out about it because people began getting letters in the neighborhood asking if they were interested in selling.”

The neighborhood’s proximity to UNCG has made it a target for development as the school continues to post record enrollment and demand for housing grows.

Higgins said the High Point-based Skeen Group, acting as a broker for the project, wasn’t legally obligated to talk to the association before it began approaching home owners in the area.

But their approval will help a developer get the necessary rezoning to build apartments.

“The first thing that’s going to be asked in rezoning is 'Are the neighbors behind it?’” Higgins said. “They’re going to want to know if they’ve met with the neighborhood association.”

While a number of neighbors have asked Skeen Group to quote them a price for their property, a number of others — mostly neighbors in surrounding areas — said they oppose an apartment complex in their historic neighborhood.

Given the diversity of opinions, Higgins said, it would have been smarter for Skeen and its client, Dinerstein Cos., to meet with them before going after properties.

But Skeen Group’s recent — and increasingly urgent — letters to homeowners in the area have also rubbed some neighbors the wrong way.

“Some people were uncomfortable with the letters, especially some of the older people who live in the neighborhood,” Higgins said.

Mark Lindsay, broker with Skeen Group, said his clients wanted to gauge interest from homeowners in the area before meeting with the association. He hopes that the meeting Thursday meeting will dispel any rumors and give people some facts about the project.

“We definitely want to get together and answer some questions and talk about what’s possible,” Lindsay said. “We realize that this type of project will affect people, not just the people who sell their property. We understand that.”

One of Greensboro’s earliest planned neighborhoods, Glenwood was once a bustling area known for entertainment and cafes. But the decline of industry in the city took its toll on the neighborhood, which has been battling drugs, prostitution and vacant houses. Higgins, 37, and his wife Jill, moved to Glenwood last summer to be part of the revitalization.

“We wanted to be part of a neighborhood that’s working its way up,” Higgins said. “The neighborhood still has its challenges, but it’s come a long way.”

The neighborhood association was begun as an effort to revitalize the area and now finds itself dealing with issues of what kind of development would be best.

The Glenwood Neighborhood Plan, approved by the association last year, calls for new residential and mixed-use development to help continue revitalization.

“We know Glenwood is in the bulls-eye for development,” Higgins said.

“We’re not blind to UNCG’s needs and the development all along the Lee Street corridor. But this is why we have the neighborhood association — to help residents guide what kind of development they’d like to see.”
 

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com