Page 11 - 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report - City of Winston-Salem

ormer downtown tobacco factories and warehouses once owned by homegrown
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company have been transformed into Wake Forest Innovation

FQuarter, a hub of research labs, medical school classrooms, upscale loft apartments, and
bustling restaurants and breweries. More than 170 companies, including a number of start-up
businesses and Inmar, a rapidly growing high-tech logistics company, now occupy Innovation
Quarter. Over 3,700 workers and 1,800 degree-seeking students make for an energetic atmosphere

during the work week.

LOCAL ECONOMY 2018

A few blocks away, the 21-story former GMAC Insurance ARTS AND INNOVATION
building is also experiencing a rebirth as an entrepreneurial
center under the leadership of Don Flow, head of the As a modern City of Arts and Innovation, Winston-Salem is
Flow Automotive Group. Along with moving his corporate beginning to fully realize the positive economic impact of
headquarters to the building, Flow has teamed with Grubb the arts. A study by Americans for the Arts, a national
Properties, a Charlotte-based developer, to transform the nonpro t organization, estimated that full-time jobs in the
building into a mixed-use complex. About 35,000 square nonpro t arts and culture sector in Forsyth County rose
feet will be reserved for Winston Starts, a new business 15 percent, to 5,559, between 2010 and 2015. The total
accelerator organization. On the south side of the building, economic impact of both sectors doubled in that period,
Grubb will develop 240 residential units and storefronts at from $76.6 million to $156.8 million.
an estimated investment of $48 million. The Winston- One of Winston-Salem’s most prominent arts events is the
Salem City Council has approved an incentive deal to biennial National Black Theater Festival. With the
provide Grubb with $1.65 million over 10 years for the project. successful 2017 festival and the completion of an $18.5
Just north of downtown, Whitaker Park, a former Reynolds million City-funded renovation to the Benton Convention
manufacturing complex of 1.7 million square feet, will soon be Center, tourism spending in Forsyth County reached
the new home of Cook Medical. With the move, expected to another record high of $898.4 million in the 2017-2018 scal
take place in 2020 or 2021, the family-owned developer and year. Visitors to Forsyth County generated an estimated
maker of medical devices will more than quadruple — to $69.8 million in local and state tax revenues in 2017, up
850,000 square feet — its current manufacturing space in 6 percent from 2016. There are 7,200 jobs in Forsyth
the northern part of the City. The complex is owned by the considered to be associated with travel and tourism, a
Whitaker Park Authority, a non-pro t corporation chaired 4.1 percent increase from 2016.
by Flow and created by Winston-Salem Business, Inc., the
Winston-Salem Alliance and Wake Forest University. The OTHER ECONOMIC MEASURES
entire complex has the potential to be the next mixed-use In other economic measures, the Winston-Salem housing
economic engine for the City. The City Council has approved market continued to thrive, with home prices in the
about $2.5 million in economic development assistance for Winston-Salem metro area up 4.9 percent in the rst six
Cook Medical to assist with moving costs. Cook Medical is months of 2018 compared with the same period in 2017,
investing about $55 million at the proposed site. according to Michael S. Clapp & Associates, a local real

Another key component of the renewal is taking place with estate research rm. The average sale price of a house in
the upgrade of downtown’s main artery. While Winston- Forsyth County was $186,316, an increase of 7.1 percent
Salem residents have faced the closure of a major section of from 2017. The apartment market continues to thrive as
Business 40 with some trepidation, the City Council and the well. In Forsyth County, there are 23,035 apartment units
public were delighted to learn that the originally projected with a vacancy rate of 4.8 percent, according to Real Data, a
two-year disruption may be shortened to as few as 14 months. company that surveys market-rate apartments in
Southeastern metro cities. The average rent is $827. The
Advance preparations designed to help tra c ow during strongest submarket in Forsyth County is downtown, with
the closure have included the completion of Research Parkway, vacancy at 4.5 percent and average rent at $962.
which connects Innovation Quarter to U.S. 52, and the
widening of several key streets and interchanges in the The unemployment rate in Forsyth County has continued to
downtown area. The Winston-Salem Transit Authority will decline, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. By
be bee ng up expanded service on some routes. July 2018, the unemployment rate stood at only 4.2 percent,
down from 4.3 percent in 2017 and 5.1 percent two years ago.

W I N S T O N S AL E M , N O R T H C AR O L I N A 5