PARKING PUZZLE.

• Author: Wanbaugh, Taylor
• Position: STATEWIDE: Triad

It's a case of "he said, she said" in the battle over the construction of a $30 million parking deck in Greensboro. City officials and local developer Roy Carroll have been facing off for the last year, singing two different tunes when it comes to the speed bumps that the Bellemeade Street parking deck project has hit.

Carroll, founder and CEO of The Carroll Cos., has been a prolific developer in his hometown in recent decades ("Power 100: Roy Carroll builds an empire of 'sticks and bricks,'" February).

In late 2017, the city began working on deals to build two $30 million parking decks downtown. One would serve as the base of a $100 million hotel-office project that Carroll hopes to build.

Downtown Greensboro needs more parking to keep up with future development demands, according to an analysis the city commissioned in March by engineering firm Kimley-Horn. The study found that three of four parking decks in downtown are frequently at or near 85% full, and the city hasn't built a new parking deck or lot in almost 30 years.

After months of what Carroll dubbed "good faith" negotiations, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan told him in late April the city planned to abandon the project in favor of building a smaller deck on a nearby corner.

According to the Greensboro News & Record, the city alleged Carroll couldn't provide a timeline for the project, causing a delay in construction of the parking deck that also would be used for a planned $17 million office building adjacent to the Greensboro Grasshoppers' baseball stadium. It is being developed by Gemcap and Carolina...