The future of history.

• Position: Triad

In January 2011, Quaintance-Weaver Hotels LLC entered into an agreement with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to study the feasibility of turning the cigarette-maker's iconic former headquarters in downtown Winston-Salem into an upscale hotel with 120 to 180 rooms. But Dennis Quaintance, CEO of the Greensboro development company, says the numbers didn't add up. Cost of the project, estimated at $50 million, wasn't prohibitive because tax credits and loans are available, but in the current economic climate corporate customers are cool to the idea of upscale room rates. Reynolds is disappointed the deal didn't happen, spokesman David Howard says, but others have shown interest in the 22-story, 314,000-square-foot structure, vacant since 2009. "It's a beautiful building in a great location," he says, noting interested parties envision condominiums, office space and mixed-use development as well as a hotel. Quain-tance didn't rule out revisiting the project should the economy improve. Forsyth County tax records value the building arid land at $12.3 million.

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