The view of Bailey Park as seen from the Bailey Power Plant, which completed its Phase I renovation early this year.
It’s amazing how much can change in a few years.
. . .
As recently as 2011, the eastern edge of downtown was still essentially barren, filled with boarded-up factories and a few hundred workers. It was called the Piedmont Triad Research Park, though there really wasn’t much research going on (or anything else for that matter).
Then 2012 came, and things began changing. It started when Wake Forest BioTech Place opened inside a former RJR warehouse, bringing hundreds of jobs and cutting-edge research to the center of the park. Its price tag topped $100 million, making it the most expensive project in downtown history. Other adjacent big-ticket projects would follow—525@Vine, Plant 64, Inmar, Bailey Park, Wake Downtown, and most recently, Bailey Power Plant. The area was rebranded as Wake Forest Innovation Quarter in 2013, and it’s since become one of the fastest-growing urban-based innovation districts in the country—one that’s home to more than 4,000 workers and 1,000 residents.
In honor of this issue’s Innovation theme, we wanted get an up-close look at just how far the Innovation Quarter has come in recent years. So, with photographer J. Sinclair leading the way, we spent a day walking the WFIQ grounds, meeting the people, and peering inside its newest buildings. At the end of the day, it was clear the area has evolved well beyond its “research park” origin and into a living, working ecosystem—one that’s become the focal point of Winston-Salem’s future.
The WFIQ in photos
The view of Bailey Park as seen from the Bailey Power Plant, which completed its Phase I renovation early this year.
525@Vine’s colorful main courtyard entrance.
Since opening in 2014, Bailey Park has served as the Innovation Quarter’s social hub, hosting everything from concerts to 5Ks to outdoor movie nights.
Venture Café, an entrepreneurial meeting and networking space, is located in the Bailey Power Plant's Turbine Hall. The space still retains a number of features from its days as a coal-fired power plant, including exposed brick walls, steel bracing, and turbine support pillars.
The soaring glass atrium inside 525@Vine is among the Innovation Quarter’s most impressive sights. The atrium serves as the central hub for the former RJR factory-turned-mixed-use lab and office building.
Bailey Power Plant and its 14-story smokestacks have been one of the city’s most iconic structures for over a century. Part of the power plant facility was reopened this year following an extensive $40 million renovation.
Concrete trestle pilings, which originally carried coal cars into Bailey Power Plant, are now part of a communal space outside Incendiary known as “The Coal Pit.”
TOP: Among the newest facilities in WFIQ is Wake Downtown, which opened iN 2017. The five-story, $100 million facility is home to hundreds of undergrads enrolled in Wake’s engineering, biochemistry, and molecular biology programs (among others). BOTTOM: Bailey Power Plant, which wrapped up its Phase I renovations earlier this year, is now the home to Venture Café, an entrepreneurial meeting and networking space.
TOP: Among the tenants in 525@Vine is global advertising firm MullenLowe. The company's posh employee's lounge features leather couches, flat screen TV's, pool tables, and more. BOTTOM: Wake Downtown has a number of common spaces throughout its 115,000 square feet.
TOP: Bailey Power Plant features amenties such as a stage, picnic tables, and a water feature. BOTTOM: The 1.7-mile Long Branch Trail opened this spring along an abandoned railway line, connecting WFIQ to the Salem Creek Greenway. Along the way, it crosses over several pedestrian bridges.
TOP: Alma Mexicana, an upscale Tex-Mex restaurant, became the first tenant inside Bailey Power Plant when it opened in January. BOTTOM: John Priest and Brandon Branscome will open Incendiary Brewing Co. inside Bailey Power Plant over the Labor Day weekend. The brewery features a 15-barrel Deutsche Beverage brewhouse.
For more information on all the events, amenties, existing infastructure, public tours, and upcoming plans happening in the Innovation Quarter, go to innovationquarter.com or visit its Facebook page at facebook.com/InnovationQuarter.
