WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The Winston-Salem Finance Committee unanimously approved a plan April 14 to transfer ownership of the Fourth and Church Street parking deck to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., ending the city’s role in managing the downtown structure in exchange for a $1 million payment and projected long-term savings.
Under the proposal, R.J. Reynolds would assume full ownership, operation and maintenance of the roughly 1,500-space parking deck and pay the city $1 million, a portion of which would go to Forsyth County. After that payment, the city would receive about $671,000, which officials said would be directed to the city’s parking fund for infrastructure improvements, including upgrades to other facilities.
City staff said the deal would also eliminate about $300,000 in annual operating and maintenance costs for the aging structure, which has operated at a deficit in recent years and requires increasing capital investment…