2828 replies to this topic

[Spartan]

I hate it when they don't put the print picture online!

This is certainly good news for Greenville. I like the fact that they are catering to small business instrad of large corporations.

[btoy]

I scanned the image of The Pinnacle on Main from the newspaper.  But I realized I need to put it online for it to be viewable for this forom.  Any suggestions?

Brad

[btoy]

I did a google search and found a free hosting place that took just two min to sign up and upload the image.  I should have just tried that to begin with.



Brad

[gsupstate]

Brad Toy, on Dec 3 2004, 02:44 PM, said:

I did a google search and found a free hosting place that took just two min to sign up and upload the image.  I should have just tried that to begin with.



Brad

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the pic and the map.  Looks great!  Any idea who the health club on top will be owned by?  National chain?  Local?

[Spartan]

well, all I'm seeing is a red X. I'm sure that its just this computer.

[jarvismj]

I'm really enthusiastic about the upcoming development going on in downtown. The greatest thing about this new building is that they are trying to keep the style of what we have already. I think that by keeping a level density in the central area, that will bring more people, more commerce, etc. I would venture to say I would like to see another street that is parallel to Main St as a shopping/commercial strip. One thing that I would like to see is the shopping center where the baby BiLo on Main @ Park bring in a new type of store, mixing both the good things from Walgreens and a 24 hr WalMart. Not that I want Wally World downtown, but when I lived on North Main, it was truely an innconvenince trying to get to Eckerd before 9PM and Bilo around the same time. It is a densely populated area that could be a great model for urban development. With the Village @ Townes, I would love living there, being able to walk to the stores and restaurants in the area. It's also a very calm and green area. But again, if we can continue to develop an urban skyline that would mirror what we have now, and not what  is in Atlanta, with the sheets of glass and steel, but replicate the Commerce Building on South Main across from City Hall. The style of that blows my mind, and if we replicate and keep the height roughly no more than 25 - 30 stories, and create a visually dense area that can been seen, people will flock to our area. Remember, if you build it, they will come. Greenville can be the greatest place in the world to live. Can't believe that I used to want to live in Atlanta.

[Spartan]

Now that I can finally see that image there, I can't say that I"m overly impressed. Its a weird combination of briks and glass. Hopefully that is just a reliminary rendering, and the final one has yet to be decided on.

I like what jarvis said about creating a small skyline that is dense.

[btoy]

I think that if the color of glass was different it would make a big diffrence.  My opinion is that the overall style of the building is very striking.  I can't wait to see the other building Bob Ellis designed.

Brad

[motonenterprises]

Brad Toy, on Dec 8 2004, 06:03 PM, said:

I think that if the color of glass was different it would make a big diffrence.  My opinion is that the overall style of the building is very striking.  I can't wait to see the other building Bob Ellis designed.

Brad

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is great news!

[Spartan]

Possibly a greenish glass for those columns of glass that go up the side. Might make some difference? I dunno. A building that is wanting to appear like the chamber of commerce building could do better. Somethign just isnt right about it.

[jarvismj]

This just in on WYFF News @ 11, Wish that I had more info, but unfortunately I haven't the time nor energy to locate more. Anyways, without further delay, here is the link.

[btoy]

I am not the only person on top of things. :-)
I just posted the same link in the Gateway site thread.

[jarvismj]

At the current rate, I'd be glad to see almost anything go up in that spot. Glad if its more than 10, happy if its more than 15, and damn near estatic if it 20 plus. All that I can say is that please please don't waste that space.  In fact, today while driving down North St, I got the crazy idea lets build something behind Ivey Sq, in that parking lot. Lets put more residential units up top, with retail on the first two floors. Sorry for the rant, gotta get my ideas across somehow.
-Mike

[btoy]

Here is an article from this mournings greenville news.  It talks about a few things including the gateway site, the new 13 story tower, the REbuilding of the old Town Hall, and others.

Article

Business expansion to bring 200 new jobs
Posted Monday, December 13, 2004 - 10:18 pm


By John Boyanoski
STAFF WRITER
jboyan@greenvillenews.com

Greenville residents may see changes coming to the downtown Greenville skyline and an influx of 200 jobs.
City Council gave approval Monday night for a new developer to take a crack at the Gateway site. The Council also approved changes to the front of the Liberty Square towers and discussed plans to begin building a new street-level City Hall.

Council members also authorized the creation of a multi-county industrial park for a parcel of land downtown to entice Alegis Group to add 200 workers here, according to city documents. The designation allows the company to claim state tax credits of $1,000 per new employee.

Alegis Group will expand its work force to 600 employees in its offices inside the Wachovia Building on Main Street, city documents show. Alegis is a national collections firm that specializes in consumer debt recovery.

The added workers will help provide vehicles to fill parking spaces in downtown garages as well as increase the daily downtown population, said Nancy Whitworth, city economic development director. Alegis is one of the largest employers downtown, she said.

Downtown that has become an economic and cultural hub of the Upstate, but has struggled in filling its growing office market. The Gateway and City Hall projects could bring more downtown office space, and they come on top of plans for a 13-story tower to be built on Main Street that also includes more office space.

The new office space doesn't necessarily mean Greenville's downtown will see new jobs immediately, said Otis White, president of the Atlanta-based Civic Strategies.

Many times people build when they get the money not when they have actual tenants.

A lack of tenants has killed three other companies that have tried to build at Gateway, located at the corner of Church and East North streets and once the site of Memorial Auditorium, which was demolished.

Called the "Gateway" because it sits at the foot of Interstate 385, it has been vacant for seven years. Potential developers said a poor nationwide economy and not the site itself doomed their efforts.

The business office market has been slow to rebound since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A lot of companies downsized and haven't returned to former staffing levels, said David Feehan, president of the International Downtowns Association.

Candy Group, LLC has until Feb. 28 to come up with plans for the Gateway site, said City Manager Jim Bourey. City officials would not say who is in the Candy Group and state records did not reveal that, either.

Candy Group wishes to purchase the 1.88-acre property, but city documents do not state a sale price.

Council members also approved spending $611,000 to upgrade the areas in front of a city-owned garage between the two downtown Liberty towers, according to city documents. The property owners will also redo the landscaping around their buildings in order to increase pedestrian traffic.

Council members also discussed in a closed meeting plans for a proposed new City Hall to be built adjacent to the current 10-story structure on Main Street, Bourey said. They wanted to create parameters for potential developers to consider when bringing their plans to the city.

Mayor Knox White announced plans for a new City Hall last December that would resemble the reddish-brown building torn down more than 30 years ago.

[Spartan]

Slightly off topic here, but it seems like alot of citys are working on or are thinking about a new city hall:

Greenville
Spartanburg
Gaffney
Columbia has done something with its city hall, or maybe its just its other offices, i'm not sure which.

[btoy]

Here is another new building for Greenville.  This one will be one Coffee street.  10,000sf office space on two stories.

[Spartan]

Cool. Where on Coffee St?

[btoy]

312 East Coffee St. that is the parcel next to the corner with Church St.

[motonenterprises]

Anyone have any idea yet whats going up at the site of the old Memorial Auditorium?

[btoy]

Today the Greenville News reported that the plans for The Camperdown Condo have been revised from 8 floors and 30 units to 12 floors and 71 units, the full article is below.


Downtown condo project revived
Posted Monday, December 20, 2004 - 11:22 pm


By Rudolph Bell
BUSINESS WRITER
dbell@greenvillenews.com

An Atlanta developer has revived stalled plans to build a large condominium building along the banks of the Reedy River near the Academy Street Bridge in downtown Greenville.
When Greenville businessman Ben McDaniel first unveiled The Camperdown project in 2003, plans called for 30 residences in an eight-story building.

The new developer, Southcorp Development & Investments LLC of Atlanta, has expanded the project to a 12-story building with 71 residences, private parking and a rooftop pool.

"It looks like it's a definite go this go around," said Gordon Seay, development manager for The Marchant Co. of Greenville, which is handling sales.

Mike Talley, Southcorp president, said construction should begin this summer and be finished in 10 months to a year. The site, just less than two acres, is along Reedy View Drive just east of Academy Street Bridge, across the street from Linky Stone Park.

"So far the reservations we have are primarily people who actually plan to be the owner and the user" as opposed to investors, Talley said.

He said Southcorp develops, invests in and builds beachfront condominiums, subdivisions, golf course communities and commercial buildings on the East Coast and is currently developing in the Florida Panhandle. The company's construction division, DM Constructors, is based in Greenville, although Harper Corp. has been hired to build The Camperdown, Talley said.

Residences in the condominium project will range in size from 900 square feet to 2,500 square feet, and in price from $175,000 to $600,000, Talley said. He said six penthouses will be two stories in height, and the entire building will have about 97,000 square feet.

"We're taking reservations now," Talley said. "And we will be formally announcing in mid-January and kicking off our full marketing campaign."

Talley said he thinks there remains a strong market for condominium residences in downtown Greenville, despite the plethora of such projects in recent years.

"The buzz in the Atlanta area is that Greenville is the next up and coming area," said Talley, former project manager at The Cliffs at Glassy, the golf course community in northern Greenville County.

Talley said an aerial photograph shows that the site where The Camperdown is planned stayed above water during the unusual Reedy River flooding in July. Reedy View Drive was under water, but "our piece of ground was the only piece that was not under water," he said.

McDaniel, meanwhile, has bought the riding stables at Cleveland Park in Greenville.

"I actually live in the barn now," he said, although he will have a residence on the top floor of The Camperdown once it's built.

McDaniel said he didn't have time for condominium development after he bought the stables. "That is my true love, the horses."