That is good news primarily in that a locally headquartered business is coming out of bankruptcy, and good for uptown employment in that they are consolidating from their Ballantyne and South Park locations into uptown.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette had an interesting article about the financial details of this project. I read through this topic and it hasn't been mentioned- it seems Crystal Bridges was granted a special exemption by the state legislature from sales and use taxes that is costing any government entity that depends on those taxes a sorely needed source of revenue. The state legislature approved the measure in 2005 when the state had a surplus, local governments weren't cutting back and the project was estimated to cost much, much less than it is now. Because Act 1865 (sponsored by a Bentonville state representative, of course) didn't require Crystal Bridges to report how much it has spent there is now no way to know exactly how much tax revenue the state and local governments have lost because of the exemption.

Crystal Bridges is evidently being tight-lipped about how much has been spent on the construction and art collection but required federal reports show that as of 2008 it had spent $66 million on construction and $257 million on art. Considering the museum was supposed to open in 2009 and construction is not remotely close to being completed in 2010 it is safe to say that the construction budget is many times more than $66 million. There have been several announcements of art purchases that could have ran into the $100 million range but without disclosure by Crystal Bridges the true amount will never be known. Going by the outdated 2008 figures the state and local governments could have lost an estimated $17 million in tax revenue- if the true amount spent were known it would obviously be much more.

The rationale given by Crystal Bridges and supporting government officals is that once it is open that the museum will draw tourism dollars and national recognition that will compensate for the tax exemption. While this is to an extent probable there is no way to know at what cost those benefits will come or when they will come. The money being donated for this museum has came from the success of a corporation that already has cost state and local governments through the aid programs that it's employees use. While no one denies the importance of Wal Mart's presence to the area, it seems arrogant for the individuals to say they want a open-ended tax subsidy and they refuse to disclose how much that it is costing the average taxpayer.

I had my print framed and got it back from the framing shop a couple of weeks ago. I thought I'd share how it turned out:

photo.jpg

On another note, here is a preliminary site plan:

http://fmwrealestate...illsborough.pdf

When did this happen? I ate there Firday.

I agree there's going to have to be some major shifting going on for Haywood Mall to land the retailers I mentioned that are looking at possibly locating there. The current empty spaces except for maybe the old Borders, Marble Slab, and soon to be Rocky Mount Chocolate Factory are too small and/or are located in the wrong part of the mall for these tenants.

It was not my intention for you to think the east side had the press box. If this picture had been taken before its removal you would be able to see the field side of the press box from this view.

Interesting Article from The State on why Columbia's Growth/Layout has prevented more "upscale" retail from locating here.

Shoppers' wish list: high-end retailers

Has anyone Heard any news on Ermenegildo Zegna still opening a store at Lenox? I saw a nice space next to Bvlgari that would be perfect, Since it looks like all the spaces on the Neiman Marcus wing are taken.


Drew

Thank goodness we have a strong military and government presence here!!! L.G.N.M

I cant ven recognize Norfolk in these pictures. The only reason I know its Norfolk is the pictures say it is from 1930.

EQ3 is having an "end-of-season inventory liquidation" that looks suspiciously like is a store going out of business sale.

The commercial real estate available sign in front isn't too promising, either. It's really too bad, I like EQ3's merchandise quite a bit. Well, it's primo retail space, so I hope it isn't empty for too long.

I don't mean to bump the thread.... but there's a lot of stuff on the Westin site. I know that there is the facade work going on next door, but the materials and equipment weren't even near the Arcade.. they were closer towards Granby. Maybe I'm reaching...

It's almost spring time and the start of the 2nd quarter, and Census day, and we still haven't heard or seen anything of interest with this project. The thread was started back in '07 and I think this project was announced in '06, initially as a Hilton. Our downtown needs this project. Our two best streets, Granby and Main. Let's get something started this year. I'll become depressed if nothing happens by Fall.

Not on this end but I imagine things are moving forward. The only current empty spot in the mall I could see Anthropologie locating in is the old Borders Express space. I would love to see Payless Shoes and the bookstore relocate to make way for them.

Panera is slated to move into the old Ruby Tuesday's space in June or July. Heard a rumor that California Pizza Kitchen might take over the current Panera space. Can't confirm that though. I've also heard that Sephora, Bebe, and Forever 21 are looking at locating in the mall.

I do see your point Varider, but the answer is not tearing down a 26 year old facility. If you want to assign blame for the slow death of Waterside lay it at the feet of the city. The city created this mess let the city figure out a way to make Waterside viable again. I still like the idea of keeping the upstairs clubs, restaurants, and kind of sports pubs (Jillians) and opening up the downstairs to become some type of farmers market or flea market. I think the knee jerk thing to do is to tear down the facility that the city pumped so much investment in. I am happy that the city is taking its time and soliciting inputs from citizens. I wouldn't be surprised to see Waterside turned into some variation of what I imagined it should be.

I'd almost say that Augusta Road (between Church Street and Mauldin Road) is currently the "upscale" smaller shop retail corridor in Greenville. It is likely under-valued by most Greenville residents because it has no big box retailers to attract the common shopping crowd, yet it contains an impressive array of upper end small shops. Its main weakness, in my opinion, is the lack of a pedestrian-friendly street design. You can walk to every shop, but it is not easy or safe in many areas thanks to heavy auto traffic and numerous detached retail centers on both sides of the road.

Great store ideas (I'd love to see Urban Outfitters also), but where would they go? Add those to the other rumored stores, and I don't see where there would be room even with shuffling. I don't know the size of the stores, but most of the empty stores are so small they couldn't even move existing tenants in to them, much less something like Bebe. As stated, it'd be great to see some upscale stores move in that area between PB/Sears. Didn't Southpark? actually have some stores leave so they would have more room for other tenants (I have some ideas)? Maybe it was somewhere else...

Once again, Haywood is eating 1025 Woodruff's lunch.

vicupstate - great article.

Not on this end but I imagine things are moving forward. The only current empty spot in the mall I could see Anthropologie locating in is the old Borders Express space. I would love to see Payless Shoes and the bookstore relocate to make way for them.

Panera is slated to move into the old Ruby Tuesday's space in June or July. Heard a rumor that California Pizza Kitchen might take over the current Panera space. Can't confirm that though. I've also heard that Sephora, Bebe, and Forever 21 are looking at locating in the mall.

Panera is slated to move into the old Ruby Tuesday's space in June or July. Heard a rumor that California Pizza Kitchen might take over the current Panera space. Can't confirm that though. I've also heard that Sephora, Bebe, and Forever 21 are looking at locating in the mall.

Has it really been that long? I definitely remember this monster!