Drayton Mill Renovation

[westsider28]

Went by Drayton last week.  Home construction is now well underway, though the houses seem smaller and less dense than the original plan/rendering.

The elementary school is also really coming along.  It has an impressive presence on Skylyn, as it's relatively close to the street.

[westsider28]

Updated photo of the 2 houses on Floyd.

Also, Habitat for Humanity are building 2 houses at the corner of Calvert and Britton.

And here's another great aerial shot from Hub City Bees (of the elementary school):

[westsider28]

Well, thankfully reason prevailed and the school will be called Drayton Mills Elementary School.

Also, I got this e-mail from PAL asking to contact my County Council member to urge them to support/fund it:

"On Monday, August 21 Partners for Active Living will make a request to Spartanburg County Council Livability Committee for funding for a pedestrian bridge across the Lawsons Fork Creek that will connect the new trails at Drayton to the back of the Beaumont neighborhood. This project would not be possible without a partnership from Spartanburg Water, who is allowing the bridge on top of their sewer line."

This would be a fantastic connection that would really help the Beaumont neighborhood in particular be a more desirable place to live.

Edited August 17, 2017 by westsider28
Added pedestrian bridge details

[westsider28]

Great news!  County Council voted to provide $150,000 toward the construction of the 100-foot pedestrian bridge that will connect the Drayton Mills Trail to Beaumont.  The County will also own and maintain the bridge.  This is huge for connectivity in that area.

[westsider28]

Another tenant for Drayton Mills Marketplace was announced today.  Palmetto Proactive Healthcare will occupy a 1,700 sq ft space next to the company store that was once the mill’s employee health office.  This is a direct primary care family medicine practice that currently has a location at 1703 John B. White Sr. Boulevard. They plan to open the new location in January 2018.

Also, I found out via Facebook that Drayton Mills Elementary has a live construction camera. It's interactive, too, which is really cool. Sample screenshot:

[westsider28]

Okay, I found a pretty big development that was up for preliminary review by the County Planning Commission.   According to February meeting minutes (PDF), Drayton Mill Village Townhomes will be 10 buildings with 38 units on 6 acres along Houston Chapman Circle (a new street that will curve around behind the elementary school) near Skyuka Street.  The units will front Houston Chapman Circle, but will be accessed off a private alley located behind the units.  Sounds pretty good.  Great to see this kind of residential project here.

Also, the traffic light at Milliken Street and Drayton Road is finally starting to be installed.  And here's a progress photo of the elementary school I took a few weeks ago:

[westsider28]

Quick photo update: progress on the Drayton--Beaumont pedestrian bridge and DMES.

[westsider28]

Rode my bike on the not-yet-open loop road behind Drayton Mills Elementary.  You can see where the curb shifts out to accommodate parallel parking in front of the planned townhomes (looking East, then West).  The road is being very nicely landscaped.  Some photos of the school, too (back & front).

[westsider28]

More tenants announced for Drayton Mills Marketplace: The Lauren Ashtyn Collection, Hypersign, and Holliday Brewing.  I'm really excited about the brewery.  I think that's something Drayton has needed to attract more people on a regular basis.  The owners are also from the west coast, so they will likely be brewing some unique beers for our area.

[Spartan]

I'm glad Spartanburg is starting to get more breweries. RJR and Cicplops are great, but these things are great for tourism in addition to delicious beer. And yes, I intentionally left out the one in Boiling Springs.

[Spartanburg Dude]

Holliday Brewing's Grand Opening is this Saturday (March 9th 2019) at Drayton Mills Marketplace!

Holliday Brewing a new microbrewery in Spartanburg and will be hosting their Grand Opening at Drayton Mills Marketplace! Holliday brings a new twist (for the berg) on craft beer with west Cost style beer and a selection of wine! Come out and support this new local business.

And now for the shameless plug....“Through My Lens” – The photography of Mike Okun  (that's me  ) will be opening at Holliday Brewing with 23 pieces on display!

Grand Opening is on 3/9, 2pm to 10pm. Come out between 6p and 9p, meet me and have a chance to win a signed photo piece!

More Info: www.hollidaybrewing.com and www.mikeokunphotography.com 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Spartanburg Dude
Added links

[Spartan]

Nice! I hope to check out this brewery soon!

[Sparkleman]

Its a really cool space but the beer was kind of meh. I am no certified craft beer taster but it just didn't do it for me. Of course I only had 2 since it was balls to the wall crowded, so maybe I had the 2 worst of the 10 they have. My wife really like the Prosecco though.

The "Spartanburg Dude's" (Mike Okun) photography was pretty cool.

[Spartanburg Dude]

36 minutes ago, Sparkleman said:

Its a really cool space but the beer was kind of meh. I am no certified craft beer taster but it just didn't do it for me. Of course I only had 2 since it was balls to the wall crowded, so maybe I had the 2 worst of the 10 they have. My wife really like the Prosecco though.

The "Spartanburg Dude's" (Mike Okun) photography was pretty cool.

Thanks for the shout out!

[FlopShotter]

A bit of a beer snob here - I visited Holliday on Saturday and tried 5 of their offerings.  I felt three were really solid brews, and the other two drinkable but unremarkable.  The space is cool, and as stated, the photography on the walls was excellent!

[westsider28]

Preliminary plans for Drayton Mills Village Townhomes -- 118 town homes on a 20-acre site -- were approved last week by the Spartanburg County Planning Commission.  Seems to be an increase in scope from the plan I saw a year ago.  I hope construction gets underway relatively soon.  This should really help the area feel more lively.

[westsider28]

We've talked about this in the Annexation thread, but it fits here too, especially with new info I just learned watching the Planning Commission meeting this evening.  First of all, the annexation and zoning request was approved by the Planning Commission, so it now goes to City Council for approval (Aug. 10 meeting for 1st reading w/public hearing, then Aug. 24 for potential 2nd reading).

The plan is for 320 apartments, developed by Orange Capital (I believe this is their website).  Below is a screenshot of a preliminary site plan from the meeting.  This is a lot of units (more than Drayton Mill, actually), which will help boost City population (and tax base).  Hope City Council approves the annexation/zoning and this project moves forward!

[Historyguy]

From one of the maps, it does look like this gets us to Drayton Road and thus to contiguity with the Drayton Lofts project - I definitely want to get that into the city when we can.  This is a large parcel - I think just over 25 acres - so it'll be a nice addition to the city.  

 

[Spartan]

I like the annexation, but I'm not a fan of the apartment design. I didn't realize the land doesnt go up to Drayton Ave. It's dissapointing that they can't at least point a street stub to it so that the apartments could have more than one entrance onto Drayton Rd.

[Historyguy]

There's really no design to speak of - I think the layout that was presented was largely conceptual.  Don't think most of these folks put that much into their plans until they see if the city will let them do what they propose at the basic level.  While I don't think the site plan will have to come back before the Planning Commission for approval, it will have to go through the whole city site review process - stormwater, streets, planning, etc.  

Here is the zoning map - it looks to me like the property does actually touch Drayton Road.  I figure they will have to have a secondary exit - just for fire code purposes.  It's actually 2 properties - and the developer is planning to acquire the section of street between the two properties from the county and incorporate it into the plan.  

I believe i heard the developer say that the parking lot up there on the edge of the property was not part of this plan or of the annexation.  

 

[westsider28]

It appears that the townhome project behind Drayton Mills Elementary is finally starting, several years after it was first announced.  The upper Drayton Mill Trail has been temporarily closed as they clear some trees on the site.  Here's the developer's website, which calls the project Trailside at Drayton Mills with 132 townhomes.  I'm not sure what the final site plan looks like.

[westsider28]

At Monday's meeting, City Council will vote on a development agreement (page 27 of agenda) which would give a FILOT to the developer (Orange Capital) of the 320-unit complex proposed across Drayton Road from the mill in exchange for them providing 31 of the units as workforce housing (affordable for those making 80% of area median income).

Also, the 4-acre parcel fronting Drayton Road is for sale via CBRE.  Artistic drawings in the listing (see below) suggest village-style shops/restaurants.  Of course, development will depend on who buys it.  We'll have to wait and see what happens with that.

[rancenc]

Follow up article to Westsider28's posting above!

https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2020/10/15/development-agreement-320-apartments-help-trail-network-sc/3644305001/

[gman430]

[westsider28]

Site clearance has begun for the Lively Drayton Mills apartments.