Proposal: Downtown Convention Center

[gman430]

At least 15 stories tall. Probably 20. $400 million. Craig Gaulden Davis and Rome Office are the architects. AMAZING!!!!

Development is an “ opportunity zone.” Hughes and Aughtry to donate land for free. Edward Stall to sell his portion of land at discount. City, county, and state on board. 

Edited March 19, 2019 by gman430

[GVLover]

1 minute ago, gman430 said:

At least 15 stories tall. $400 million. 

What is $400m exactly? In the article I read, it doesn’t highlight the museum at all so hopefully it’s discussed at the meeting!

[gman]

8 minutes ago, GVLover said:

https://greenvillejournal.com/2019/03/19/proposed-downtown-events-center-could-drive-new-tourism-business-to-greenville/

OH SH*T!

On my! What is the tall building? 

[GVLover]

Just now, gman said:

On my! What is the tall building? 

I assume Embassy Suites (it’s being extended across the street and connected via a sky bridge).

[gman430]

1 minute ago, gman said:

On my! What is the tall building? 

Hughes project above museum and convention center. Condos possibly. TBD on exactly what though. 

2 minutes ago, GVLover said:

What is $400m exactly? In the article I read, it doesn’t highlight the museum at all so hopefully it’s discussed at the meeting!

Total cost of project. 

Edited March 19, 2019 by gman430

[GVLover]

2 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Hughes project above museum and convention center. Condos possibly. TBD on exactly what though. 

Total cost of project. 

Gotcha, so the tall(er) building isn’t Embassy Suites?

Edited March 19, 2019 by GVLover

[gman430]

-Area museums (Bob Jones, county one, etc) are also on board. They want to raise $18 million for project through private fundraising.

-No construction timeline given by Hughes but the G-Journal article gives one. 

-SC Realtor Association wasn’t able to have their convention here due to not having a center downtown. County Council understands this. 

17 minutes ago, GVLover said:

Gotcha, so the tall(er) building isn’t Embassy Suites?

Oh wait...guess it is an Embassy Suites extension. He didn’t say that at the meeting. He said condos possibly. Maybe it’s gonna have both. Lol. 

Edited March 19, 2019 by gman430

[GVLover]

5 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Area museums are also on board. They want to raise $18 million for project through private fundraising. 

Oh wait...guess it is an Embassy Suites extension. He didn’t say that at the meeting. He said condos possibly. Lol 

Well, from I’ve seen here I am genuinely satisfied. We’ve long complained about boring architecture and now we’re considering doing something daring. Hopefully all parties will be on board, and that includes the public. 

It’s mind-boggling to think how much the West End will change over the next few years. We’re talking a museum of international stature, a convention center, potentially the tallest building in the state nearby among other mixed-use developments nearby. This is all incredibly emotional for me; our little Greenville is growing up. 

[gman430]

Everything that was said about the museums is stuff we already know. World class with the art works already announced of course. Convention Center to have place where cars can pull in and show them off. They would get inside the convention center which will be built above the two museums using some sort of elevator system. Obviously for BMW. 

Edited March 19, 2019 by gman430

[gman430]

The Embassy Suites would be the smaller building in the background. Notice the bridge connection to it. Developer is Windsor Aughtry. The taller building in the foreground would be condos most likely. Developer is Hughes. 

Now let me go catch my breath. Whew. Lol. 

Edited March 19, 2019 by gman430

[GVLover]

1 minute ago, gman430 said:

The Embassy Suites would be the smaller building in the background. Notice the bridge connection to it. The taller building in the foreground would be condos most likely. 

Makes sense; I’m curious if the design will complement the current Embassy Suites or be more in-line with the rest of the development. That said, I’m excited to see detailed site plans — eventually. 

[GVLover]

8 minutes ago, gman430 said:

The Embassy Suites would be the smaller building in the background. Notice the bridge connection to it. Developer is Windsor Aughtry. The taller building in the foreground would be condos most likely. Developer is Hughes. 

Now let me go catch my breath. Whew. Lol. 

Haha, you’re definitely allowed to catch your breath. Again, I appreciate you going and all the information provided. This development will definitely hold back on my ‘development appetite’ for a while, but I am still craving a “major” corporate HQ relocation to Downtown Greenville. 

[gman430]

https://www.greenvilleonline.com/get-access/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.greenvilleonline.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2019%2F03%2F19%2Fdeveloper-pledges-prime-land-downtown-greenville-convention-center%2F3214767002%2F

[Edgar]

The skywalk is present in the redering on the Greenville Journal article but absent in the one on the Greenville News article. Which rendering was actually presented?

[gman430]

1 hour ago, Edgar said:

The skywalk is present in the redering on the Greenville Journal article but absent in the one on the Greenville News article. Which rendering was actually presented?

I thought the one at the meeting had the skywalk. 

[distortedlogic]

5 hours ago, gman430 said:

The Embassy Suites would be the smaller building in the background. Notice the bridge connection to it. Developer is Windsor Aughtry. The taller building in the foreground would be condos most likely. Developer is Hughes. 

Now let me go catch my breath. Whew. Lol. 

Wow, this is a huge development AND investment! Overall, some good looking peices here. I would like to see the taller building be less boxy, (can't we get something without a flat top please), and I hope the "sky walk" is dressed up a little more, and not just a rectangular tunnel. Maybe an arch? 

The scope and size seem fantastic and I LOVE the idea of incorporating the Bob Jones Gallery which is truly impressive. It will be a signature museum for Greenville without threatening Heritage Green, ant the Conference Center would be a great venue without threatening the Hyatt or Expo Center! 

I am guessing this taller condo building by Hughes would be instead of the taller one we saw conceptualized before?

[gman430]

44 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

I am guessing this taller condo building by Hughes would be instead of the taller one we saw conceptualized before?

Not sure. I thought about asking him about it after the meeting but decided against it. If these museums and convention center get built demand might be there to have them both built with one of the buildings probably being a hotel. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by gman430

[PuppiesandKittens]

I’d like a large anchor retailer to join this project.

I would also prefer more traditional, time-tested architecture.

But I’m certainly very happy.

[GvilleSC]

As we've all discussed before, this is going to really make the Trailside apartment development (and its surface parking) look even more out of place. How unfortunate that they were able to get approval for that site plan. There's so much going on in Greenville right now. The City really needs to be sure it's staying three steps ahead of developers. We ARE seeing this with the planning for Unity Park, but they need to stay on top of the fringes of downtown and the CBD in particular. 

Back to the skybridge: I really hope they can find a better way to make the Embassy Suites expansion workable without it. And, there's definitely two versions of renderings out there-- one with a connector and one without. 

I was quite disappointed that we never got to see the development of Reedy Square visitor center on this site. It would have been a nice piece of architecture. And I often wondered what could go here that would exceed that proposal. Ladies and gents, I believe we have found it. This will be a statement for Greenville (and the state, for that matter). I look forward to finding out more and watching this progress to reality!

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by GvilleSC

[vicupstate]

I was thinking the same thing about Trailside.  Just think of the possibilities if it were still vacant now.  Another thing is the architecture will probably not age well.  The DRB really erred in pulling them away from the Mill style architecture they started with. 

I think the thing that killed the Visitor's center was the internet has made such brick and mortar versions obsolete.  Probably a good thing, although I did like the design. 

I am thrilled with this project overall, but I wonder about the 'box' part  that extends toward the river.    

 

BTW, has anything been said about what happens now with the Linky Stone Park?  Does it get relocated (Unity park perhaps)?

 

[vicupstate]

Art Museum and Conference Center propossed on Reedy River  

The 6.71 acres being donated is not just in the 'big block' by the Academy Street bridge. 

• The conference center would span ~68,000 sq ft. (for comparison, that’s about half the size of a typical Target), with a 25,000 sq. ft. ballroom, “jewel box” building feature, and exterior public gathering space that would front the Reedy. The event space could host an estimated 620 events each year. Here’s what this means for the Greenville Convention Center.
• The Bob Jones University Museum & Gallery needs a more central, accessible location – after all, it does have one of the largest collections of European Old Master paintings in America (think Botticelli, Rubens, and van Dyck). The Museum & Gallery has been looking for a new home for its renowned collection after its 35,000 sq. ft. museum on the BJU campus closed for repairs in 2017, and got involved in the project when it heard about the potential for a walkable downtown location (with 60,000 sq. ft. of space).
• The Greenville County Museum of Art can only display about 5% of its collection at any given time. The new downtown space would nearly double its exhibit space, bringing the museum 25,000 more sq. ft. to show off works by artists like Andrew Wyeth, David Drake + Jasper Johns, which have previously been in storage.

[sptgguy]

I like that this is modern and not the same brick/mill building style that has dominated so many things being built in Greenville. If it is done well and they make good choices for cladding materials... there is no reason why this won't age well. I also think it will add something to downtown that will help break up the red brick and white concrete/precast stone that really dominates the river area. 

[vicupstate]

1 minute ago, sptgguy said:

I like that this is modern and not the same brick/mill building style that has dominated so many things being built in Greenville. If it is done well and they make good choices for cladding materials... there is no reason why this won't age well. I also think it will add something to downtown that will help break up the red brick and white concrete/precast stone that really dominates the river area. 

I basically agree and looking at the additional renderings in the GVL Today link, the 'box' doesn't extend quite as far as it appeared in the other rendering. Initiallly, it looked like it almost started to projected over the river itself.  The details obviously matter a lot and this is all very preliminary.    

[SVL]

This shows land being donated for this project. Why would the land next to Riverwalk and 121 Rhett be included? 

https://gvltoday.6amcity.com/conference-center-museums-reedy-river/

[gman430]

20 minutes ago, SVL said:

This shows land being donated for this project. Why would the land next to Riverwalk and 121 Rhett be included? 

https://gvltoday.6amcity.com/conference-center-museums-reedy-river/

It’s gonna be part of the mixed use development. Hughes will own the air rights above the ground level. Remember the state’s tallest proposed? Yeah, that’s probably part of this. At least hopefully it is. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by gman430