AC Hotel on West Main

[spartanburgh]

Yes, Its going to be very high end. And the word is that the three story art shop will be a

candy store on the ground floor. A businessman from California has both under contract, plus

his business associate has purchased a home in Spartanburg to over see all.

[gman430]

The AC Marriott for Greenville looks really nice, its a shame that Spartanburg takes forever to make something happen.

Yep. Exactly why I moved from Spartanburg to downtown Greenville last year. And still no renderings of Spartanburg's planned hotel...sad.

[drexel]

Yes, Its going to be very high end. And the word is that the three story art shop will be a

candy store on the ground floor. A businessman from California has both under contract, plus

his business associate has purchased a home in Spartanburg to over see all.

 

This pass Friday a very reliable source stated that the property had not closed.  Maybe it did this week. The friend said getting media attention before the deal is closed was not the best situation.   

[Spartan]

Yep. Exactly why I moved from Spartanburg to downtown Greenville last year. And still no renderings of Spartanburg's planned hotel...sad.

 

You moved to Greenville because they have an AC Marriott that looks really nice?

[gman430]

You moved to Greenville because they have an AC Marriott that looks really nice?

Ummm...no. I didn't even know about the hotel when I moved last year. I moved because Greenville offers more amenities and is actually getting things done.

[roads-scholar]

I'm staying in the "burg"!  Lots happening, friendly folks, and things are getting done.

[Sparkleman]

I echo Roads in that I couldn't fathom moving to Greenville. I have been here my whole life and never has the energy and hope been this high. Plus the town retains some of its grittiness which corporate Greenville can't offer. Most folks can actually afford to live in or near downtown, try that in Greenville.

[gman430]

I live in downtown Greenville and can afford it just fine.   Looks like a lot of other people can too going off the number of apartments under construction and proposed downtown. Don't get me wrong though. Spartanburg is definitely up and coming. 

[goodbye]

Some Spartanburg residents occasionally need to be reminded that their city is growing and changing. They seem to be aware of the new developments, but express frustration that "Greenville gets all the new places and we don't have many opening here." Sure, by comparison Greenville's growth is on a different level, but population statistics indicate the entire region will continue to grow at a steady rate. The local economy should continue to grow as the population continues to increase. This means new businesses will open in Spartanburg and many of them will offer the amenities some people complain about today.

I'm not sure what "grittiness" means in relation to the "corporate" world, but growing cities need wealthy corporations to provide jobs and income so that people selling art or creative services will have a steady stream of healthy and wealthy customers.

[roads-scholar]

I echo Roads in that I couldn't fathom moving to Greenville. I have been here my whole life and never has the energy and hope been this high. Plus the town retains some of its grittiness which corporate Greenville can't offer. Most folks can actually afford to live in or near downtown, try that in Greenville.

I have nothing against Greenville or anyone who lives there.  I just feel more at home in Spartanburg.  Greenville has certainly grown and prospered impressively in recent years and I attribute that to great leadership beginning first with Charles Daniel and later with Max Heller.  Greenville would be a different place today without these two visionary men.

 

I grew up in the 1960's and 1970's and traveled to Greenville often during that era.  I remember when Main Street there was pretty bleak and the only real attraction was Saturday night "wrastling" at the GMA. 

 

By the way, I appeared on Monty's Rascals (Channel 4 weekday kids show) twice in the mid 60's when that program was BIG.   I was really saddened to learn of Monty DuPuy's passing earlier this year. 

[Spartan]

Ummm...no. I didn't even know about the hotel when I moved last year. I moved because Greenville offers more amenities and is actually getting things done.

 

That's what I figured. I also assumed it was in part because you've always had stronger ties to Greenville than Spartanburg. Greenville is generally more attractive to young, educated people as well. I know that most of the people I grew up with in Spartanburg moved to Greenville, Columbia, Charleston, Charlotte or somewhere further away for those type of jobs. If you moved because they have more urban development projects (be it publicly or privately financed) then that is certainly the most unique reason I've ever heard when choosing a place to live.

 

While I don't want this to turn into another Spartanburg vs Greenville debate (which are largely unproductive), I think it is worth acknowledging that Spartanburg (and to some extent South Carolina in general) lacks the things that attract white collar jobs and thus the young, educated work force. We certainly have those jobs, but not in the concentration or volume that Greenville does. Part of it is these so-called 'amenities.' Greenville has a nice downtown, and young people want to live in places like that. Spartanburg has a nice downtown too it's just smaller - and IMO in all likelihood would have more momentum if it were located in a different part of the state. The proximity and inevitable comparison to Greenville is a unique challenge that Spartanburg has to deal with. 

[gman430]

Couldn't have said it better Spartan. Even though things are moving in the right direction, I am honestly surprised Spartanburg doesn't have more especially downtown with all of the universities located there. You have Wofford, USC Upstate, Converse, Spartanburg Community College, etc. I would definitely love to see more white collar jobs offered there also instead of mostly manufacturing and distribution.

[spartanburgh]

I'm not sure what this means, but the word on the street is that the new hotel

is going to be tall. Is this tall as in 10 plus stories, or tall, as in

Spartanburg tall, around 6-7 stories? Sure would like to see the renderings.

[Spartan]

Yeah I'd like to see renderings too. 6-7 seems realistic. A 100 room hotel on the interstate is usually around 5 stories, so if you add in another 20 rooms on one floor plus ground floor lobby you can get to 7. I'll be interested to see if it goes higher, since it largely depends on how they incorporate parking and how wide the tower portion is.

[drexel]

That's what I figured. I also assumed it was in part because you've always had stronger ties to Greenville than Spartanburg. Greenville is generally more attractive to young, educated people as well. I know that most of the people I grew up with in Spartanburg moved to Greenville, Columbia, Charleston, Charlotte or somewhere further away for those type of jobs. If you moved because they have more urban development projects (be it publicly or privately financed) then that is certainly the most unique reason I've ever heard when choosing a place to live.

 

While I don't want this to turn into another Spartanburg vs Greenville debate (which are largely unproductive), I think it is worth acknowledging that Spartanburg (and to some extent South Carolina in general) lacks the things that attract white collar jobs and thus the young, educated work force. We certainly have those jobs, but not in the concentration or volume that Greenville does. Part of it is these so-called 'amenities.' Greenville has a nice downtown, and young people want to live in places like that. Spartanburg has a nice downtown too it's just smaller - and IMO in all likelihood would have more momentum if it were located in a different part of the state. The proximity and inevitable comparison to Greenville is a unique challenge that Spartanburg has to deal with. 

 

 

I grew up in High Point NC and I do not consider Spartanburg's situation that unique. We had Greensboro and Winston Salem. Rock Hill has Charlotte. Durham has Raliegh and so on. I am glad I do not live in High Point even though NC annexation laws have created a tax base of about 110,000 people for HP.  I truly believe Spartanburg County has created an environment where professionals do not want to live. Anything goes. No zoning. No restriction on sign hieghts. No tree replacement requirements on commercial development. Unkept roadways. No real planning. Lots of litter (county and city) I like living in our city, but the county is not creating a place that I am very proud of.  Guess I (we) got off the subject, sorry.          

[westsider28]

The concrete slab has been poured for the Event Rentals building.  I suspect the pace of construction will really accelerate now.  Completion in July-ish, I'm guessing?  Then demolition of their old building, and the hotel starts construction in September/October? (These are wild guesses.)  Anyway, here are some photos:

 

And based on rumors of 6-7 stories, I put together (in MS Paint / MS Word) an extremely rudimentary idea of the potential height of the hotel from the "money shot."  I know I'm making a lot of assumptions and it may be nothing like this, but the hotel could potentially make quite an impact on the skyline (at least from some angles, like this).

[westsider28]

The Event Rentals building is going up even faster than I expected.  In less than 10 days, they got the whole frame up and started cladding.  The building is quite large.  I have to admit, the aluminum siding looks...not great.  Luckily the front section will be brick.  I'm sure that part will take longer.  I don't really care about this building that much; just that its completion sets the stage for the start of hotel construction.

[Spartan]

The building they tore down looked a lot better than that. The brick front will only mask the aluminum siding if you're looking at it directly from the front.

[gman430]

And still no renderings of the hotel either. Sad.

[spartanburgh]

No renderings, but there was a soil boring machine on site today taking

core samples at the old event rentals site where the hotel will be built......

The new Event Rentals is a big disappointment.....

[roads-scholar]

Why so much negativity? 

 

I spent a lot of time downtown this weekend and the traffic on the streets, on the square, and in merchants was phenomenal.  The hotel talk has everyone excited (its going to happen!).

 

I'm not sad, I'm EXCITED!

[mainonmain]

Just because no renderings have been made public does not mean there are no renderings or that anything is off-track or behind schedule. A lot of work goes into a project like this -- this isn't going to be some typical 110-room box like the kind you see out on the interstate or around Westgate Mall. I think you will see some more details and perhaps even a rendering soon, but things are on track and this project is going to be stellar.

[mainonmain]

Hotel details (brand, renderings, etc.) to be released next week.

[OTODevelopment]

We are very excited about the interest in our new downtown Spartanburg hotel.  We are getting ready to announce some exciting updates and would love to include some of the people who have followed the project and posted about it on Urban Planet.  If you are interested in hearing more, please email us your contact information at [email protected].  

 

 

[spartanburgh]

Wow!! Can't wait to see renderings, thanks for the heads up. I have watched

each day with anticipation.