W Main Street & Daniel Morgan Ave (Royce Camp Mixed-use building)

[spartanburgh]

Soil borings were done this morning at the proposed new building across from the new AC Hotel site.

[gman430]

Soil borings were done this morning at the proposed new building across from the new AC Hotel site.

What is planned for here exactly? Is it next to RJ Rockers?

[spartanburgh]

A new mixed use building with underground parking, ground floor commercial, and upper floors

of residential. Beside Rockers, but across Daniel Morgan Ave. and diagonally across from the

new Hotel.

[gman430]

A new mixed use building with underground parking, ground floor commercial, and upper floors

of residential. Beside Rockers, but across Daniel Morgan Ave. and diagonally across from the

new Hotel.

Excellent. Are there any renderings or a construction timeline for this project?

[Spartan]

I decided this project is worthy of it's own topic. 

 

gman - we don't know much about this project at all. Royce Camp is the architect/developer behind the Wall Street mixed-use project at Wall and Broad Streets (which is now complete), so we all have high expectations for this one.

 

http://gsabusiness.com/news/49890-spartanburg-lands-new-downtown-development

[Spartan]

Interestingly, the parcel in question doesn't seem to have an address. In the County's GIS system it's listed as "0 Main Street"

[spartanburgh]

The temporary hold up on this one is two fold, parking and closing the sidewalk.

There is the possibility that this project will have to wait until the AC Marriott

is complete. The City is concerned about closing down sidewalks on both sides of

Main Street at the same time. Also, the number of parking spaces that will be controlled

by this project will determine the scope of project. It is still uncertain what the

final parking count will be, but this should be resolved fairly quickly.

[Spartan]

The temporary hold up on this one is two fold, parking and closing the sidewalk.

There is the possibility that this project will have to wait until the AC Marriott

is complete. The City is concerned about closing down sidewalks on both sides of

Main Street at the same time. Also, the number of parking spaces that will be controlled

by this project will determine the scope of project. It is still uncertain what the

final parking count will be, but this should be resolved fairly quickly.

 

That's an easy fix - close down a part of Main St. The left turn lane from westbound Main St to southbound Daniel Morgan Ave isn't needed anyway. Just make that the through lane and make the current lane the temporary walking space. 

[spartanburgh]

I think lane closures are anticipated also.

Edited July 1, 2015 by spartanburgh

[roads-scholar]

I think lane closures are anticipated also.

I hate to appear clueless but where exactly will this building be built?  SW corner of West Main and Daniel Morgan, across from Cribbs?  There is a parking lot in this spot now.

[Spartan]

The NE corner of the intersection next to the wine shop. I have something in the works that should help resolve questions like that. Stay tuned!

[westsider28]

Any updates on this development?  Did they decide to wait until the AC Hotel is complete before they build?

[spartanburgh]

On ‎11‎/‎16‎/‎2015‎ ‎5‎:‎25‎:‎58‎, westsider28 said:

Any updates on this development?  Did they decide to wait until the AC Hotel is complete before they build?

The parking garage Is holding things up now. There will likely be a two level parking garage at the back of all

the buildings on this block. Until this can be worked out, the plans will be delayed. The project is not being delayed

because of the Hotel development across the street. All of those issues have been worked out.

[spartanburgh]

This project should be presented to the DRB within the next 30-45 days. The initial floor plans

and exterior elevations have been completed. Pending DRB approval this project would then

move into the engineering phase with construction to possibly start in the third quarter.

[westsider28]

This project is going before the DRB on Tuesday, March 1 at 5:30pm.  I saw a notice in the paper and on-site.  I'm eager to see what the building looks like.

[spartanburgh]

I think your going to be happy with the look. It will be like no other building in Spartanburg......

[westsider28]

Great to hear, spartanburgh! Now I'm even more excited to see it!

And more details are in Monday's City Council agenda (PDF).  It will be a 5-story building.  Interesting because I recall there's a 4-story height limit overlay on Main from Converse to DM. I suppose the DRB would have to give a variance. (I think it's an easy call as it would "step-up" to the AC Hotel). Anyway, it will have 30 apartments, underground private parking, and almost 3,000 sq ft of retail/restaurant space fronting Main.  Sounds great!

The City mentions their ability to create 65 public spaces (to make up for the loss) at Spring and Broad.  I assume that would be on the City property with a small parking lot, City garage, and bricked-up old building (below).

Edited February 19, 2016 by westsider28

[drexel]

Great stuff. I thought it was a 6 story limit.  

[spartanburgh]

The building developer wanted the building to be 8 stories with 51 apartments,  the code limit was 4 stories. The City decided to amend this site and the

Herald Journal site along Daniel Morgan Ave. to 5 stories, that is why the building is not taller with more units.

[westsider28]

Wow!  That's kind of a bummer.  8 stories would've been awesome.  I think the Main Street height overlay is absolutely asinine.  We had an 8-story building on Morgan Square in 1913!  Over 100 years ago!  The limit is based on some made-up historical precedent, rather than our actual history.

Anyway, I suppose parking would've been a bigger issue.  And the limit potentially allows for more projects instead of a few larger ones.  I hope Royce Camp gets the chance to build something of that scale somewhere else downtown, though.

[spartanburgh]

Parking, actually would have been better.  51 apartments would have justified the added cost of a 2 story parking deck at the back, from Daniel Morgan to King and

all the way down Ezell St. This would have generated an incremental 38 parking spaces for the added 21 apartments. Building sites like this are hard to come by, not

developing them to their highest potential is not smart development. The code needs to be changed.

[gman430]

Height limits in the CBD? Spartanburg is still behind the times I see. This isn't Charleston.

[westsider28]

Ugh. Great...I've gone from excited to disappointed on this project. 

Plus, shouldn't all of this be discussed in a public forum, not behind closed doors?  That's what the DRB meetings & public input are for, right?  IMO, the project should've been brought before the DRB at 8-stories, been discussed & taken public input, then potentially tweak the design to where it ended up or accept it at full-scale.  I don't think City staff should be making these decisions.

And yeah, the Main Street height overlay needs to be tossed.  If not for that, a building of up to 10-16 stories could be built on that site (DT-6).

[westsider28]

This article brings some clarity to the conversation.  The deck would've been financed partially by the City, and they felt like the cost ($1M) wasn't worth the number of spaces added.  I was right about the new surface parking to be added by the City at Spring & Broad.  And it sounds like there's a plan to make King Street one-way to add 5 on-street spots.

Some more details: 35,000 sq ft; a mix of one- and two-bedroom studios, with a penthouse on the top floor; 3 retail spots; and a "modern" design.  Looking forward to seeing it.  Also interested in the site plan.  3 retail spots indicates the building could be pretty wide, but there are windows in the Cantrell Wagon building next door to think about.

(Also, just so everyone's on the same page: Here is the Urban Code.)

Edited February 21, 2016 by westsider28

[Spartan]

On 2/20/2016 at 10:58 AM, gman430 said:

Height limits in the CBD? Spartanburg is still behind the times I see. This isn't Charleston.

The height restriction is only for a few blocks on Main Street, and it only applies to the first 60ft of a building (going back from the street), meaning that there could be a building with a tiered design that could go higher if it was set back. The idea is to try to create the elements of a "small town" downtown that everyone claims to love about Spartanburg in the area around Morgan Square. 

I'm interested to see the Camp building and whether or not it violates the height restriction, and more importantly if Council decides to grant them a variance. It would be an unfortunate precedent to set given how recently the code was adopted.