Greenville County Square redevelopment

[apaladin]

4 hours ago, gman430 said:

You would think we would hear something about if a deal has been worked out or not. Anyone have any news? 

Of course not. Politicians take weeks off this time of year. Right now they are in the middle of their "break". Remember there are 4 holidays in a row that are exactly a week apart beginng with Christmas. Dec 25-Christmas, Jan. 1st-New Years Day, Jan. 8th-Elvis' birthday, Jan. 15th-Martin Luther King, Jr's.-birthday. All fall on Wednesday this time. They will prolly get back at it around the 20th. Don't worry they will hsve plenty of time before their next meeting on the 28th to decide when they are going to vote again. 

[vicupstate]

24 minutes ago, apaladin said:

Of course not. Politicians take weeks off this time of year. Right now they are in the middle of their "break". Remember there are 4 holidays in a row that are exactly a week apart beginng with Christmas. Dec 25-Christmas, Jan. 1st-New Years Day, Jan. 8th-Elvis' birthday, Jan. 15th-Martin Luther King, Jr's.-birthday. All fall on Wednesday this time. They will prolly get back at it around the 20th. Don't worry they will hsve plenty of time before their next meeting on the 28th to decide when they are going to vote again. 

That is Congress. City and County Councilmen make about 10-20k a year. A pittance for the time it requires.

 

[gman430]

Final reading is January 7th. 
 

Resolution authorizes the creation of the County Square Redevelopment Corporation required for the issuance of the bonds and appoints its initial Board of Directors - John Castile, Executive Director, Greenville Redevelopment Authority; Jacqui DiMaggio, VP for Finance, Greenville Technical College: and Dianna Gracely, City Administrator, City of Simpsonville.

Edited January 3, 2020 by gman430

[apaladin]

John Castile, former Furman basketball player.I feel better now. 

[gman430]

Who knew building a few highrises here would be so difficult: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2020/01/07/fate-120-m-spending-plan-greenville-county-square-uncertain-ahead-vote/2824648001/ I would make each floor at least 25 feet tall if they limit the buildings to 12 stories.  

Edited January 7, 2020 by gman430

[gman430]

Anybody attending the meeting tonight? 

[gman430]

They’re gonna wait until the city vote which makes sense: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2020/01/07/fate-120-m-spending-plan-greenville-county-square-uncertain-ahead-vote/2824648001/ A vote to decide on another vote to decide on another vote.  

Edited January 8, 2020 by gman430

[apaladin]

1 hour ago, gman430 said:

They’re gonna wait until the city vote which makes sense: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2020/01/07/fate-120-m-spending-plan-greenville-county-square-uncertain-ahead-vote/2824648001/ A vote to decide on another vote to decide on another vote.  

Told ya!!

[gman430]

1 hour ago, apaladin said:

Told ya!!

Too many government officials and entities involved for the development to work out. I expect it to fully die by the end of February. They can only delay it for so long until it becomes too late and the sale of the office buildings expires along with the developer walking away.

Edited January 8, 2020 by gman430

[cabelagent]

28 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Too many government officials and entities involved for the development to work out. I expect it to fully die by the end of February. They can only delay it for so long until it becomes too late and the sale of the office buildings expires along with the developer walking away.

Expect Mayor Knox White /City Council & Butch Kirven/County Council will be huddling to get the project on track...there's too much at stake for it to die.

Edited January 8, 2020 by cabelagent

[distortedlogic]

4 minutes ago, cabelagent said:

Expect Mayor Knox White /City Council & Butch Kirven/County Council will be huddling to get the project on track...there's too much at stake for it to die.

Agreed. I'm pretty confident this will reach a resolution. Greenville is pretty good at this sort of thing after all. 

Only a subscriber can access the article, can anyone provide a synopsis?

[gman430]

1 hour ago, distortedlogic said:

Agreed. I'm pretty confident this will reach a resolution. Greenville is pretty good at this sort of thing after all. 

Only a subscriber can access the article, can anyone provide a synopsis?

-The required third vote did not take place as planned on Tuesday, however, after a motion from County Councilman Rick Roberts passed 11-1 to hold it until February. Councilmen Willis Meadows and Ennis Fant suggested the February time frame with input from the county’s bond attorney, Brad Love, on how long the county could wait on approving the funding package.

-Greenville City Council members will vote Jan. 22 on a master plan and zoning change that the county’s private development partner, RocaPoint, needs to proceed with the $1 billion redevelopment of 37 acres at and around County Square. No word on how the city will vote. This upcoming vote is for the same plan that was approved by the Planning Commission capping the building heights at 12 stories. The date of the city's Jan. 22 vote was announced during a stakeholders meeting with elected officials and downtown neighborhood leaders on Dec. 13.  Another stakeholder meeting will take place Friday.

-At stake in the near term is an April 1 deadline that the county must meet to purchase a pair of office buildings on Halton Road that will house state and federal offices displaced by the redevelopment of County Square. The price tag for those is $33 million. EMS slated to move to a former Bi-Lo in the County as part of deal. 

-The city will need to vote on County Square's master plan and zoning two times, which it will likely complete by early February. The county will then have about 60 days, County Administrator Joe Kernell said, to get bonds rated and sold. 

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

Thanks gman.

[gman430]

The city just sent out this mass email:
 

We Want to Hear From You

You're invited to attend Public Listening Sessions designed to continue gathering feedback about the County Square project.

Jan. 14 & 16

5:30-7:30 PM
Greenville Water Community Room
517 West Washington Street

Edited January 8, 2020 by gman430

[gvegascple]

 

Who is taking odds that this will continue to go through and at which height cap by the city?  Put me down for yes at either 12 or 20 stories depending on what the public sentiment is.  The county doesnt want to cancel or move ahead with only a 5 story cap.  They want the city to give them more height so that when the remaining parcel is sold it is worth more money for the county.  

Edited January 8, 2020 by gvegascple

[GvilleSC]

1 hour ago, gvegascple said:

 

Who is taking odds that this will continue to go through and at which height cap by the city?  Put me down for yes at either 12 or 20 stories depending on what the public sentiment is.  The county doesnt want to cancel or move ahead with only a 5 story cap.  They want the city to give them more height so that when the remaining parcel is sold it is worth more money for the county.  

I definitely say yes, and I think the original framework will win out. 

[gman430]

 

36 minutes ago, GvilleSC said:

I definitely say yes, and I think the original framework will win out. 

The city council agenda is for the 12 story height limit. Not sure how they’re gonna get the 20 story limit out of it especially with the area resident opposition. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by gman430

[gvegascple]

16 minutes ago, gman430 said:

 

The city council agenda is for the 12 story height limit. Not sure how they’re gonna get the 20 story limit out of it especially with the area resident opposition. 

I thought the county can go as high as 5 currently regardless of city.  If that is true, 12 is an improvement.  I dont think the city would have a problem with that height.  If they thought 20 might shift focus from main st, than 20 might be a harder sell (in addition to nearby residents being upset).  I dont see anyone actually building 20 there in the next ten or more years and by then if anyone needed to they could just rezone then.  However, the city needs the parcel to be worth more and 20 will do that for them.  The city should come up with a way to appease the locals while still being able to gift the 20 stories to them and move on.  Having more money for the county is in everyone's best interest and the odds of an actual 20 story building going there seem incredibly slim.

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by gvegascple

[GvilleSC]

5 minutes ago, gvegascple said:

I thought the county can go as high as 5 currently regardless of city.  If that is true, 12 is an improvement.  I dont think the city would have a problem with that height.  If they thought 20 might shift focus from main st, than 20 might be a harder sell.  I dont see anyone actually building 20 there in the next ten or more years and by then if anyone needed to they could just rezone then.  However, the city needs the parcel to be worth more and 20 will do that for them.  The city should gift it to them and move on.

 

True -- the eventual developers can apply for a variance, I imagine. I think the City needs to be open to hearing those cases as they come forward (IF or when they do). Ultimately, making the property more valuable for the County, is also a huge win for the city. Commanding higher prices for the parcels will dictate the quality of buildings. And, that money will free up cash for other improvements that will benefit the City and its residents (i.e. Swamp Rabbit Trail growth). I think the City Council understands all of this.

Edited January 8, 2020 by GvilleSC

[apaladin]

Don't understand soliciting opinions from residents. The only ones they are gong to hear from are the negative nancys. Why don't they just do a referendum and let people who don't have a clue vote and vote it down? This would give everyone an easy out." Well. we tried but the people didn't want it". 

[gman]

Too much talking. Just get on with it already. 

[gman430]

8 hours ago, apaladin said:

Don't understand soliciting opinions from residents. The only ones they are gong to hear from are the negative nancys. Why don't they just do a referendum and let people who don't have a clue vote and vote it down? This would give everyone an easy out." Well. we tried but the people didn't want it". 

It would fail miserably. Everybody would vote no thinking their tax dollars are being used to pay for the project. 

So why exactly did they tear down the Cobb Tire building again? Was it to trick people?  

[gvegascple]

16 hours ago, apaladin said:

Don't understand soliciting opinions from residents. The only ones they are gong to hear from are the negative nancys. Why don't they just do a referendum and let people who don't have a clue vote and vote it down? This would give everyone an easy out." Well. we tried but the people didn't want it". 

They can go in with getting input on 20 story buildings, then scale back to 12-15 and start taking about locations and setbacks to minimize impact to residents.  They can then walk out with decent heights to give the county more value to their parcels and also have the residents walking away feeling heard.  I see this going forward with 12 story caps with options to revisit zoning later.  This is going to be one of the most exciting projects for the next 5-10 years.  Greenville is really knocking things out of the park lately between the One project, the Camperdown, Unity Park, The County Square development, and hopefully the downtown convention center next.   Perhaps we will see something at the old NuVox site on the radar after that and some of the other great concepts seen on the next decade thread.

[GvilleSC]

35 minutes ago, gvegascple said:

They can go in with getting input on 20 story buildings, then scale back to 12-15 and start taking about locations and setbacks to minimize impact to residents.  They can then walk out with decent heights to give the county more value to their parcels and also have the residents walking away feeling heard.  I see this going forward with 12 story caps with options to revisit zoning later.  This is going to be one of the most exciting projects for the next 5-10 years.  Greenville is really knocking things out of the park lately between the One project, the Camperdown, Unity Park, The County Square development, and hopefully the downtown convention center next.   Perhaps we will see something at the old NuVox site on the radar after that and some of the other great concepts seen on the next decade thread.

Speaking of future sites that will be exciting to watch: I would include redevelopment of the bus station on that list. 

[gvegascple]

3 minutes ago, GvilleSC said:

Speaking of future sites that will be exciting to watch: I would include redevelopment of the bus station on that list. 

I have always thought this spot would be ideal for something really tall, maybe even the signature tallest for our skyline.  It wouldnt have to have a very large footprint, just something elegant, slender and way up there.  Lots  of glass and maybe some unique angles with a blade/crystal like point at the top