Aug Smith on Main (Bishop Furniture building renovation)

[Spartan]

That's great! I think we're beyond ready for two.

[djh1963]

They may want to skip the Ice Cream since we now have 3 ice cream places downtown.

[westsider28]

Windows are beginning to go in on the first additional floor.  (I think it's considered the "5th" floor)

[westsider28]

Progress update from the Herald-Journal.  The apartments should be complete (and move-ins started) by January.  The retail spaces will follow.  They are considering having a co-work space in the basement, which I think would be a great resource for local start-ups.

[westsider28]

File this under interesting but slightly disappointing.  SMC will be leasing the other ground floor space here to have a presence in downtown.  No classes will be held there.  It will have an art gallery (like Upstate on Main next door, I guess) and generally promote the college.  They expect to open March 2018.

[roads-scholar]

10 minutes ago, westsider28 said:

File this under interesting but slightly disappointing.  SMC will be leasing the other ground floor space here to have a presence in downtown.  No classes will be held there.  It will have an art gallery (like Upstate on Main next door, I guess) and generally promote the college.  They expect to open March 2018.

I thinks its wonderful that Spartanburg Methodist College wants to promote itself downtown.  Sure, I'd love to have something more substantive in the space but I see a win-win here.  A win for the building and developer - they get a solid tenant, and a win for SMC - it gets to promote itself to a growing number of people who are living, working, and visiting downtown.  You never know, SMC could become another Spartanburg school with classes downtown. 

SMC's president seems intent on improving the school's presence and visibility.  Bravo  to his efforts!

[Spartan]

I think SMC as a ground floor tenant is fine. Clemson and Carolina do the same thing. It's not going to be a huge draw, but if they think it helps them then why not?

[westsider28]

Windows are in on floors 2 and 3 along Liberty Street.  Apartments are now leasing, as well.

[Spartan]

Damn that looks good. Can't wait to see the finished product. Thanks for posting the pics!

[westsider28]

I took the first picture at lunch.  Then by Dickens of a Christmas at night, all the front windows were up! (minus 1st floor storefronts)  They made quick work of that.

[westsider28]

Almost all of the Liberty Street windows are in.  Lots of work happening on the retail spots.

[Historyguy]

Work continues earlier this week...

[westsider28]

The City's social media had some nice photos of the progress today.  Apparently, the first apartment units should be available for occupancy in early February.

[westsider28]

Canopy has been installed on the front, concrete was poured on the upper-floor balconies this weekend, and tours of apartments can now be scheduled.  Dark green paint (see test spot in 1st photo) on all the beige areas will likely be the next step.

[westsider28]

Ground floor facade is really coming along, and painting is almost complete on the upper floors.  I've heard that the retail spots should open sometime in March.  Getting really close now!

[westsider28]

Here's an H-J article about the building.  Lots of great photos of the interior and exterior.  I particularly love the tile mosaic they're installing at the entrance!

[westsider28]

The exterior is now basically complete.  Here's a current photo compared to where it started a year ago.  Amazing transformation!

And here's the awesome tile mosaic at the entrance:

[Historyguy]

I accidentally posted this in the downtown developments thread, but I'll say it here as well - based on some Facebook posts, it looks like some of the first few residents of the project have moved in - and from the pictures, I'd say the views from the upper floor balconies are pretty nice.  

[djh1963]

https://gsabusiness.com/news/construction/73984/

 

[Spartanburg Dude]

On 2/17/2018 at 10:39 PM, westsider28 said:

The exterior is now basically complete.  Here's a current photo compared to where it started a year ago.  Amazing transformation!

And here's the awesome tile mosaic at the entrance:

Amazing what a little vision and a desire to preserve and not destroy can accomplish. What was a true eyesore has become a beautiful building!

[Spartan]

I really love this building. I would love to live in it if it were possible for me to find a job in Spartanburg.

[westsider28]

Here are a few more photos of the building.  Looking forward to Spill The Beans opening.  I think that will be a really cool space.

First: rear entrance (apartment entrance up & left; basement retail spot down & right)

Second: distance view from top of St. John Street parking deck

[Spartan]

It looks a little weird from that angle, but they really did a great job overall.

[westsider28]

Spill the Beans is now open in the Aug Smith building!  They're technically in soft-opening mode, with the grand opening TBD.  But they'll be open for Spring Fling.  I'm definitely going to stop in soon.  I'm expecting/hoping that it will really start to liven up this part of East Main, especially since they plan to be open quite late.

[westsider28]

I went to the grand opening a few weeks ago, where they offered tours of the building.  I toured a top-floor corner unit (2bd, 2ba) which was very nice (wood floors, granite counters).  The views were fantastic.  Obviously that unit was quite expensive.  The ground-floor common room was very large.  The top-floor common room was smaller, but has the awesome balcony.  It feels higher up than I expected.

Also, I overheard that the building was 60% leased at the time, and they expected to be full by the end of June.  Here are a few photos: