United Community Bank Corporate HQ project.

[Spero]

1 hour ago, Skyliner said:

I would greatly prefer the new building's placement directly adjacent to the sidewalk, similar to the current building.

Sir, this is an Arby’s.

 

seriously though I have walked that exact stretch of sidewalk many, many times, and there’s an infinitesimal chance that “West of Church Street” could possibly communicate with “East of Church Street” and so as long as the building focal point is toward he Bowater/Bohemian interchange you’re not losing out on much.

[gman430]

Don’t look at me. I wanted the 20 story building.  Now we’re stuck with a boring midrise suburban looking office building that does nothing to help the vacant office space downtown or add to pedestrian activity. And some of you people complain about Bridgeway Station. LOL. This is what you really should be complaining about instead. 

Edited April 22, 2021 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

Hard to tell a lot from those but first impressions make me want to puke and enjoy it. Those look beyond terrible.  

[Exile]

It 's as if they're incorporating features of the existing building into the retail office portion. That was originally a building on stilts, the ground level of which they built out in the 80's for Bowater, I think, before Bowater moved to 55 E. Camperdown.

Not a fan.

[vicupstate]

1) Adding a new office building is not going to result in lowering overall office vacancy in DT unless it is a completely new tenant, which we already knew this would not be. 

2) Spring/Falls Streets are meant to be service streets and pedestrian activity will spring from Falls Park/Camperdown Way and whatever eventually is built in the large vacant space on the East side of Falls Street.

3) A retail bank branch is a form of retail. 

4) I'm not seeing a lot of detail in this submission, I think this is just a massing/layout approval.  There are no materials or landscape information provided.      

[GvilleSC]

15 minutes ago, vicupstate said:

1) Adding a new office building is not going to result in lowering overall office vacancy in DT unless it is a completely new tenant, which we already knew this would not be. 

2) Spring/Falls Streets are meant to be service streets and pedestrian activity will spring from Falls Park/Camperdown Way and whatever eventually is built in the large vacant space on the East side of Falls Street.

3) A retail bank branch is a form of retail. 

4) I'm not seeing a lot of detail in this submission, I think this is just a massing/layout approval.  There are no materials or landscape information provided.      

These are all fair points for everyone to consider. It will be more interesting to see the lighting scheme and material selections when they actually submit their design plans to the DRB. One thing is for sure, they're going to have great signage opportunities to be seen from  both directions on Church Street. 

[goodbye]

"Glazed facade" and the images provided are enough to establish expectations.

I do not buy the weak notion that a "service street" cannot be attractive to pedestrians and retailers when plenty of contradictory examples exist.

[vicupstate]

Quote

"Glazed facade" and the images provided are enough to establish expectations.

If it is just a massing/site plan, which it appears to be, I would expect a significant amount of glass and in the areas shown, but the visual appearance could be very different. 

   

[gman430]

This is more depressing than that time the Pinnacle on Main became the hotel it is today. 

[distortedlogic]

7 minutes ago, gman430 said:

This is more depressing than that time the Pinnacle on Main became the hotel it is today. 

How about that time the Peacock became the 3 story box?

[GvilleSC]

9 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

How about that time the Peacock became the 3 story box?

LOL -- agreed, the peacock to 98 E McBee is  for sure worse IMO. 

[gman430]

15 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

How about that time the Peacock became the 3 story box?

That one is too demoralizing to even mention.

[goodbye]

The most attractive (or at least visually interesting) structure on that property is the Octo 2 sculpture by Anthony Howe.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Skyliner

[Exile]

1 hour ago, distortedlogic said:

How about that time the Peacock became the 3 story box?

1 hour ago, gman430 said:

That one is too demoralizing to even mention.

Didn't they actually pour the footings for the Peacock before they called it off?

You never know: maybe one day it'll become a six or eight story box.

[cabelagent]

1 hour ago, Exile said:

Didn't they actually pour the footings for the Peacock before they called it off?

You never know: maybe one day it'll become a six or eight story box.

Yes they did....remember it was dormant for a while until something was decided....we know where that led to now.  

[ingvegas]

On 4/21/2021 at 7:12 PM, Skyliner said:

This is a bit frustrating.

I love the decision to bring hundreds of new jobs into the urban center of the Upstate region, and I love the fact that they plan to replace a bland and aging structure with a brand new corporate office building.

HOWEVER, the position of the new building is strange because it will sit away from its primary street frontage and simultaneously will destroy the most attractive portion of the property -- the trees along Falls Street overlooking the park below.  The building design itself appears to be as expected, a 4-6 floor bland glass box.

I would greatly prefer the new building's placement directly adjacent to the sidewalk, similar to the current building.  This is why I was so vocal in opposing the lack of retail space under Camperdown along Falls Street.  Developers seem to think nobody has interest in walking/dining/shopping along that street, but I have seen lots of pedestrians in that area and believe Falls Street has (or had) the potential to become a very attractive retail district.  Unfortunately these new developments will extend the feeling that this area, which is literally a block from Main Street and Falls Park on the Reedy, is only useful for parking and/or passing through on our way to other attractions.

This x 10. 

I live in this neighborhood. Pedestrians and bicyclists are constantly walking to/from Downtown to Cancer Park, the two pocket-parks (Sue Simpson and Rose Garden), and Sidewall. IMHO, this development, as currently planned, adds little and will likely devalue what this area could be.

One could argue that it worsens the area because it builds a parking lot between the building and the street, and it appears  many of the mature trees will get taken down so the building can be set back further and get more commercial exposure from Church Street. Take out those trees and things will look a lot different from all directions. This will change the look of that corner, significantly. It will not add value. 

An Open Letter to United Community:

Hey Bank! If you're reading this, then you already know, we are not big fans of what we smell cooking right now. Why not build up to the street with consumer inviting non-bank retail that will bring the foot traffic to your bank-retail?  Banks want foot-traffic, right?  Banks like exposure, right? Banks like collecting lease-money from successful tenants, right? Banks like talking about how they provide ways for local retail to grow, right? You want your hard working office workers and lucrative clients to have someplace that is nice and close to meet, drink, and talk money and debt? So not why share part of the first floor with an upscale coffee/bagel shop, or delicatessen (i.e. something like Reid's Fine Foods).  And yes, please throw in a locally-owned specialty food store (maybe a bakery, cheese shop, butcher, or wine store)? 

Oh, and don't be another corporate bully. Keep those big and beautiful trees along the Church St. Connector and Church Street. Hey, did you know that a well placed and classy sign makes a better billboard for who you are and your business than using a huge ugly building to announce your presence to the area.  Stay classy.  A nice building surrounded by old trees makes it look like you've been there a really long time. People trust maturity. So be cool, don't be needy. Be a retail facilitator, and not an invading corporate degenerate.

All the Best, 
-ingvegas

p.s. This note is a little salty, but we're really glad to have you in our neighborhood. I hope what you build makes me want to move my accounts from the Big-Bad-National to you.  I really want you to hold my monies. 

Edited April 23, 2021 by ingvegas
wrong word

[vicupstate]

Any retail business would struggle in that location for MANY years to come. There is no way they would be profitable.  

[GvilleSC]

We don’t actually know if they are preserving the Church street side of their lot for future expansion, or if there is a planning reason for their siting of the building. Maybe their future application will address this, or maybe the DRB will push back on them. 

2 minutes ago, vicupstate said:

Any retail business would struggle in that location for MANY years to come. There is no way they would be profitable.  

This is very true. 

[ingvegas]

7 minutes ago, vicupstate said:

Any retail business would struggle in that location for MANY years to come. There is no way they would be profitable.  

Why exactly do you believe this?

A giant upscale hotel will be next door. Camperdown is a block away with 200 hotel rooms and 215 apartments.  Hyatt Regency is 1/4 mile away. High-income long-term residential abounds in all other directions.  

Sidewall is doing very well and is at a location that is not nearly as advantageous.  This development, with a parking garage, will pull from local neighborhood and also from downtown. 

[gman430]

It should have a rooftop restaurant. Forget seeing the skyline. You’d get a beautiful view of the trees surrounding the site.  

[goodbye]

17 minutes ago, vicupstate said:

Any retail business would struggle in that location for MANY years to come. There is no way they would be profitable.  

 

14 minutes ago, GvilleSC said:

This is very true. 

While I agree that many retailers could potentially struggle in this vicinity in the short term, that is an extremely assumptive statement.  I never imagined Biscuit Head would frequently attract a line of customers out the door in their location, but they proved me wrong.

[gman430]

5 minutes ago, Skyliner said:

 

While I agree that many retailers could potentially struggle in this vicinity in the short term, that is an extremely assumptive statement.  I never imagined Biscuit Head would frequently attract a line of customers out the door in their location, but they proved me wrong.

While Toss next door shut down. 

[ingvegas]

True, but if you ever ate at Toss then you know they deserved to go. All other retail in that building has been consistent. 

The Grand Bohemian and this development (if done right) have the opportunity to anchor, accelerate, and model future development in the East Broad section of Downtown. 

Edited April 23, 2021 by ingvegas

[goodbye]

4 minutes ago, gman430 said:

While Toss next door shut down. 

True, but these are perfect examples of the unpredictability of retail and why absolute statements predicting success or failure are ineffectual.

[Joey_Blackdogg]

5 hours ago, gman430 said:

While Toss next door shut down. 

This was predictable because the pizza was bad.