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Montgomery Ward renovation


westsider28

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Figured I'd start a new thread for this project.  It will go before the DRB for prelim/conceptual approval at their March 1 meeting.  Here's the packet: Agenda - DRB - 109 and 111 E Main Street - 111E.MAIN_DRBPrelim_1Mar2022.pdf The proposal includes 26 or 28 residential units, most facing west toward an internal courtyard within the shell of 109 East Main.  There will also be two retail spots: a large one within the MW building and a smaller one at 109.  Basement parking is proposed (18 spaces), accessed from Broad.

Overall, I really like the proposal.  They do a good job making a challenging site work, and the retail will really help liven up that part of Main.  The issue that will be most discussed is the parking, particularly the proposal to add a vehicle entrance to 109 (MW has an existing garage door).  It's very close to the Church intersection and creates a long section of Broad with potential vehicle-pedestrian conflicts, all for a net of 5 parking spaces.  It will be interesting to see what the DRB thinks.  Screenshots from packet:

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15 minutes ago, roads-scholar said:

Love the look of this project!   Regarding the parking issue, can anyone remind me what the parking garage situation is at 142 Social?  I realize Spring Street is not the same as Broad Street in terms of traffic but...

There are 18 basement parking spots for 18 units in 142 Social.  It's the ideal shape for parking (square-ish), is on a lower-traffic street, and is further from an intersection.  So it works better than this MW plan.

I'm okay with the parking under MW itself.  I would lean toward eliminating the (net 5) spots under 109 E Main, but I'm sure the developers will say they're needed, being so far (1 block, lol) from a parking deck.  If you scroll down in the DRB agenda here (Agenda - DRB - 2022-03-01.pdf), you can read Craig Lewis' comments on the matter.

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Conceptual approval was granted at tonight's DRB meeting.  The parking is in the really early stages; it hasn't been looked at by engineers.  And the developers need to talk to the City about the potential new curb-cut.  And they need to make sure they meet historic standards on 111.  They seem to be leaning toward in-only at 109 and out-only at 111 (contrary to the floor plan).  So anyway, the final configuration has yet to be solidified.  They'll likely be working on that for a couple months before coming back for final.

Since they got that approval tonight, developers launched a webpage for the project (https://www.livespartanburg.com/111-main/).  It's officially 18 one-bedroom apartments, 2 three-bedroom apartments, and 4 townhomes (24 units total).  They have a few new renderings on the site, like this one of the courtyard:

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Edit: It seemed like the City may be thinking about a wholesale sidewalk/streetscaping update for Broad Street, at least on the north side where all the development is planned. 

Edited by westsider28
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9 hours ago, westsider28 said:

Conceptual approval was granted at tonight's DRB meeting.  The parking is in the really early stages; it hasn't been looked at by engineers.  And the developers need to talk to the City about the potential new curb-cut.  And they need to make sure they meet historic standards on 111.  They seem to be leaning toward in-only at 109 and out-only at 111 (contrary to the floor plan).  So anyway, the final configuration has yet to be solidified.  They'll likely be working on that for a couple months before coming back for final.

Since they got that approval tonight, developers launched a webpage for the project (https://www.livespartanburg.com/111-main/).  It's officially 18 one-bedroom apartments, 2 three-bedroom apartments, and 4 townhomes (24 units total).  They have a few new renderings on the site, like this one of the courtyard:

823260440_MWcourtyard.thumb.jpg.e7c5695d2ec1b16a8ce633d3a882d214.jpg

Edit: It seemed like the City may be thinking about a wholesale sidewalk/streetscaping update for Broad Street, at least on the north side where all the development is planned. 

I absolutely love the courtyard idea, and how that enables them to actually have windows in the apartments. If I had to complain about anything, and it's a very silly (and selfish) complaint, I would love to have seen this courtyard be an outside patio for a restaurant. Overall really really solid project in my opinion.  With the "100 block" project, and this project... downtown is really taking shape. Now if we could get the Kress building reused. Though that will be a tough one, a future developer could conceivably take a play out of this (MW) play book, but then you have windows and balconies hanging over the Fr8 Yard. No bueno. I hate to say it but Fr8 Yard will likely be the cause of that building not seeing a meaningful reno for a long time. Unless of course it goes commercial with sound proof glass on the East side. 

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55 minutes ago, Spartanburg Dude said:

I absolutely love the courtyard idea, and how that enables them to actually have windows in the apartments. If I had to complain about anything, and it's a very silly (and selfish) complaint, I would love to have seen this courtyard be an outside patio for a restaurant. Overall really really solid project in my opinion.  With the "100 block" project, and this project... downtown is really taking shape. Now if we could get the Kress building reused. Though that will be a tough one, a future developer could conceivably take a play out of this (MW) play book, but then you have windows and balconies hanging over the Fr8 Yard. No bueno. I hate to say it but Fr8 Yard will likely be the cause of that building not seeing a meaningful reno for a long time. Unless of course it goes commercial with sound proof glass on the East side. 

Hey Spartanburg Dude.  Good points and observations although the developer of "Project Catalyst" aka "The 100" is also putting apartments up against the Fr8Yard and that doesn't seem to bother him.  

Fingers crossed all this comes to fruition .  On the surface these are good looking projects!

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I get the desire to have the courtyard used by a restraunt. I lived in the Montgomery Building for two years and one of the biggest issues was the lack of outdoor space that wasnt open to the public. 142 Social has balconeys, the Silver Street apartments have balconys and a pool, Aug Smith has the outdoor area up top...Living in a site with no "private" outdoor space can be a bit hard on people who live there. 

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Post & Courier article with a summary of the plans and DRB meeting.  A few more details: the project is a $10 million investment, has 7000 SF of retail space, and developers hope to begin construction in late-2022.

@Spartanburg DudeI think a successful Kress renovation would need to include a redevelopment of the Fr8Yard site (probably by the same developer).  There are plenty of places downtown where the Fr8Yard could move.  IMO, the biggest obstacle is the Kress building owner, Security Finance, who seems to be a poor corporate citizen, both for sitting on Kress (owned since 1985) and for their underused and unattractive buildings further up East Main.

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6 hours ago, roads-scholar said:

Hey Spartanburg Dude.  Good points and observations although the developer of "Project Catalyst" aka "The 100" is also putting apartments up against the Fr8Yard and that doesn't seem to bother him.  

Fingers crossed all this comes to fruition .  On the surface these are good looking projects!

They'll be higher up and further away. But true, maybe some just don't care. Also, a question will be, which way (if there are any) will balconies face.  
Another issue I see with Kress, the wall that faces FY is actually part of the old building that used to be there, not Kress' wall. So I'm sure that the wall is owned by FY, and they may not want to have windows in it. 

3 hours ago, westsider28 said:

Post & Courier article with a summary of the plans and DRB meeting.  A few more details: the project is a $10 million investment, has 7000 SF of retail space, and developers hope to begin construction in late-2022.

@Spartanburg DudeI think a successful Kress renovation would need to include a redevelopment of the Fr8Yard site (probably by the same developer).  There are plenty of places downtown where the Fr8Yard could move.  IMO, the biggest obstacle is the Kress building owner, Security Finance, who seems to be a poor corporate citizen, both for sitting on Kress (owned since 1985) and for their underused and unattractive buildings further up East Main.

Good point about the owner. Sadly, if they just want to sit on it... then I guess they'll just sit on it. 

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I was at Fr8 Yard yesterday for the first time in a while, and I seriously wondered how the noise situation will work out with those new apartments/towers coming in. I guess it will be a "you know what you are getting into!" situation, because I don't see how you could create apartments that close to the action without having it all bleed through. I imagine it's a similar issue with the other apartments in the area. I'm wondering more about the ones that will be -directly- next to Fr8 Yard.

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This is a really phenomenal project. What a great way to use that space and FINALLY fill in that vacant parcel while preserving the facade!

I think if you live in the heart of downtown you have to know it isn't going to be the same as living in the country.

I'd love to know what the 1BR units will go for. Probably not cheap with a $10m investment.

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11 hours ago, Spartan said:

This is a really phenomenal project. What a great way to use that space and FINALLY fill in that vacant parcel while preserving the facade!

I think if you live in the heart of downtown you have to know it isn't going to be the same as living in the country.

I'd love to know what the 1BR units will go for. Probably not cheap with a $10m investment.

100% agree that living downtown is not the same as living in the country or even in a subdivision but feel that this development got it right with the private courtyard for residents

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On the brighter side, this project is recommended for final approval by city consultant Craig Lewis.  It's mostly the same, with an improvement to the basement / Broad Street level by removing the second driveway in exchange for a small retail space!  There are only 9 basement parking spaces now, using the existing garage opening in the MW building.  There will also be storage units for tenants in the basement.  This one looks good.  Can't wait for it to get underway!

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15 hours ago, westsider28 said:

On the brighter side, this project is recommended for final approval by city consultant Craig Lewis.  It's mostly the same, with an improvement to the basement / Broad Street level by removing the second driveway in exchange for a small retail space!  There are only 9 basement parking spaces now, using the existing garage opening in the MW building.  There will also be storage units for tenants in the basement.  This one looks good.  Can't wait for it to get underway!

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Learning how to fish here! Where are these renderings to be found? I checked the agenda for this September meeting at it is not part of the document. Are these packages to be found elsewhere?

 

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7 hours ago, Santi said:

Learning how to fish here! Where are these renderings to be found? I checked the agenda for this September meeting at it is not part of the document. Are these packages to be found elsewhere?

A member of city staff gave me access to the docs.  Honestly, they should make them available to the public via the City website (every other city does this) in the interest of transparency.

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