CONSTRUCTION THREAD: ONE Greenville (Main @ Washington)

[gman430]

[GvilleSC]

Hughes has bought the 15-story Bank of America tower, and the land at the corner of Washington and Richardson Streets. The News reports that he's considering another tower.   It's good to see things moving forward, and hopefully he'll be able to fill up the BoA tower (not sure what it's vacancy is?) and make some good upgrades to it... 

[gman430]

Like I said, keep your head down and your rear end up. In other words, don't get too excited yet.

Edited January 24, 2013 by gman430

[vicupstate]

From The Greenville News:

 

 

 

On less than two city blocks, a new center of gravity is beginning to take shape.

You could almost draw a straight line between the One towers, Bank of America Plaza and the now-empty Windstream building at the corner of North Main and Washington, which developer Bob Hughes has staked as the new hub of mixed-use activity for downtown Greenville.

On Thursday, Hughes said he and investors have purchased the Bank of America Plaza at 101 North Main with plans to upgrade the 15-story tower as well as possibly developing another high-rise on a parking lot at Washington and Richardson streets that came with the sale, though no decision has been made.
Hughes and his son, Robert Hughes III, also an executive in the family real estate development company, Hughes Development Corp, said they’re talking to potential tenants that were eyeing space at One until most of the available square footage was taken.

“Greenville’s in a good place,” Bob Hughes said. “There are a lot of really good people interested in Greenville, and there are a lot of people in Greenville who are interested in improving their location.”

That includes a group of designers, developers, entrepreneurs and web start-ups that plan to take over the basement of the Windstream at Two North Main, redesigning the space as a new hot spot for all things related to technology and design.

Tenants for the 30,000-square-feet space include OrangeCoat, a four-person web design firm now on Stone Avenue; Freeman & Major Architects, which is leaving its longtime home at 1 McDaniel Greene; and The Iron Yard, a small business with a start-up accelerator program housed at the Next Innovation Center and other programs.

Throw in the theatrical brewing methods of Coffee & Crema, and this stretch of downtown, those involved with the projects say, is fast becoming a corner of vibrant offices and retailers, with a below-ground place for people to dip their toes into tech.

Bank of America upgraded

Built in the early 1970s, Bank of America Plaza’s tenants today include CBRE/The Furman Co., Clear Channel Broadcasting, TIC Properties and Southern Management, as well as the bank itself.

Bob Hughes and a group of investors purchased the property for $9.8 million with a plan to integrate it with the One project that’s still under construction. Details of the bank tower’s upgrades aren’t yet clear, Hughes’ son said.

Selling Bank of America Plaza was John Boyd, founder and chief executive of TIC Properties, and other investors, who have given Hughes control of the property under a new partnership, according to Boyd.

Once construction of One is complete, Hughes’ son said his company will size up the downtown market, then weigh more development opportunities for the parking lot at Washington and Richardson streets and Two North Main, which telecommunications company Windstream Corp. had occupied until late last year.
Whatever ends up at Washington and Richardson will likely include ground-level shopping or restaurants across North Laurens Street, since that’s what is needed to “activate” the street and tie into the city’s long-term vision, Hughes’ son said.

“We’re considering a lot of things for that site right now,” he said. “There’s a lot of interest in that site from other developers.”

Hughes thinks of the Windstream building, which his company also owns, as the best site for downtown redevelopment, saying, “If a national company wanted to move here tomorrow, and they wanted us to build a building there, we’d do it.”

But for now, he’s simply looking for “short-term solutions” that would fill the building, and that solution comes in the form of the Iron Yard.

Tech meets art

The sprawling basement and former call center for Windstream will soon be transformed.

It’ll be a space that has movement and craftsmanship, with all of The Iron Yard’s programs under one roof as well as room for another program, Co-Work, to expand and take in more of Greenville’s top tech and design talent.

Co-Work’s existing location on West Washington Street, home to about 25 web-related designers and freelancers, will stay, and some of them are already working on the design of the new space.

“We’re filing it with the best people in Greenville who do this kind of work. That’s our goal,” said Matthew Smith, co-founder of The Iron Yard.

The Iron Yard has been working with Hughes to secure more tenants for the basement and possibly first floor, which will also be used to hold Greenville Grok, an annual peer-to-peer conference for the tech-minded, and the Indie Craft Parade, said Peter Barth, co-founder and managing director of The Iron Yard.

The Iron Yard will offer shared office space, and its operations there will likely be branded The Forge or The Forge at The Iron Yard, Barth said.

He said they plan to lease the entire basement of Two North Main and sublease space to other tenants, though The Iron Yard hasn’t yet signed a lease with Hughes.

About 1,000 square feet of space will be the new home of the Greenville Makers, a group of artists and developers who hope to start a workshop where people could come in off the street and learn how to use a 3D printer or spin a potter’s wheel.

“What we’re wanting is for groups of like-minded individuals to exchange knowledge and skills,” said the group’s founder, Chris Smith.

OrangeCoat co-founder Adam Gautsch said his company is moving to Two North Main because it wants to share a building with other technology companies.
His four employees are the only ones inside their current location on Stone Avenue, Gautsch said, and have “been looking at ourselves enough.”

“I think there’s going to be some smart people in general that are going to be moving down there and some creative people,” he said about Two North Main. “And it’s nice to run into somebody at the coffee pot who might have an interesting way of thinking about something that we haven’t thought about.”

Coffee & Crema will be one of the first tenants to move into the space by opening up a small coffee booth outside where a boarded-up ATM used to be.
“We’re going to serve coffee straight up on the street from there, and we’ll be making as many of the drinks that we can manage” said the coffee shop’s owner, Shannon Hudgens.

“The way the Iron Yard kind of looks at things is in a way similar (to us),” Hudgens said. “ It’s sort of an ideology that fills well, that we like, that we think we would look well with.”
 

[gman430]

[GvilleSC]

This is all looking rather sharp! I can't wait to see more progress on the Piazza. I noticed this past week how low the windows and doors are at Rare. Are the ceilings that low?

[mallguy]

I drove down N. Main to see the retail section of One.

Anthropologie seems almost completely invisible from the street- even for pedestrians.  I recognized (from the photos above) that the green paint in the distance from N. Main indicates where the store will be, but hopefully there will be more signs or something.

[gman430]

I drove down N. Main to see the retail section of One.

Anthropologie seems almost completely invisible from the street- even for pedestrians.  I recognized (from the photos above) that the green paint in the distance from N. Main indicates where the store will be, but hopefully there will be more signs or something.

The white boarded up area at the front right side of the building will be the main entrance for Anthropologie with signage included: http://www.greenvillesc.gov/PlanningZoning/PlanningApplications/Applications/2012/AUGUST/DesignReviewBoard/08-02-2012/CA-11-115a-1NorthMainStreet.pdf

[gman430]

Drawings of what Clemson's interior will look like can be found here: http://media.clemson.edu/facilities/pdf/Capital%20Projects/H12-9905-JM/drawings.pdf Construction upfit for their space starts in June.

[GvilleSC]

The glass is really making the south tower pop!

 

Walking along Washington Street, this development seems scaled very well. I don't think the Barley's/TrappeDoor/WildWings/LunaRosa/SushiMurasaki buildings feel dwarfed at all. Hopefully restaurants will occupy the ground floor of the south tower to compliment the outdoor seating and umbrellas across the street.

[gman430]

[MAJIKMAN]

Brooks Brothers hiring for a store manager. Says the store should be opening by fall of 2013.

[gman430]

Brooks Brothers hiring for a store manager. Says the store should be opening by fall of 2013.

Yep: http://www.hirebridge.com/jobseeker2/viewdetail.asp?joblistid=181246&cid=6166&logoh=1&source=Indeed.com

[GvilleSC]

Do we have any confirmation of which retail spot they're suppose to be taking?

[gman430]

Do we have any confirmation of which retail spot they're suppose to be taking?

Retail space 1B: http://www.onegreenville.com/retailers.php

[mallguy]

Wow, pretty amazing that downtown is getting a Brooks Brothers.

 

i will make an effort to buy as much as possible there.

 

Wondering how many other upscale mall chains will now come downtown.  I'd think that an Urban Outfitters (is that upscale?) would, give its shared ownership with Anthropologie.

[johnpro318]

Wow, pretty amazing that downtown is getting a Brooks Brothers.

 

i will make an effort to buy as much as possible there.

 

Wondering how many other upscale mall chains will now come downtown.  I'd think that an Urban Outfitters (is that upscale?) would, give its shared ownership with Anthropologie.

 

I wonder if Urban Outfitters will open a store near the west end since a store is opening in the Vista in Columbia this summer.

[gman430]

Squeeze that juice:

In addition, Hughes said he’s hoping to decide in a month or two whether to construct another building with retail space at the corner of Washington and Richardson streets next to One and Bank of America Plaza.

“I’ve made the decision,” Hughes said. “I’ve got to get somebody else to agree with it.”

[Gville2012]

Would love to see a restaurant/bar in the #5 spot. With the restaurants/bars across Washington and the potential for retail/restaurants/bars in the potential future phase across Laurens Greenville could actually have a nice little hub of nightlife right there.

 

That, or a nicer restaurant like we once heard rumors of (Something like SNOW - Slightly North of Washington, like SNOB in Charleston).

[ausrutherford]

Squeeze that juice:

In addition, Hughes said he’s hoping to decide in a month or two whether to construct another building with retail space at the corner of Washington and Richardson streets next to One and Bank of America Plaza.

“I’ve made the decision,” Hughes said. “I’ve got to get somebody else to agree with it.”

 

Seems like Phase 3 is heating up.

[GvilleSC]

Squeeze that juice:

In addition, Hughes said he’s hoping to decide in a month or two whether to construct another building with retail space at the corner of Washington and Richardson streets next to One and Bank of America Plaza.

“I’ve made the decision,” Hughes said. “I’ve got to get somebody else to agree with it.”

 

Hopefully they reach a comfort level with their vacancy rate/plans for the Bank of America tower, and they can move forward with eliminating one more parking lot downtown. I wonder if we'll see a hotel as a part of the plans, if they move forward?

[mallguy]

Downtown REALLY needs a better retail-oriented website to show off these new attractions.  It should be a mall-type one that lists stores and restaurants and has a map of everything.

 

I hunted around online and the city has a good overview site for downtown, but if I were a newcomer in town and were looking to spend an afternoon shopping, or if I were a retailer looking to put a store somewhere, based on it, I'd have no idea that upscale mall chains were downtown.

[RiverWalker]

Downtown REALLY needs a better retail-oriented website to show off these new attractions.  It should be a mall-type one that lists stores and restaurants and has a map of everything.

It's a shame that the Greenville Area Development Council, which itself is headquartered on Main Street downtown, hasn't added destination retail as a "Target Industry" on its web site www.greenvilleeconomicdevelopment.com

[gman430]

Anthropologie grand opening March 29th.

[GvilleSC]

Greenville Daily Photo shared this picture today:

 

 

I'm more than ready for the Piazza to be open again!