The Rumor Mill

[goodbye]

WOW! V. 70-8, you just dropped an atomic bomb on this forum.

If this turns out to be the location (there is no contrary indication), look out for the Powdersville-Wren-Piedmont area to develop like wildfire in a windstorm. If anyone is a real estate investor, now would be a great opportunity to lay down the dough in and around that area. I can't imagine how rapid the price will increase once the annoncement goes public.

I would like to see Piedmont completely redeveloped into a charming village on the river, with lots of shops, restaurants, galleries, and parks to add to its appeal. It has always held great potential, but very little has happened there.

I stopped by the Powdersville Ingle's supermarket the other day and noticed several very nice T-shirts (some embroidered) with "Powdersville, South Carolina" written on them and very attractively designed. It took me by surprise since the "town" is not yet incorporated, even though there are signs welcoming travelers to the immediate Powdersville area.

As for Project Skyline, did anyone remember that it includes a major mixed-use project somewhere as well?

Very cool stuff!

[gs3]

WOW! V. 70-8, you just dropped an atomic bomb on this forum.

You turned me out, then you turned me on

You dropped a bomb on me.......

Gap Band.

[RestedTraveler]

And in other news...

South Carolina is still in the running for the Rolls Royce Plant.

[gs3]

^ Excellent news, but the Greenville News cracks me up. The Rolls Royce plant we are in the running for is a jet engine plant, and they show a photo of a Rolls Royce luxury car beside the article.

[RestedTraveler]

^ Excellent news, but the Greenville News cracks me up. The Rolls Royce plant we are in the running for is a jet engine plant, and they show a photo of a Rolls Royce luxury car beside the article.

Hey ... it's an honest mistake.

[interestedexpat]

Not only is SC still in the running for the Rolls Royce plant, but it was rumored that the location they were looking at is Clemson's Simpson Research facility (Anderson County near Pendleton). It's off Exit 21. That IS the location BMW originally looked at in Anderson before going to Greer.

Can you imagine the growth that will occur between Anderson and Greenville if BOTH Audi and Rolls Royce come to town??!!

[GvilleSC]

If the upstate landed both Audi/VW and Rolls, our region would pull away from the rest of the state extremely fast. It's great that such things as Acadia are already being developed in the area. Hopefully we'll see more such developments to accommodate the growth.

[distortedlogic]

It would indeed be something! Not trying to stifle excitment here, but we might want to ease back just a bit. We might be setting ourselves up for quite the disappointment as these are, after all, rumors.

[Version70-8]

WOW! V. 70-8, you just dropped an atomic bomb on this forum.

If this turns out to be the location (there is no contrary indication), look out for the Powdersville-Wren-Piedmont area to develop like wildfire in a windstorm. If anyone is a real estate investor, now would be a great opportunity to lay down the dough in and around that area. I can't imagine how rapid the price will increase once the annoncement goes public.

I would like to see Piedmont completely redeveloped into a charming village on the river, with lots of shops, restaurants, galleries, and parks to add to its appeal. It has always held great potential, but very little has happened there.

I stopped by the Powdersville Ingle's supermarket the other day and noticed several very nice T-shirts (some embroidered) with "Powdersville, South Carolina" written on them and very attractively designed. It took me by surprise since the "town" is not yet incorporated, even though there are signs welcoming travelers to the immediate Powdersville area.

As for Project Skyline, did anyone remember that it includes a major mixed-use project somewhere as well?

Very cool stuff!

LIGHTBULB going off in my head suddenly after reading your comment! I work in the real estate industry and a colleague of mine who has been in the business for over 30 years and has a gazillion contacts told me about a month or so ago that there would be a late summer/early fall announcement in the area about a major project coming to the area. She was basically saying that anyone looking to purchase large tracts of land around the actual site where the project was going should do so immediately when the announcement is officially made because she forsees a similar situation occurring as happened with BMW's announcement that they were coming. Some of her contacts back during the BMW days scooped up anything that they could find around the site and sure enough, not too long down the road BMW and the state came through and offered to buy the same area of land at an obviously higher price. She said some of her contacts declined the initial few offers because they knew that the offer price would continue to climb and eventually they would sell thus making their huge profits. She even said that one contact of hers (supposedly?) made a $100,000 PROFIT on his sell! Very smart, very smart.

SO...with what you wrote in your comment, I am starting to think that Audi/Volkswagen may have been the project she was talking about. My sources tell me that an October announcement is most likely, which would fall into the timeline my colleague offered, and since she specifically mentioned the BMW situation, that would seemingly link it to a possibly similar Audi/Volkswagen situation...right? Hmmm?

Oh yeah, one more thing. My source who provided the confirmation info also told me that it is sounding like Rolls-Royce will be coming to the area, but he didn't have any official information on the issue, just grumblings between his circle of contacts. But, who knows?

[krazeeboi]

If the upstate landed both Audi/VW and Rolls, our region would pull away from the rest of the state extremely fast.

In a sense, it already has, but I see what you're getting at.

Even with just an Audi/VW plant coming to Anderson County, I would expect the Upstate to become a bit more balanced as a region, as such a development would undoubtedly have positive effects for the city of Anderson. I could then see Anderson inching much closer to regional prominence on the level of Spartanburg.

[gs3]

Audi/VW will be great for Anderson County, but not sure how much impact it will have on the city, probably some. The project however isn't close to the city of Anderson. The site is in the Greenville burbs, only about 4 miles from the 185/85 interchange and only a short 10 miles from Main and Broad per mapquest. The major areas that will see growth are the suburban areas of Powdersville and areas around the Southern Connector. This seems to be another another BMW type set-up, where BMW had much more impact on Greenville (city) than Spartanburg (city). Both factories, BMW and possible Audi/VW are basically on the county lines, in suburban Greenville areas. And if the corporate headquarters moves to ICAR.......wow!

If this project indeed comes to fruition, it will benefit the entire Upstate.

[krazeeboi]

Yeah, I was thinking that the location was similar to that of the BMW plant in Spartanburg County. Maybe the city of Anderson could capitalize on the overall growth that the county would undoubtedly experience in some way.

Even if the corporate HQ's don't move to ICAR (although I'm sure no one would complain if it did), I suspect that ICAR was a significant factor in the decision to have a facility in the Upstate.

[erm1981]

I live about a mile from where he is talking about this thing going. I imagine it would make my property value go way up if i hold on a little longer. I am very familiar with the piedmont area so which side of I-85 are they talking about it going on?

[RestedTraveler]

I live about a mile from where he is talking about this thing going. I imagine it would make my property value go way up if i hold on a little longer. I am very familiar with the piedmont area so which side of I-85 are they talking about it going on?

I *believe* it's the south side of I-85 between Elrod Road, Blossom Branch Road, and Highway 86.

[goodbye]

My guess would be the north side, but that is just a guess. I know that one family owns much of the land on that side, so it would be easier to acquire the property needed. Either side would make sense, as long as the plant has Interstate visibility. How much they (or the state) would be willing to purchase for the site is anyone's guess.

[gs3]

Coming back from the lake last evening, I took this exit and looked around a little. Just guessing, I'd say the north side as it seemed much less developed. Excellent interstate frontage.

[breed]

Not that I know anything... but there was 730 acres of property purchased just off the I-85 & Highway 81 intersection in February.

[gs3]

^ Any idea the name of the entity/company purchasing on the transaction?

[RestedTraveler]

Not that I know anything... but there was 730 acres of property purchased just off the I-85 & Highway 81 intersection in February.

Highway 81, and not 86?

[goodbye]

That would really impact that intersection as well. With Brookstone, Bosch, and Carolina Auto Aution all right there (among other things), a good deal of infrustruture work would likely need to be done to ensure much more traffic is handled properly. The auto auction alone creates a ridiculous amount of traffic.

Between the two locations, I would prefer the potential Highway 86 site, but either place would be nice to have this plant in the Upstate.

[interestedexpat]

700 Acres at Hwy 81? Wow. Don't forget Walgreens is also at that exit. If this were Audi (and I'm actually hoping it's not related and will produce a third possible major announcement for Anderson in the coming year - Audi, Rollls and ??). Whatever it is will tie much more closely to Anderson city than a development on 86. I think something big on 86 will have some impact, but agree with the posters who speculate it will really be thought of more as G'ville. A hwy 81 development will be all Anderson.

The Anderson housing market is moving out that way on 81. It wouldn't be out of the question to have someone purchase that kind of property for a major residential development. Just thinking out loud. There is a lot of debate in Anderson right now about how folks want to see the 81 corridor develop. There is great dissatisfaction about how Clemson Blvd has turned out. It's hard for me to tell whether the reactions are genuine calls for smarter growth or just nimby folks who don't really want change.

IMHO change is coming fast so better plan for it and make it positive. There's a lot of dirt being moved between downtown Anderson and the 81 / 85 interchange.

[gs3]

The Anderson housing market is moving out that way on 81. It wouldn't be out of the question to have someone purchase that kind of property for a major residential development. Just thinking out loud. There is a lot of debate in Anderson right now about how folks want to see the 81 corridor develop. There is great dissatisfaction about how Clemson Blvd has turned out. It's hard for me to tell whether the reactions are genuine calls for smarter growth or just nimby folks who don't really want change.

IMHO change is coming fast so better plan for it and make it positive. There's a lot of dirt being moved between downtown Anderson and the 81 / 85 interchange.

The whole Highway81 development would be a great Anderson thread. I think this highway has some great potential to be developed correctly and not be another Clemson Blvd. or Woodruff Road. I've been spending my weekends at the lake this summer and stop every Friday evening at the new Bloom on 81 for provisions. A good deal of quality development going up, but with the rapid growth, I'm also starting to notice a few mom and pop types places spring up. Would be great to see Anderson County take the lead and have strict development controls on this area.

[breed]

^ Any idea the name of the entity/company purchasing on the transaction?

It's listed as being purchased by Alice Andreotolla, in Williamston. The fact that it is listed as a single owner and not some sort of entity makes me think that it might not be related, but you never know.

[gs3]

^ Thanks.

Question for you real estate guys. If a large company wants to remain anonymous for a while, but needs to acquire land, how do they go about this? A shell corporation?

[RestedTraveler]

^ Thanks.

Question for you real estate guys. If a large company wants to remain anonymous for a while, but needs to acquire land, how do they go about this? A shell corporation?

Or MULTIPLE different ones, such as what Disney did when acquiring the land for Walt Disney World back in the 60's.