CONSTRUCTION THREAD: Magnolia Park Town Center

[vistatiger]

This development is a huge disappointment. Not one building matches the other- color, brick, architectural whatever. I thought the new restaurants going up in front would be the same style as what was going to built for the rest of the development. It looks like Cheddars just put up a normal prototype. At this point I wish they would just tear down the old Montgomery store and and maybe recruit Target to move across the street and construct a SuperTarget. Greenridge remains the best looking center in Greenville. Magnolia is just a sprawling mess. I wish our city and county leaders would go to Charlotte and check out some of the beautiful shopping developments and put some restrictions on developers such as brick, style. Greenville just lets one building be constructed after another with no regard to how it all ties together.

[101_ce]

This development is a huge disappointment. Not one building matches the other- color, brick, architectural whatever. I thought the new restaurants going up in front would be the same style as what was going to built for the rest of the development. It looks like Cheddars just put up a normal prototype. At this point I wish they would just tear down the old Montgomery store and and maybe recruit Target to move across the street and construct a SuperTarget. Greenridge remains the best looking center in Greenville. Magnolia is just a sprawling mess. I wish our city and county leaders would go to Charlotte and check out some of the beautiful shopping developments and put some restrictions on developers such as brick, style. Greenville just lets one building be constructed after another with no regard to how it all ties together.

Or Biltmore Park Town Square in Asheville. It has very solid anchors, and it matches completely. PF Chang's and the movie theatre don't match, but movie theaters aren't usually brick and they don't need to push the brick on PF Chang's since they were lucky to get it, but no one really notices. Greenridge is definitely the nicest looking in Greenville. I'm glad they let the big box stores have their own style and not brick, because if they put that much brick it would be a mess & it would look terrible.

[GVLbikeNboard]

Even taking a look at the shopping centers around Mt. Pleasant might help them out a little...MPTC is a mess for sure. I don't even think Greenridge is too appealing, but I'm kinda picky about these things so I try not to complain too much. If they could at least get some decent sized trees growing in all of the shopping centers (MP, Greenridge, Cherrydale, etc) it would do wonders...maybe...

[gman]

Or Biltmore Park Town Square in Asheville. It has very solid anchors, and it matches completely. PF Chang's and the movie theatre don't match, but movie theaters aren't usually brick and they don't need to push the brick on PF Chang's since they were lucky to get it, but no one really notices. Greenridge is definitely the nicest looking in Greenville. I'm glad they let the big box stores have their own style and not brick, because if they put that much brick it would be a mess & it would look terrible.

In my opinion Greenridge is a mess too. That development could have been one like the Towne Center in Mt. Pleasant or the new centers in N.E. Columbia or Myrtle Beach. All three are much more pedestrian friendly. The parking situation at Greenridge is awful and getting in and out of that place is a disaster.

[mallguy]

This development is a huge disappointment...Greenville just lets one building be constructed after another with no regard to how it all ties together.

I find Haywood/Woodruff/Laurens/Pleasantburg commercial sprawl generally to be an aesthetic mess, but I don't see it as specific to Greenville.

The SouthPark area in Charlotte as a whole is much more visually appealing, in part because perhaps it has more A-class office buildings rather than strip shopping centers, and the stores have higher-grade architecture, maybe?

Some uniform design guidelines could be good though.

Edited July 2, 2011 by mallguy

[vistatiger]

I thought they were going to renovate the outside of Hollywood 20 also to tie in. The Northlake area of Charlotte has some nice looking big box centers around the mall also. Northlake even has a lifestyle type center on one edge of it now. Crossland does alot of the development in Charlotte and they do a nice job just like they did with Greenridge. I think it would have helped though to rearrange the stores where a back entrance further down Garlington could have been put in. Traffic going to Bestbuy seems to be the biggest problem to me. I would eliminate that first left turn as you enter ( they do this at Christmas) where the traffic flows to the back and then seperates. I think of Greenridge more as a big box center rather than a outdoor lifestyle center with Department stores like Belk and Dillards and mall type stores.

[101_ce]

In my opinion Greenridge is a mess too. That development could have been one like the Towne Center in Mt. Pleasant or the new centers in N.E. Columbia or Myrtle Beach. All three are much more pedestrian friendly. The parking situation at Greenridge is awful and getting in and out of that place is a disaster.

I find Haywood/Woodruff/Laurens/Pleasantburg commercial sprawl generally to be an aesthetic mess, but I don't see it as specific to Greenville.

The SouthPark area in Charlotte as a whole is much more visually appealing, in part because perhaps it has more A-class office buildings rather than strip shopping centers, and the stores have higher-grade architecture, maybe?

Some uniform design guidelines could be good though.

Greenridge is a very nice looking center for mostly big box. Now it's definitely not as a attractive as a real lifestyle center definitely. One of the best ones is Colonial Pinnacle at Turkey Creek. It is pretty much a lifestyle center mixed in with a huge big box center. It's so large that I'd almost say the big box is around 2 times the size of Greenridge's, and the lifestyle center is around 3 to 4 times larger than Greenridge's. Knoxville as a whole is generally larger, more upscale, but most developments (besides Turkey Creek) are generally much worse than Greenville's. Greenville feels tiny compared to Knoxville from I-40, but Greenville really isn't much smaller and generally is more attractive. The West Town Mall seems to be in even better shape than Haywood, but is less attractive on the outside. I would say the quality of stores + the overall look of the interior is around 80% Haywood 20% SouthPark.

[GvilleSC]

If only Greenridge had a residential component above the village area, we'd have had the best of what was originally planned for Magnolia Park and an attractive, planned, and built development.

[mallguy]

Greenridge is a very nice looking center for mostly big box.

I agree. I like going to it.

I find Haywood/Woodruff/Pleasantburg/Laurens Roads to be a mess because (1) the buildings don't match at all, (2) there are unmatched signs, wires, etc. all over the place and (3) those areas are not laid out efficiently.

Before large-scale development took place there, the streets should have been put on a grid system, and buildings should have been laid out that you could park in one place and walk from building to building (which would also make those areas more accessible to public transportation). There should have also been basic design requirements- such as big, tall signs being limited; electrical wires being put underground; etc.

[GvilleSC]

I find Haywood/Woodruff/Pleasantburg/Laurens Roads to be a mess because (1) the buildings don't match at all, (2) there are unmatched signs, wires, etc. all over the place and (3) those areas are not laid out efficiently.

Before large-scale development took place there, the streets should have been put on a grid system, and buildings should have been laid out that you could park in one place and walk from building to building (which would also make those areas more accessible to public transportation). There should have also been basic design requirements- such as big, tall signs being limited; electrical wires being put underground; etc.

Well that's easy to say now. But, this is where things like the Haywood Rd masterplan should come in handy and help create a better corridor/area when it's redefined.

[mallguy]

Well that's easy to say now. But, this is where things like the Haywood Rd masterplan should come in handy and help create a better corridor/area when it's redefined.

Agreed. We should have learned from Pleasantburg/Haywood and zoned Woodruff Road better before it was built up., too, and should zone the next Woodruff Road better before it's built, wherever it will be.

[GVLbikeNboard]

Another place that comes to mind is Atlantic Station in Atlanta. It's right at I-75/85 and 17th St NW. Nice shopping center with all kinds of stores, restaurants, and condos on top and around it. Ikea is close by too.

[101_ce]

Another place that comes to mind is Atlantic Station in Atlanta. It's right at I-75/85 and 17th St NW. Nice shopping center with all kinds of stores, restaurants, and condos on top and around it. Ikea is close by too.

It is very nice! I think that they're not doing well for selling their apartments, condos, etc. Ikea and Target are actually apart of the development.

[johnpro318]

I agree. I like going to it.

I find Haywood/Woodruff/Pleasantburg/Laurens Roads to be a mess because (1) the buildings don't match at all, (2) there are unmatched signs, wires, etc. all over the place and (3) those areas are not laid out efficiently.

Before large-scale development took place there, the streets should have been put on a grid system, and buildings should have been laid out that you could park in one place and walk from building to building (which would also make those areas more accessible to public transportation). There should have also been basic design requirements- such as big, tall signs being limited; electrical wires being put underground; etc.

I definitely agree with that statement. It seems that most cities consist of a nice or at least improving downtown with nicely laid out streets and utilities, then a ring of crappy suburbs (before planning when everyone threw up their own building willy nilly), and finally the new suburbs that have stricter zoning or at least a more cohesive look with more buried power lines and nicer landscaping and signs.

[GSP Tiger]

Just received this interesting news from a source. We'll see if it's right or not:

Sports Authority is closing its Magnolia Park location in August. Emloyees will be transferred to its Laurens Road location. Negotiations with Superplay USA, an indoor game center that was to occupy Montgomery Ward, permanently ceased a long time ago. Bass Pro Shops and Menin Development are finalizing a deal to occupy the entire Montgomery Ward/Sports Authority structure. The structure's size, over 200,000 square feet, is typical for a Bass Pro store. The deal, to be completed in the fall, would allow construction to begin in early 2012 with a November 2012 opening.

Anywhere Bass Pro Shops opens a store, it brings in a following. It has been looking at sites in the Greenville area for years. It is great to see Bass Pro Shops still has interest in Magnolia Park. A recent issue of The Greenville Journal reported the company is actively checking sites.

Bass Pro Shops locating in the Montgomery Ward/Sports Authority structure will take awhile. Sports Authority will need to construct a new structure closer to Costco as rumored or relocate elsewhere sooner to make room if Bass Pro Shops confirms its new store at the site. It trails in competition to Dick's Sporting Goods and Academy Sports and Outdoors.

[Galley]

Will they re-use the existing Montgomery Ward structure?

[Galley]

Will Bass Pro Shops re-use the existing Montgomery Ward structure?

[GSP Tiger]

Bass Pro Shops has refurbished vacant anchor spaces for their locations. Examples include Myrtle Beach's Colonial Mall and Savannah, Georgia's Savannah Mall. The same can be done in Greenville.

[vistatiger]

I think the newer two story structure will come down. The way the new road comes so close to the building and looks like it will eventually go straight through based on the curbing. They may use the old Montgomery Ward structure in the back that now houses Sports Authority however that was originally built in the late 70's so that is getting some age. Maybe it will be a new structure. I don't think we will see a 200,000 sq ft BPS. I think it may be more the size of the one in the Old Kmart in Mrytle Beach Mall especially with one possibly coming to Biltmore Square also. I have always thought that that old Harris Teeter (then Bi-LO) at Roper Mountain Road and 385 would make a good sports store or Ingles. Thats a sharp looking buiding and I hate to see it vacant.

[GSP Tiger]

vistatiger, if any part of the Montgomery Ward structure isto be demolished for Bass Pro Shop, it should be Sports Authority. That is the last remaining part of the original Greenville mall, and it shows its age. Most Bass Pro Shops are two levels, so going vertical gives a location more square footage.

The recent roadwork around the Montgomery Ward/Sports Authority structure is to create space to accomodate Bass Pro Shop according to credible contacts associated with the construction.

[Birdbrain]

I have always thought that that old Harris Teeter (then Bi-LO) at Roper Mountain Road and 385 would make a good sports store or Ingles. Thats a sharp looking buiding and I hate to see it vacant.

Agreed - I'm always surprised when something fails in that building. (It was a church, too!) It seems like a great location, if not slightly difficult to get to from that Roper Mtn / I-385 jumble.

I wonder if it's big enough property for an IKEA? (Baseless rumor started. I just love getting reactions...)

[Galley]

IKEA stores are around 400,000 sq. ft.

[GSP Tiger]

I have always thought that that old Harris Teeter (then Bi-LO) at Roper Mountain Road and 385 would make a good sports store or Ingles. Thats a sharp looking buiding and I hate to see it vacant.

Agreed - I'm always surprised when something fails in that building. (It was a church, too!) It seems like a great location, if not slightly difficult to get to from that Roper Mtn / I-385 jumble.

The former Bi-Lo on Roper Mountain Road is a great location for a supermarket or a sporting goods store (i.e. Sports Authority). There are not any other supermarkets for 2.5 to 3 miles. Access to the site needs improvement.

I wonder if Ingle's plans to add a few more stores on Greenville's east side. Rumors of a focus on additional locations have circulated for months after Robert P. Ingle passed away four months ago.

I wonder if it's big enough property for an IKEA? (Baseless rumor started. I just love getting reactions...)

IKEA stores are around 400,000 sq. ft.

Ikea would not fit at Magnolia Park or the former Bi-Lo on Roper Mountain Road. I do not think upstate South Carolina is ready for one for a decade.

Edited July 12, 2011 by GSP Tiger

[gman430]

Construction bids for retail building between Cheddar's and McDonald's with six tenant spaces goes out August 15th. Subject to change of course. Also, The Preston Partnership has been put in charge of master planning for Magnolia Park. Here is their website:

[greenvilleguy]

According to this website www.plans-online.com/project_detail.php?proj=5611 the new tenants will be :

Big Al's

Everest

Zucca

RioCoffee

Big Dog

Klapprott

Hopefully this is just an artist rendering with example stores and not the actual stores, otherwise I am COMPLETELY DISAPPOINTED!