Greenville Skyline

[distortedlogic]

I didn't know if there was already a good thread for this so I just started a new one. I was looking at the new city pages from the UP home page last night. It has been awhile since I have been to Charlotte, but the skyline shot looked very good. I have heard it said that Gville is 20-30 years behind Charlotte, but somehow I don't think our skyline will look like that by 2036 (not at the current rate anyway)!

Columbia is another city that has a good skyline, but is much closer to our size. I would say (based on height and density and overall impression), that Columbia's is nearly twice what Greenville's skyline is, and Charlotte's is probably about twice that. (I am sure these are arguable, I'm not trying to be precise).

So the question is: How long will it be before Greenville has a skyline like Columbia's or like Charlotte's?

Columbia's I could see not too far off, especially if some or most of the ones proposed last year actually get built. But I am doubtful if it will get to what Charlotte's is now for at least several decades (unless new large

companies start to locate DT, or local developers finally discover the idea of affordable condos).

Here are my guesses: Columbia (currently) by 2025

Charlotte (currently) by 2060

What do ya'll think?

Edited April 20, 2006 by distortedlogic

[RestedTraveler]

I think Greenville's Skyline will look like Greenville's Skyline rather than Columbia's or Charlotte's. I hope it will anyway. I'd rather our beautiful city remain unique and not resemble any other.

OK...in all seriousness, I'll assume for the sake of argument that you're referring to the number of buildings (and their heights). So, I'd like to say to that, "let's not put the cart before the horse." We need to actually see one of the proposed towers come to fruition, first. It sounds as if that will be the Pinnacle on Main and the Camperdown is hopefully not far behind. The Tower at Falls & Broad is still a long way from happening and the other speculated towers (and the Federal Courthouse) are well into the future, I suspect. I somehow doubt our skyline will have the number of buildings.

Who knows? We may see a boom and see the downtown skyline take off and have as many buildings as Columbia by 2025; however, considering this is 2006, I doubt it will happen that soon.

[g-man430]

The federal courthouse might be closer to being built than you might think. I'm guessing if everything goes according to plan, construction of it should start in the summer of 2007. Remember, officials are coming next week to pick out the site, which is sure to be the gateway site. If a new federal courthouse was not to be built here anytime soon then there would be no reason for the federal officials to come here.

[g-man430]

If you notice from this old article back in 2003, we are in the 5 year plan for a new courthouse: http://www.uscourts.gov/ttb/feb02ttb/congress.html or here on page 8: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:6NJ6LD...us&ct=clnk&cd=1

Edited April 21, 2006 by g-man430

[krazeeboi]

It may not take as long as you guys think. As far as Columbia, I think the two latest towers, Meridian (17 stories) and the First Citizens tower (9 stories), kinda came out of nowhere, and that was within 2-3 years of each other. So you never know...

[RestedTraveler]

The federal courthouse might be closer to being built than you might think. I'm guessing if everything goes according to plan, construction of it should start in the summer of 2007. Remember, officials are coming next week to pick out the site, which is sure to be the gateway site. If a new federal courthouse was not to be built here anytime soon then there would be no reason for the federal officials to come here.

I thought they had already picked the Gateway site and were just going to be here to finalize it.

[mallguy]

Charlotte's skyline is due to Bank of America especially and Wachovia second; BofA leadership just decided to try to make Charlotte into a great city and put most all of its office space in the center city and worked hard to get other attractions in central Charlotte as well. Until Greenville gets corporate leadership that is focused on putting office space downtown (yes, this is a jab at South Financial), I don't see Greenville ever getting Charlotte's skyline. This isn't a slam at Greenville or a negative thing necessarily; it's just how I see it.

[distortedlogic]

Man it WOULD have been nice if SF HAD decided to go DT!!! I agree that gville will need some major corporate involvement for it's skyline to improve. But I would not say that it won't EVER reach Charlotte's level. Columbia doesn't have anymore major coporate involvement DT than we do and thier skyline is quite a bit better. I just think Gville will need to adjust it's thinking on some of these projects. For example, a few years ago the NBSC building was being built at the exact same time as the Bob Ellis building beside church st. These building have similar footprints. Why didn't the developers think to combine these building and just rent the space to the same tennants. This would have lowered overall construction cost, saved on space DT, and yielded a building that could have really contributed to the skyline. I don't have any figures, but there have been many four and five story buildings that have been built in and around DT over the past 10-15 years. Some 4-5 story building are fine, but I don't see any reason why many them could not be combined.

[whitehourseview]

I just want to see something, anything, go in the hole in the ground where Memorial Auditorium used to be. We sure were in a hurry to tear that down.

[distortedlogic]

AMEN to that! There have been what, 4 or 5 projects die there since 97'? I remember back in 2000 when a Greensboro company was supposed to build a 14 story building and there was some disappointment expressed because leaders envisioned something unique and incredible that would "put Greenville on the map." Now, 6 years later, all we have is a hole with a green wall and a terrible green tile building that looks like a bathroom floor from the 70's.

[mallguy]

Can we also keep in mind that part of what determines where growth goes is zoning, and city and county leaders certainly have a lot of means to funnel growth downtown: maximum sf sizes in the suburbs, tax incentives, use restrictions in suburbs, etc. I certainly think that it's better to have jobs, even if they are in office parks, if companies would not expand in Greenville if their only options were downtown sites. But surely local government leaders should at least be working more with companies and developers to do more with downtown.

[Greenville]

AMEN to that! There have been what, 4 or 5 projects die there since 97'? I remember back in 2000 when a Greensboro company was supposed to build a 14 story building and there was some disappointment expressed because leaders envisioned something unique and incredible that would "put Greenville on the map." Now, 6 years later, all we have is a hole with a green wall and a terrible green tile building that looks like a bathroom floor from the 70's.

That "green tile building that looks like a bathroom floor from the 70's" has to be the ugliest in downtown Greenville! I can't wait for that to go!

I am still hoping that the delay on the Gatway building will result in a more architecturally impressive and/or taller building. I just hope it's not a drab box.

[btoy]

I just want to see something, anything, go in the hole in the ground where Memorial Auditorium used to be. We sure were in a hurry to tear that down.

It had to be torn down to get the BiLo center. They people who built the Bilo center made it a requirement, they didn't want any competition.

[erm1981]

I think the camperdown should be going up soon. I am going to be working on it with my company and it looks pretty close. To me it looks like there are plenty of nice buildings that will add a lot to the skyline, and not that far off. I would say that the pinnacle, and the camperdown are the closest. There is supposedly a 12 story that will be at the riverplace location which we also built, but im not sure if that is still on the drawing boards. I really want to see the tower at falls and broad get built. Looks very interesting.

-Evan

Edited April 24, 2006 by erm1981

[charlie swords]

I thought the Tower at Falls & Broad got canned....or am i thinking of something else?

[RestedTraveler]

I'm sitting up on the deck at the Spinx 500 Club at West End Field and I'm looking at the Downtown Greenville Skyline. The view is ABSOLUELY WICKED AMAZING from here. If the new proposed hotel at the corner of Main and Broad were a 10-12 story tower, if the tower proposed for the opposite corner of Main and Broad were built, if the tower at Falls and Broad were built, if Phase III of RiverPlace were 8-10 floors or taller, when the Camperdown is built, and when Pinnacle on Main is built, this skyline is going to be awesome, even if it doesn't ever catch up to Charlotte or Columbia. You can just sit up here, take in the view like I'm doing and very easily imagine it.

[Spartan]

Though Greenville's skyline is hard to see from a distance, it does ahve some goreat views. The view from the hill on Academy St (coming from Easley Bridge Rd) is awesome, as is the view from the Academy St bridge.

Any one have any pics from that angle?

[Greenville]

I really like the view going into downtown on Church Street as well. That might be my favorite.

[RestedTraveler]

Though Greenville's skyline is hard to see from a distance, it does ahve some goreat views. The view from the hill on Academy St (coming from Easley Bridge Rd) is awesome, as is the view from the Academy St bridge.

Any one have any pics from that angle?

I don't have any that are any good, but I have a couple of the Academy Street view (from near the Kroc Center site).

[GvilleSC]

Hey yall, I got bored. SO, I through together a rough picture of where Greenville is headed... (?)

[goodbye]

Great vision! LOVE it!

[mallguy]

Hey yall, I got bored. SO, I through together a rough picture of where Greenville is headed... (?)

That's a good picture- we certainly could head there soon. There was an article in the Greenville News re: the amount of office space Greenville will need in the next decade or so: much more than what is currently downtown. As long as we keep working on making downtown a desirable place and perhaps change zoning laws and provide tax incentives to funnel growth downtown, there's absolutely no reason why we cannot have a skyline like that.

Edited April 26, 2006 by mallguy

[goodbye]

Speaking of Greenville's skyline: Did anyone else see the incredible shot from Air 7 on WSPA's Daybreak show this morning? My chin fell to the floor as the shot was the most perfect angle I've ever seen our skyline. Every highrise was in plain view and the morning sunlight showed the fresh beauty of our charming and upbeat downtown. Hopefully I will be able to obtain a copy of this shot to post. It was the only decent thing WSPA has done for Greenville in quite a while. They even missed out on Artisphere!

[RestedTraveler]

Hey yall, I got bored. SO, I through together a rough picture of where Greenville is headed... (?)

Hey! Where's Pinnacle on Main and the Camperdown?

[distortedlogic]

I think the best shot of DT that I have ever seen was in the Gville news several months ago, maybe around Novembere or so. It was an article about Greenville's air quality and the smog, so the picture was not clear. But, it showed EVERY building around DT i think, and made the skyline look like it had twice as many buildings as any other shot I had ever seen. I don't know how to find this picture, but if anyone runs across it, please post.

Great pic GvilleSC!

Mallguy, is there a link to this article about office space?