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Historic Intown Neighborhoods


Spartan

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The initial 6 new homes in Carrington are complete, and several families have moved in.  One more home is nearing completion, and 2 more have started.  Seems like there's finally real momentum here.  Will be nice to see it continue to fill out.

New home foundation on the right:

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New home foundation in the center distance:

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There's a rezoning request for 3 parcels at the corner of East Main and N Fairview happening at the March 19 Planning Commission meeting.  The developer wants to go from LOD to R-6: PDD (planned development district) to put a condo development there.  The developer is The Croft Company from Greenville.  They have developed 121 Rhett, 400 N. Main, and the Fieldhouse condos in downtown Greenville, so they seem to do good work.  Hope we get something similar (though likely smaller) here.  We have a lack of condos, so this should fill a good niche.  However, it will be a shame to lose those 3 old Victorian houses (though 2 are in bad shape).

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Examples of Croft Co. developments in GVL:

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Well, the word "condo" clearly gave me an incorrect impression of this project.  It's actually a "pocket neighborhood" of 9 single-family homes (see site plan below).  Anyway, still pretty solid density on ~1.1 acres.  The developer, Tom Croft, said likely 2500-3200 sq ft and $600-900k per home.  Clearly a high-end product.  It's most similar to his McBee Park development in Greenville (satellite, streetview).

Planning Commission approved the rezoning to LOD-PDD, and now City Council must vote (twice) to approve it.

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Looks like Phase 2 is beginning at the Townes at Converse.  This is directly behind the row of townhomes fronting Avant Street and will be accessed by an alley.  The original site plan is below as a reminder.  However, GIS reveals that they have also purchased those few holdout properties along Oakwood, so they now have a fully contiguous site (they can probably get ~18 more units in addition to the 66 originally planned).

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Saw on the Heather Homes Instagram (she has renovated several historic homes in the neighborhood) that Duke Energy is planning to bury (potentially all of) the power lines in Hampton Heights!  This will require some large electrical boxes to be installed in several places around the neighborhood, but burial should prevent many of the frequent power outages (especially lately) due to trees/limbs falling on lines.  IMO, it will also generally make the neighborhood look nicer without all those wires and without Duke needing to hack up so many trees.  Hope this indeed happens in full!

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4 hours ago, Spartan said:

Wow who convinced them to do that? It seems atypically generous of Duke.

I think it's actually Duke initiated (believe it or not) due to all the recent tornado / storm damage.  They did announce a targeted undergrounding program relatively recently for outage-prone areas, so this is probably part of that.

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13 hours ago, westsider28 said:

I think it's actually Duke initiated (believe it or not) due to all the recent tornado / storm damage.  They did announce a targeted undergrounding program relatively recently for outage-prone areas, so this is probably part of that.

Great! Maybe they can do the same for Woodland Heights. We typically lose power 2-3 times per year due to downed trees.

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On 6/15/2020 at 9:01 PM, westsider28 said:

Looks like Phase 2 is beginning at the Townes at Converse.  This is directly behind the row of townhomes fronting Avant Street and will be accessed by an alley.  The original site plan is below as a reminder.  However, GIS reveals that they have also purchased those few holdout properties along Oakwood, so they now have a fully contiguous site (they can probably get ~18 more units in addition to the 66 originally planned).

Phase 2 of the Townes at Converse is now well underway.  Though it's somewhat suburban in form, this project is very solid density for the area.

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The city (and county for that matter) seems to be on an endless tear regarding new housing. Seemingly every spec of available land is being used for new housing. I think that's great but I also think we need to maintain what we have and I don't see any evidence of the city doing that at all.

If you look at any of the major in town neighborhoods (Converse Heights, Hampton Heights, Duncan Park, Fernwood, Hillbrook, Beaumont, Drayton, Woodland Heights, etc.), I never see any signs of maintenance anywhere other than Duke Power independent contractors cutting limbs away from power lines. The sidewalks in neighborhoods lucky enough to have them are crumbling, the storm drains are crumbling, and the roads, well I could talk about that all day. I see no sign whatsoever that the city is even interested in repaving roads in the city anymore. Driving through the city these days is an exercise in avoiding pot holes or man holes covers that have dropped. Its pretty frustrating and not a good look at all.

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I agree that sidewalk maintenance and even clearing of brush and tree limbs is severely lacking.  I've had some success reporting problem areas on the Hey Spartanburg app (or here: https://www.cityofspartanburg.org/heyspartanburg).  But that needs to improve.  I can see sidewalk repair being a funding issue, but clearance is just a time/personnel management situation that must improve.  Definitely contact your Council member about that.  And I also think you should mention that on the comprehensive plan website to be sure that maintenance is prioritized going forward.

On the roads issue, I feel your pain there too, but at least it's being addressed (though it takes time).  Here is a map I made of the City's 2020 Repaving list.  I know for a fact that Crescent and Old Glendale have just been done.  Similar amounts are done each year (2019, 2018, 2017, etc), and you can see the lists in meeting agendas in the late summer.  SCDOT is responsible for most of the roads in the poorest conditions (like Union Street, yikes).  However, they did just repave Pine Street, so that's something.

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Townhomes are planned on the site of an old medical office at 153 Oakwood Ave (corner of Oakwood and Garrett).  The developers asked for a rezoning from GID to R-6/PDD at tonight's Planning Commission meeting.  I missed the end, so I don't know if the rezoning was approved (they usually are).  Anyway, this would be 21 units, 3-stories, 1300-1900 sq ft, 2- and 3-BR, and mostly rear-loaded garages.  It's not yet determined whether they'll be rental or for-sale.  Hope these move forward!

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On 1/21/2021 at 7:44 PM, westsider28 said:

Townhomes are planned on the site of an old medical office at 153 Oakwood Ave (corner of Oakwood and Garrett).  The developers asked for a rezoning from GID to R-6/PDD at tonight's Planning Commission meeting.  I missed the end, so I don't know if the rezoning was approved (they usually are).  Anyway, this would be 21 units, 3-stories, 1300-1900 sq ft, 2- and 3-BR, and mostly rear-loaded garages.  It's not yet determined whether they'll be rental or for-sale.  Hope these move forward!

It was approved, and goes to City Council in February.  

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On 4/24/2020 at 8:52 PM, westsider28 said:

Well, the word "condo" clearly gave me an incorrect impression of this project.  It's actually a "pocket neighborhood" of 9 single-family homes (see site plan below).  Anyway, still pretty solid density on ~1.1 acres.  The developer, Tom Croft, said likely 2500-3200 sq ft and $600-900k per home.  Clearly a high-end product.  It's most similar to his McBee Park development in Greenville (satellite, streetview).

Planning Commission approved the rezoning to LOD-PDD, and now City Council must vote (twice) to approve it.

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Greetings, everyone! I'm Santi - a new member.

Does anyone know if this project has been scrapped? It's been about a year since the rezoning was approved, and there hasn't been any visible movement. It'd be a major upgrade to North Converse Heights if this project were to finally happen!

It's a shame though that the trail that was proposed to go behind Converse College along the Chiquapin Creek up to Pine Street was changed to end up in Adam's park of Beaumont Village instead. It would have been an awesome feauture for the neighborhood. Though perhaps it will help spark some renovations within the Village, which would be good for the area overall as well.

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3 hours ago, Santi said:

Greetings, everyone! I'm Santi - a new member.

Does anyone know if this project has been scrapped? It's been about a year since the rezoning has been approved, and there hasn't been any visible motion. It'd be a major upgrade to North Converse Heights if this project were to finally happen!

It's a shame though that the trail that was proposed to go behind Converse College along the Chiquapin Creek up to Pine Street was changed to end up in Adam's park of Beaumont Village instead. It would have been an awesome feauture for the neighborhood. Though perhaps it will help spark some renovations within the Village, which would be good for the area overall as well.

Welcome to the forum!

The Fairview on Main project had its site and landscape plan approved in December (see Planning Commission agenda here).  Like many things, it has probably been delayed by Covid.  And total speculation here, but the high prices planned may have made it challenging to get financing if lenders don't believe there's a market here (I think there is, personally).

As for the trail, I recall a very nebulous plan for it many years ago, and there's always a chance it happens in the future. But trail plans are constantly changing and often take advantage of collaborative opportunities (Drayton Mill redev and Spartanburg Water project in the case of the Drayton Trail and bridge to Beaumont), and there are a number of challenges with the creek corridor behind Converse, mainly crossing the RR tracks near the cemetery.

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2 hours ago, westsider28 said:

Welcome to the forum!

The Fairview on Main project had its site and landscape plan approved in December (see Planning Commission agenda here).  Like many things, it has probably been delayed by Covid.  And total speculation here, but the high prices planned may have made it challenging to get financing if lenders don't believe there's a market here (I think there is, personally).

As for the trail, I recall a very nebulous plan for it many years ago, and there's always a chance it happens in the future. But trail plans are constantly changing and often take advantage of collaborative opportunities (Drayton Mill redev and Spartanburg Water project in the case of the Drayton Trail and bridge to Beaumont), and there are a number of challenges with the creek corridor behind Converse, mainly crossing the RR tracks near the cemetery.

Thanks for the welcome, westsider, and for the info! Glad that the project is still on the table. And it's true - the trail could still happen. When I inquired about the decision to have it end on Adam's Patk instead, I believe that the bridge on Fairview also proved to be a challenge. Still hoping though! Maybe a nice Converse College alumnus will come along and through a bunch of money that way. And maybe I'll win the lottery on that same day also... That reminds me, thank God daydreaming is free, or I'd be broke! :P

I also drove by the townhomes in the neighborhood. Looks like they are getting ready to pave the new street. Can't wait! :D

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Good to see the alley about to go in.  It's taken a while, but I know they had to do a lot of drainage/pipe work.

Another cool thing is that City Council recently approved special street signs for our local historic districts of Hampton Heights and Beaumont.  This is a great idea.  I've seen similar signs in many different cities to distinguish historic areas.

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