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CONSTRUCTION THREAD: TD Bank Regional Headquarters Campus


g-man430

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I find it interesting how a "headquarters" in Poinsett Plaza (which I was only vaguely familiar with) can all of a sudden warrant a huge complex on I-85 with 600 jobs and tons of investment. It has been a lesson for me in realizing that a lot of things happen in Greenville that you just don't know about.

South Financial has been one of the best performing financial institutions around. Quarter after quarter, their earnings have been well above average. Reading up on their quarterly reports and seeing their growth, I've wondered why they didn't have a larger headquarters already.

There are actually quite a few companies in Greenville poised for great futures. One way to sort of track it, is to look in the GV News stock pages......they have a section of public companies with interest to Greenville.

Between the amount of public and private companies growing at a rapid clip, I think Greenville has a bright future. Homebased companies like Scan Source, Stevens Aviation, etc, etc will really push Greenville's growth in the years to come.

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ScanSource has been off the charts in recent years! A friend of mine retired from there a couple years ago and said that it was like fighting a wildfire everyday, business was so intense. This company has been ranked high into the Platinum 400 category.

The latest rumor reported by WYFF is that South Financial Group will choose Greenville if the State Legislature passes the bill allowing special tax incentives for the company. They showed additional renderings from different angles and man is this center ever going to be a sight! :D

edit: wellen beat me to the punch! ^_^

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I didn't mean to steal your thunder. :)

I certainly do hope that our fine representatives in Columbia will see the value in having SFG remain and grow here. The news reports have each said that the state tax incentives had previously off limits, but never explained what that meant. Any ideas?

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I lived in G'ville when Haywood and Laurens Roads were developed, sucking the final retail life out of downtown along with a good chunk of downtown office space. The Verdae/ICAR/Woodruff Road developments remind me of Haywood and Laurens Roads 25 years ago. I recall the glowing press that the Fluor Daniel campus got, along with Laurens Road ("wow, a big new Wal-Mart!"). Now Laurens Road is, frankly, crap, and Haywood is pretty unattractive as well, as further growth has moved out.

I really am bummed that at least all of this new office space isn't going downtown. If New South built 350,000sf of space downtown plus if Ruth's Chris came downtown in the same development, Greenville would have a true Class A building downtown of the same size and with the same steakhouse in the bottom as the IJL Building in Charlotte. But now we're just getting more of the same suburban sprawl (yes, I'm aware that it might be nice-looking-- but it's still an office park and sprawl) like University City in Charlotte.

City leaders, where are you on this?

An even better city center is possible if we just focus growth towards downtown.

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This is exciting finding out the location, the company, and all, but I'm REALLY dissapointed that this won't be a tower... It looks like a great rendering in the paper, but the buildings are what? 4 stories? Yea, so is Hubbel, but this would've been a GREAT opportunity. Fluor is a big waste of space and I have a feeling that this could be better. Oh well, right?! GO GREENVILLE! COME ON SOUTH FINANCIAL!

I realize I'm a little late on the uptake here, but you guys post fast......

The key difference is that Hubell moved from Spartanburg, and its not as large a company :)

It does seem like we are turning into Raleigh: an important business center that is much bigger than it feels (due to sprawl), with a skyline that does not do justice to what the city has to offer. Hopefully it will improve in the future.

I have never thought of it that way, but you're right. That is an excellent comparison.

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ScanSource has been off the charts in recent years! A friend of mine retired from there a couple years ago and said that it was like fighting a wildfire everyday, business was so intense. This company has been ranked high into the Platinum 400 category.

The latest rumor reported by WYFF is that South Financial Group will choose Greenville if the State Legislature passes the bill allowing special tax incentives for the company. They showed additional renderings from different angles and man is this center ever going to be a sight! :D

edit: wellen beat me to the punch! ^_^

WYFF also reported that the announcement on Friday from the Poinsett Building will include government officials. Government officials would not be present if Greenville were not the chosen city.

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I lived in G'ville when Haywood and Laurens Roads were developed, sucking the final retail life out of downtown along with a good chunk of downtown office space. The Verdae/ICAR/Woodruff Road developments remind me of Haywood and Laurens Roads 25 years ago. I recall the glowing press that the Fluor Daniel campus got, along with Laurens Road ("wow, a big new Wal-Mart!"). Now Laurens Road is, frankly, crap, and Haywood is pretty unattractive as well, as further growth has moved out.

I really am bummed that at least all of this new office space isn't going downtown. If New South built 350,000sf of space downtown plus if Ruth's Chris came downtown in the same development, Greenville would have a true Class A building downtown of the same size and with the same steakhouse in the bottom as the IJL Building in Charlotte. But now we're just getting more of the same suburban sprawl (yes, I'm aware that it might be nice-looking-- but it's still an office park and sprawl) like University City in Charlotte.

City leaders, where are you on this?

An even better city center is possible if we just focus growth towards downtown.

25 years ago, malls were sucking the life out of every downtown in the nation. Greenville's downtown is booming these days and not going downhill anytime soon. :D Remember too, 25 years ago, 85 would have been "far from" downtown. 25 years later with growth and infill, it's simply a hop, skip and jump.

The city leaders are doing an EXCELLENT job with this....TWO areas of Greenville are booming....downtown AND the 85 corridor! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

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The key difference is that Hubell moved from Spartanburg, and its not as large a company :)

huh? I was saying that the buildings are only maybe 4 stories, like Hubbel- which does has an impact on 85, but it's on a hill which helps. South Financial would be on a flat piece that sits back from the interstate somewhat... We'll see how this unfolds, but dissapointment is written all over the campus idea for me.

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huh? I was saying that the buildings are only maybe 4 stories, like Hubbel- which does has an impact on 85, but it's on a hill which helps. South Financial would be on a flat piece that sits back from the interstate somewhat... We'll see how this unfolds, but dissapointment is written all over the campus idea for me.

I'm not disappointed, I think it's a positive anytime our govt officials can stop arguing long enough about whose fault it is that the textile jobs left the state, in order to land some "new economy" jobs!!

I think the campus idea is part of the draw of Greenville. You have the advantages of living in a larger city without the commute hassle and building expense of being downtown. I think Pelham/85 and Butler/85 are good examples of this. There are several large companies with exclusively office-type buildings that could have chosen to locate downtown in any major city, but obviously chose not to. Those who are fond of big cities will curse the "sprawl", while others who are trying to get away from the city appreciate it.

The weak economy of the past few years hasn't helped either. When things are tight, it's hard to justify the extra expense just for the "prestige" of being downtown. Espcially when you're talking 1+ million sq ft.

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If this company chooses Greenville, which it looks like it will, I hope they have a lot of spinoffs like BMW has had here. It also looks like that is what most of the state, county, and city leaders are hoping for too, according to the latest news.

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huh? I was saying that the buildings are only maybe 4 stories, like Hubbel- which does has an impact on 85, but it's on a hill which helps. South Financial would be on a flat piece that sits back from the interstate somewhat... We'll see how this unfolds, but dissapointment is written all over the campus idea for me.

I know. I was just saying that the SF announcement is a bigger deal in comparison.

I don't think the campus will be a failure. That is what companies want these days. I don't exactly understand why, but its sort of like the lifestyle centers that are popping up for retail. Hubbell specifically left Spartanburg because we did not have a campus-style facility for it to use (it was not interested in locatin downtown). I'd like to see Clemson, USC, USC Upstate come together to create some other sort of joint-effort research campus type situation in the Upstate (maybe over in Spartaburg :rolleyes: ). But as long as these things are popular, we need to capitalize on it.

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The weak economy of the past few years hasn't helped either. When things are tight, it's hard to justify the extra expense just for the "prestige" of being downtown. Espcially when you're talking 1+ million sq ft.

That's a good point. Overall, I'd rather them be in SC than in Florida, even if it is on a corporate campus. I just wish the development would have some urbanity to it as well. After all, this is URBAN Planet. :thumbsup:

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With respect to South Financial locating downtown, I am sure the city did what they could to get them to locate downtown (since the city is supposedly pushing that now). However, we weren't in a position to dictate that they locate downtown or else. If we wanted them to stay here, we probably had to cater to their demands of a campus-style headquarters along I-85. I would much rather have them there than not at all.

I think it is still very possible that South Financial (or whatever the name is after all of this occurs) will have their name on a tower downtown in the future. They probably wouldn't use much of the building, but they would still pay to have their name on the building like the other banks do.

If South Financial had decided to have their headquarters downtown, what height building are we talking about? I am having trouble visualizing an estimate for how big the building would be (assuming an average footprint). Anyone have an idea for the size of the size of the company and the space they seem to need?

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WYFF seems to have changed their tune a bit this morning. When I was watching the news they were saying IF Greenville is picked. There was no mention of Greenville being a shoe-in, and no mention of the State Legislature.

Not that I think the outcome will change. Maybe they were told not to spread the word?

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It's almost funny how just a few weeks ago we were reading/hearing about how Greenville City Officials were working hard to get more people to move their offices into downtown to increase the chances that one or more of these proposed office towers might get off of the ground. How quickly the tune can change. :lol:

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