Downtown Projects & Developments

[spartanburgh]

Some of the old lamp / red light combo poles around Morgan Square are being taken down now that the newer signals have been installed. The new ones look much better. Its a pet peeve of mine, but I would like to see the paper boxes between Lime Leaf and 111 Main removed. They sure are an eye soar and a source of ground litter as well. I think as many as 10-12 are lined up there and it looks real bad.

[Spartan]

What do the new signals look like? I like the ones that are not on mast arms, but on poles next to the street like you see in Charleston.

I agree, the city needs to get a uniform, modular unit so that the paper boxes are all the same look.

[spartanburgh]

The new signal poles look just like the lamp post except with an added red light. The big bulky ones with the arm reaching over the street have been removed in some of the areas around the square. The old bases are still there, but I'm sure they'll have to be removed ASAP too.

[Spartan]

Fantastic. I'm glad that they are moving towards that style, at least in the area around the Square. Those are much more visually appealing.

[Zebra]

A new tenant is going to be moving into the old Belk building downtown. The tenant moved out of downtown within the last ten years but was very popular while it was there. I for one will be glad to see them back. I can not say at this time who the tenant will be but feel free to guess.

[clemsonfn]

A new tenant is going to be moving into the old Belk building downtown. The tenant moved out of downtown within the last ten years but was very popular while it was there. I for one will be glad to see them back. I can not say at this time who the tenant will be but feel free to guess.

RJ Rockers?

BTW, I heard they are looking to move into the Old Salvation Army store. The deal on Southport Road apparently felll through.

[Spartan]

So you're saying RJ Rockers to move to the Belk Building? Seems like they'd want more space than that. The Salvation Army building makes more sense, though I sincerely hope they plan to do some major overhauls.

[travey]

So you're saying RJ Rockers to move to the Belk Building? Seems like they'd want more space than that. The Salvation Army building makes more sense, though I sincerely hope they plan to do some major overhauls.

Well, you read it today? THe article was a bit unclear. Is it a beer factory or beer factory/pub? That spot is not in the Central Business District as the article stated. Parking is already tight in that area so wonder where they will park. The basement? They could. It has concerte floors and used to be a car dealership and repair shop.

[hub-city]

I think this is going to be a great location. It will require a great deal of overhaul though.... They could have a restaurant/pub in the thrift store with all the brewing done in the larger section to the side and back. I wish they could set up a viewing/tour section for people to watch the beer being brewed. This might also help bring some life to the renovated section of Ezell street.

I kind of consider anything East of the railroad tracks to be in the CBD (QS1 for example). I think it does stretch it a little, but is that a bad thing?

Now....who is the tenant for the Belk's building?

[Spartan]

Wow this really is great news! RJ Rockers moving back downtown will do wonders for that part of downtown. Besides making that corner more visually appealing, they have a lot of opportunity there to make it awesome. I hope that they have some outdoor seating facing the Square side. I also hope that they preserve some of the old warehouses around there, and do something- ANYTHING to preserve some of the character that is left on the last block of Ezell St. The best part about it is that because they are one of the larger breweries in South Carolina, you know they aren't going to go anywhere.

I did think it was amusing that they made the comparison to LoDo in Denver. As much as I would love to see that happen in Spartanburg, I don't think RJ Rockers will have quite the same level of impact. Still, anything to improve the concentration of restaurants downtown will be a step closer in that direction.

As far as parking is concerned, there's tons of it. There's a whole surface lot across from QS/1, plenty of parking on the Square, and behind Carriage House Wines. Spartans have got to learn that you don't have to park directly in front of your destination. Its ok to park and walk a few blocks.

Generally speaking, the CBD is considered to be anything east and south of Daniel Morgan Ave, west of Pine St, and north of Henry St- excluding the Dean Street neighborhood and the car dealerships. See a map here, CBD is in red. Our CBD is quite large (geographically) considering Spartanburg's size. The size is good, but its harder to get development focused in a more concentrated area. However, the term "CBD" is not the same as "downtown." Downtown can be defined by whatever the citizens want it to be. In Spartanburg, I don't think there are clear boundaries. For example, we say the Magnolia Street Station is downtown, but because its north of the railroad, it not in the CBD, so is it downtown? What about the Schuyler Building? I think that if you look at the urban center of Spartanburg, you get something a little more nebulous, but more accurate in terms of what people generally consider "downtown" to be.

HJ Article

[krazeeboi]

What do the new signals look like? I like the ones that are not on mast arms, but on poles next to the street like you see in Charleston.

Those are popular in DC as well. I don't care for them because I'm more prone to run the light when they're set up like that.

[travey]

Those are popular in DC as well. I don't care for them because I'm more prone to run the light when they're set up like that.

As far as parking is concerned, there's tons of it. There's a whole surface lot across from QS/1, plenty of parking on the Square, and behind Carriage House Wines. Spartans have got to learn that you don't have to park directly in front of your destination. Its ok to park and walk a few blocks.

Generally speaking, the CBD is considered to be anything east and south of Daniel Morgan Ave, west of Pine St, and north of Henry St- excluding the Dean Street neighborhood and the car dealerships. See a map here, CBD is in red. Our CBD is quite large (geographically) considering Spartanburg's size. The size is good, but its harder to get development focused in a more concentrated area. However, the term "CBD" is not the same as "downtown." Downtown can be defined by whatever the citizens want it to be. In Spartanburg, I don't think there are clear boundaries. For example, we say the Magnolia Street Station is downtown, but because its north of the railroad, it not in the CBD, so is it downtown? What about the Schuyler Building? I think that if you look at the urban center of Spartanburg, you get something a little more nebulous, but more accurate in terms of what people generally consider "downtown" to be.

THe parking issue I had in mind is working cooperativley with other business to obtain a parking agreement when during the day they are strapped for parking.... During the day time hours, the old Salvation army lot is being used by local businesses and employees of the lawfirms, Sonny's and even Qs-1. In that area of the Salvation Army the tenatnt is required to provide parking (or an agreement) based on use and square footage. They CAN not factor-in use of PUBLic parking. If they put a brew pub in there the parking requirments could be very high as opposed to the parking required for a beer factory. Ther are strict code guidlines and keep in mind the approval of the Master Plan we rezone this area.

Forgive the TYPos

Edited February 13, 2009 by Spartan
Fixed the quote boxes

[Spartan]

True, and I see your point. I think, however, that we have to start looking at shared parking situations to solve parking dilemmas, especially in downtown. We do not need more parking downtown. We have too much as it is. More importantly, in downtown the parking rules need to be changed to account for shared parking. Establish parking maximums or remove parking requirements altogether so that we aren't razing half of our downtown so cars will have somewhere to sit for a few hours.

If more parking must be found, then Daniel Morgan Ave needs to be dieted/narrowed, to allow for parallel parking on both sides. If that conversion happened between Henry and St John, I estimate you could get about 100 spaces in there, possibly more. You could also do West Main St and Broad St. The Herald-Journal could let the commoners use their parking spots. Plenty of solutions could be found if we just look and not force our antiquated suburban parking ordinances on downtown.

Also, the urban code needs to be adopted.

[spartanburgh]

Forget about the parking issue for Rockers. Look at who owns the building and its a non issue. This is really great news that RJ Rockers is returning to downtown. I only wish they would do the restaurant part too. I remember the chili burger, man was is messy and good. The only tenant I can think of for the belk building is Palmetto galleries?

[Spartan]

Oh, I must have misread. I assumed that they were having the restaurant too.

[Sparkleman]

It sounds like they are going to be a traditional brewery much like the ones in Asheville (home to 7 original breweries). At least they will have a tasting room so you can make it a part of a mini pub crawl (Myoko's, Delaneys, Sonnys, and now Rockers). Not too shaby for the "SC". I left Justins out as it is a little too stuffy for a pub crawl.

[goodbye]

...This is really great news that RJ Rockers is returning to downtown...

Since when is Southport Road located in downtown? SHJ published an article in December announcing RJR's expansion into the former Living Waters Christian Ministries building, doubling their current size and allowing them to nearly quadruple their annual production capacity.

RJ Rockers?

BTW, I heard they are looking to move into the Old Salvation Army store. The deal on Southport Road apparently felll through.

Oh, that makes sense then. Sorry for the screw-up.

[Spartan]

The article says that they are going to have the spot on Southport Rd too.

Most of the plans for Rockers' initial move to the Southport Road building are still intact, but now on a larger scale. Johnsen is planning a 6,000-square-foot tasting and event room, while the brewery itself will be 9,500 square feet. Over time, Johnsen said, the 40,000-square-foot building will be a multi-tenant facility.

[spartanburgh]

You will be able to add the new club at 99 S. Church St. to the pub crawl as they are applying for an ABC license. This will be a uniqie club and a first for Spartanburg. The target opening date is May 1.

[Spartan]

Excellent news. Thats a good bar location, and I hope they do something with decent food too.

[Sparkleman]

You will be able to add the new club at 99 S. Church St. to the pub crawl as they are applying for an ABC license. This will be a uniqie club and a first for Spartanburg. The target opening date is May 1.

Is this going to be where the 2 failed coffee shops were or in the old Creative Edge building? Are we talking dance club here or what?

[spartanburgh]

It will be where the coffee shops were. The first coffee shop actually did really well, the girls that ran it graduated from Converse and went on to graduate school is why it closed. The new owners will not have food unless its small scale as that shop has no hood to vent. It could have sandwiches, deserts, fingerfood etc., but I don't know if it will or not. It will not be a dance club, but a music type club as I understand it.

[hub-city]

Is there anything in the Crative Edge building. I always thought it could b a cool spot for a restaurant. I like the curved wall and glass block for that retro look.

[sparkinlady]

Is there anything in the Crative Edge building. I always thought it could b a cool spot for a restaurant. I like the curved wall and glass block for that retro look.

Creative Edge -the PR/Design firm - is still in that building. the use both floors for their offices.

[tdreamweaver]

Also, the urban code needs to be adopted.

someone told me the other day that top City officials (Ed Memmott in this case) are now openly saying that the masterplan will NOT be adopted.

Such a disappointment. I would like to know why...why that money was spent and citizen's time was wasted for it to not be adopted. I think we deserve an answer.