Downtown Projects & Developments

[spartanburgh]

The old, old Hardee's on W. Main has been demolished along with the boarded up building on the corner of Main and Branch St.

next door and directly behind Wakefield Automotive. It appears that the two delapiated homes behind will fall as well. This is really good news as it is a gateway into downtown and it has been an eyesoar for years. Even nicely planted grass will be a huge improvement here. I hope the abandoned car lots and the rest of the blight there can be cleaned up soon as well.

[Sparkleman]

I noticed this the other day as well and commented to my wife that downtown may be poised to grow west instead of east. You have to figure that land is cheaper going that way than moving east towards 1st Baptist & Pine St. I could see the newer old Hardees across the street being leveled as well as a couple of title loan/tax places up around Forest Avenue /Reidville Rd area.

 

If the above were to happen, that would give you another full 2 blocks of actual empty space less than 2 blocks from the square. As I mentioned the land may be cheaper in this direction away from 1st Baptist, Church of the Advent, St. Paul's Catholic, 1st Pres, the Piedmont Club and Converse College a little further down (not that there is much vacant land here anyway).

[westsider28]

Cannon Roofing will demolish the buildings (2 warehouses and an office) at its former downtown site at the corner of Union and Kennedy.  They hope that will make the property more attractive to potential buyers / for future development.  The future Rail Trail extension will run right next to this site.

 

Once again, nice to see eyesores come down, but I'm really ready to see some stuff start to go up...

Edited August 13, 2014 by westsider28

[spartanburgh]

The buildings are already coming down. I have always thought that would be an ideal site for mixed use with residential on top or

all residential. The location is great to the rail trail, YMCA, Dog park, Duncan Park, Downtown etc.

[roads-scholar]

The buildings are already coming down. I have always thought that would be an ideal site for mixed use with residential on top or

all residential. The location is great to the rail trail, YMCA, Dog park, Duncan Park, Downtown etc.

 

i real eyestore for sure.  Now, what about the Nu-way?

[Sparkleman]

Are you wanting the Nu-Way to come down?

 

Hate to tell you pal but that's one old thing that this cat wants staying up.

[roads-scholar]

Are you wanting the Nu-Way to come down?

 

Hate to tell you pal but that's one old thing that this cat wants staying up.

Oh no, the Nu-way stays.

 

But do you think the proprietor of the Nu-way will clean up it's exterior appearance?

[Jael]

Oh no, the Nu-way stays.

But do you think the proprietor of the Nu-way will clean up it's exterior appearance?

I hope not.

[Sparkleman]

Hey the Nu-Way is a dive, but its our dive and it should look the part. I'm pretty sure Becky Hammond doesn't have plans to dress up the outside of the joint.

[westsider28]

Actually, the Nu-Way just got an exterior upgrade this weekend!  

But seriously, the Nu-Way is an institution and like Sparkleman said, it looks just the way it should.  I hope it can become an anchor to an urban "neighborhood" in this part of DT in the future.

[westsider28]

A few random downtown updates:  Good to see that the HQ Library was being power-washed today.  The stucco had gotten pretty grungy.  I also like that they took out the big holly bushes by the front staircase, which improves visibility.

 

Interior up-fit is well underway at the future Paisley Paw in the Library Commons building.  No movement yet from the other Main Street Challenge winners.

 

Motte & Sons distillery (FB page) is now open on East DM Ave.  It looks really cool.  I'll have to stop by soon.

 

The storefront next to Venus Pie was being worked on.  Anyone know what's happening there?

 

Brick is going up at 201 Wall Street.  Looks pretty nice.  Here are pics from a few days ago:

[hub-city]

Love the brick work.  Glad to see this moving along.  I was worried that construction had stopped.

[Sparkleman]

The store front next to Venus Pie is going to be an upscale hair salon. I heard that the owners of Mixed Company over at the Farmers Market Row had a falling out and one of them is moving up there.

[westsider28]

Seems like we have a lot of upscale hair salons, but at least it will be an occupied storefront.

 

One of the MSC winners, Health in Hand Juice & Smoothie Bar, announced today that they will be locating on the ground floor of 201 Wall Street.  So obviously they won't open until the building is done.  That's a good location.  They probably wanted a pretty small space, which that building will certainly offer.

 

Also, East Main ARTS will be opening soon at 167 East Main, next to The Local Hiker and Carri Bass Photography (in the former Clyde's Fitness Bldg).  They are moving from a house across from Converse College.

 

Downtown was PACKED this evening.  Great to see!  We're getting there, little by little... 

[westsider28]

Unfortunately, Tirado's Empanadas will not be coming downtown; they're also leaving the mall.  They announced on their FB page that they're moving the business to Greenville (where they live).  That's a huge bummer.  I heard that they couldn't make the financing work for DT, even with the MSC money.

 

In more positive news, 201 Wall Street is looking better and better as more brick goes up.  The whole "front" is bricked, the back is beginning to be, and the balconies are getting closer to being completed.  Here are some photos from Saturday:

 

[hub-city]

Sorry to hear about Tirado's, but I had my doubts about their longevity anyway.  They had a great cream cheese dessert, but were never very busy at the mall location.  I wish them the best of luck in Greenville.  Does this mean the next MSC finalist in line will have an opportunity?

[Sparkleman]

Take this for what its worth but I was having lunch at Cribbs on Friday outside on the deck. Also outside drinking iced tea but not having lunch were OTO's head Corey Oaks, Johnson Development's President Foster Chapman, George Dean's son Jordy, and several other big wigs in ties. They were all talking and pointing across the street but I have no idea what was being said. A source told me that GDJ now does own the property that Event Rentals sits on so in essence he owns all the land from the SHJ down to the train tracks. This source also told me that OTO is getting into the boutique hotel business.

 

An Indigo/Aloft/ or whatever would be awfully nice right there.

[Spartan]

Thanks for the pics of 201 Wall St. That building continues to amaze me.

[Sparkleman]

This is what GDJ does hence Johnson Development. Why does a textile machine/mill magnate want to go into the land development business?

[westsider28]

Quick update on 201 Wall Street.  Brick work is complete!  They just need to finish the balconies and windows, and the exterior will be done.  Still lots of work to do on the interior, though.  Here's a photo of the storefronts from a week ago, and several photos from today:

[westsider28]

Well, say good-bye to the Hammond-Brown-Jennings building.  It and the small building next to it will be demolished in the next 60 days.  This demolition and the work on the Montgomery Building will delay the City's planned Church Street streetscape improvements until late next spring.

 

This area is a mess.  On 3 of the 4 corners of one of the most prominent intersections in the city, we've got a soon-to-be-empty-lot (HBJ), a landmark building that languishes, and an empty 1-story building and parking lot.  We desperately need some good news here...

[roads-scholar]

Well, say good-bye to the Hammond-Brown-Jennings building.  It and the small building next to it will be demolished in the next 60 days.  This demolition and the work on the Montgomery Building will delay the City's planned Church Street streetscape improvements until late next spring.

 

This area is a mess.  On 3 of the 4 corners of one of the most prominent intersections in the city, we've got a soon-to-be-empty-lot (HBJ), a landmark building that languishes, and an empty 1-story building and parking lot.  We desperately need some good news here...

i say good riddance!  With these eyesores out of the way perhaps a developer will be enticed to build there.  Who knows, maybe a developer was behind the city's efforts to demolish these buildings.

[spartanburgh]

I was at the board of appeals meeting and the intent is for a new building to be built on this site. That would still leave the Montgomery Building and two

other corners in desperate need of development. This should be top quality development on these high value corners

.

The Wall St. building is nearing completion on the outside. The City has scheduled the month of November to streetscape Wall St.

It will be completed in time for the opening of the Wall St. building in December of January.

[Spartan]

While I am sad to see that building go, given the very high standards for new buildings in downtown (ie: the Wall St apartments) I think we can all be very optimistic about the future of that site (once it's developed)

[westsider28]

I was looking at construction bids and found some info (here and here) on the Wall Street streetscaping project.  It involves brick and granite cobblestone pavers, as you would expect being a "festival street."  The project is evidently supposed to start by late-January.

 

And here's a photo of 201 Wall from last weekend.  They were finishing installation of the last balcony.  Looks like just ground-floor windows and the interior remain unfinished.

Edited November 6, 2014 by westsider28