Downtown Projects & Developments

[Spartan]

Next to Carriage House? If he's going 3-4 floors underground for parking then it's going to be a pretty significant building to make that pro forma work.

[westsider28]

Spartan, I think spartanburgh's saying just one floor of underground parking (probably accessed via Ezell Street due to the grade difference from Main).  Then the building will be 3-4 floors.

Edited February 27, 2015 by westsider28

[Spartan]

Aha, that makes way more sense.

[spartanburgh]

_{Did any of you get to the DRB meeting to see the new Event Rental Building?}

_{I am curious to know why you would take a good site and build a new}

_{building for a rental business when there are vacant buildings across the street}

_{that could be easily converted to retail space. This would shorten the time to get}

_{them moved compared to building new, put in use an abandoned building, save}

_{a good site for a higher and better use, and possibly get the new hotel started sooner.}

[westsider28]

Where would you suggest?  They needed a building with a showroom, warehouse space, and a loading dock.  Nothing around there has that.  The old Hardees and the old car dealer are basically the only vacant buildings in the area, and they wouldn't meet those requirements.

 

I wasn't at the meeting, but I did pick up the meeting packet with rendering / site plan for the building.  Now they got some concessions from several DT-5 requirements (no 2-story, side parking, not all brick, no landscaping on Main b/c of potential for future road diet), but we're getting a relatively urban building otherwise.  And as much as I'd like to see something better there, it just isn't feasible yet. 

Let's just say that if in 10 years we're complaining that this was built because the area is rapidly urbanizing/densifying, I'll be thrilled.

[Sparkleman]

What is DRB?

Edited March 3, 2015 by Sparkleman

[spartanburgh]

DRB is the Design Review Board. The old Hardee's could have been converted quiet easily

by adding a loading dock and additional space. The old car lot nearer downtown could have

been converted rather easily too. Either would have eliminated an eyesore that could remain

for some time to come.

[westsider28]

Well, even if those were renovated, they wouldn't be urban (up to the street).  Plus sometimes renovation takes as long and is as costly as building new.  And GDJ doesn't own those parcels (for whatever reason).  I don't actually disagree with the idea of what you're saying, I'm just trying to think of things from the GDJ / Event Rentals point of view.

[spartanburgh]

Yeah, I'm just saying, it would have been nice to eliminate one of those eyesores.

I'm still for the move, but always looking for a way to do it better.

[westsider28]

A few miscellaneous DT updates.  I checked out the bike racks / road blocks on Wall Street.  It's pretty innovative the way they can be moved and locked in place like bollards, while functioning as bike racks.  They're not the most visible, though.  I think they need some reflectivity so nighttime drivers can see them.

Interior work on the Sandwich Factory building is already underway.  Can't wait to see what goes in there!

 

Exterior work on the small Church Street storefronts next to Growler Haus is also underway.  It will be good to see that building look better. Hopefully once the renovations are complete, a tenant will finally move in there.

And finally, the Spartanburg Music Trail added another marker near The George, honoring Carlos Dupre Moseley and David Daniels.

[mainonmain]

Re: Sandwich Factory building, I believe what is happening right now is some renovation/updating of the two second-floor apartments. Those units had not been rented in several years as the previous owner wasn't very motivated to do anything. But the new owner isn't wasting any time -- those units will be rented rather quickly after the updating, I would suspect. 

 

There probably won't be any work on the first-floor restaurant space until the new owner nails down a new tenant. That hasn't happened yet, though I hear things looks promising.

[mainonmain]

Also, hearing that the third and final ground-floor space in the Library Commons building on Broad Street should soon have a confirmed tenant. Won't be a big foot-traffic destination, but will be a quality office use and will get that space lit. Every small step adds up.

[Spartan]

Also, hearing that the third and final ground-floor space in the Library Commons building on Broad Street should soon have a confirmed tenant. Won't be a big foot-traffic destination, but will be a quality office use and will get that space lit. Every small step adds up.

 

What are the other two spaces?

[westsider28]

An antique shop and Paisley Paw (dog/pet store).

[spartanburgh]

One good thing about the DRB allowing a one story building in a zone with a 2 story minimum is I think they set a president for

allowing variances on height restrictions. One thing I always hated about the urban code.

[Spartan]

One good thing about the DRB allowing a one story building in a zone with a 2 story minimum is I think they set a president for

allowing variances on height restrictions. One thing I always hated about the urban code.

 

Maybe I missed something... where is this happening?

[spartanburgh]

The new Events Rental building on W Main St. will only be one story. It is an area that

has a minimum height requirement of 2 stories.

[westsider28]

Spartan, check a few posts up for site plan & rendering of the Event Rentals building.  There's some discussion about it, too.

 

I drove around at lunch and noticed a drilling machine taking some core samples at the rumored Babb development site next to the Kennedy St Deck.  Always good to see concrete signs of progress on future projects!

[Spartan]

Oops... totally missed that. I 100% agree that they should be preserving that existing building. There are literally only two buildings west of the railroad that need to be preserved - the one at W Main & Branch, and the Spartan Automotive building. The Cohen's building is another one you could talk me into preserving. These are the only one's with any historic character left. There are so many other under-utilized properties that it's slightly ridiculous that they picked this one to tear down.

 

That being said, the fact that there is currently a 1-storey building seems to be some justification for allowing something that is non-conforming. I don't agree with it - but I can sort of see the logic in it. The rest of the 'variances' I'm not at all happy with. It seems to me that there are a lot of cop-outs on this. The building materials, the lack of a bigger sidewalk (if they're tearing down the building then they can set the new on back another 5ft to allow for 10ft of space, and the fact they they are allowing a tear-down of a perfectly good building being the most annoying.

 

Also, it seems to me the GDJ would fork over a little extra to build these people a nicer building (out of pure altruism - because you know that the urban code would not have been passed by City Council if he didn't think it was a good idea).

[spartanburgh]

_{That building was torn down many months ago Spartan. Its a green field of grass now.}

[Sparkleman]

Yeah west main & branch was taken out right after the GDJ subsidiary Pfeiffer Properties began buying those lots down there. What I'd really like to know if what will become of the vacant crappy buildings like the old Auto Fleet building, the old Hardees, and another old vacant building that sits between them? Also, will they keep Family Dollar around or relocate it too?

Edited March 13, 2015 by Sparkleman

[mainonmain]

GoUpstate up with an article on the Hub City Tap House:

http://www.goupstate.com/article/20150316/ARTICLES/150319758/1086?Title=Hard-cider-tap-house-to-open-in-downtown-Spartanburg

[Spartan]

_{That building was torn down many months ago Spartan. Its a green field of grass now.}

 

it's still a shame. The way to maintain the city's character is to preserve these old buildings - even old crappy warehouses. The 'Grain District' can't/won't maintain an industrial vibe with just the two or three industrial buildings left.

[westsider28]

A few updates: Facade renovation on the building on Church next to Growler Haus has been completed. Looks much better. Hope we get a business there soon.

Broad Street Bellydance is moving to fill the final spot in the old Belk building between Live Fit Now and OEC Graphics. Interior upfit is underway.

 

A medical start-up, Elite Home Care, is putting a meeting center and training facility at 516 East Main (in that row of buildings near the E Main - St John intersection).  Good to see one of those buildings occupied, since several are vacant currently.

 

Arizona-based Republic Services’ Carolinas area office has moved into One Morgan Square.  It's a small operation at only 10 employees, but I'll take any white-collar jobs we can get.  And they moved from Greenville to here, which is always nice.   They sound impressed with Spartanburg and committed to staying here long term.

[spartanburgh]

A couple of updates:

Grading has already begun on the Event Rentals site. It looks like there going to get it

up a soon as possible.

Surveyors were surveying the vacant lot on Main St. between Church and Denny's. Its also

owned by Johnson Development. Hopefully, that means something is in the works there.