Downtown Projects & Developments

[Spartan]

The FR8 Yard is a project that is likely unprecedented in the Carolinas. Nothing that happens here with the current proposal would permanently affect the long term goals of the built environment downtown, so I can't imagine a scenario where the DRB doesn't support it.

This is a great example of Spartanburg being itself and taking advantage of its unique qualities. I'm really excited for what this will do for downtown!

[westsider28]

The City posted a photo of Miyako construction today.  I'm glad to see quite a bit of progress.  It felt like nothing was happening after they erected the steel frame, but they had a plywood wall up on Magnolia so you couldn't see anything.  It seems clear now that they were working on the basement.  Progress should be a lot more visible from now on! (partially b/c of the chain-link fence)

Edited January 25, 2017 by westsider28

[westsider28]

A few random updates: The BB&T branch near the Marriott has closed and is for-sale. And BB&T's building on East Main is for-sale too. Anyone know what's up?

You may have seen that the fountain in front of One Morgan Square on Church Street was dug up & removed.  It's just grass there now.  I guess maintenance was getting too difficult/costly?  I'd love to see a new building or expansion of 1MS on that lot eventually (with retail).

[spartanburgh]

I agree, that site is about 9000 Square feet. The foot print would be about the same as the new

Marriott. It would be perfect for a mixed use building right on Morgan Square. I've always thought

that the 1 Morgan Building was terribly designed. It takes up the entire North end of Morgan Square

and adds no retail, residences, restaurants, or activity to Morgan Square.  

[Spartan]

One Morgan Square is architecturally attractive, but has terrible urban design. You could take that building and plop in down in a suburban office park and it would not feel out of place. It needs to be retrofitted with restaurants/retail on the ground floor. That wouldn't be hard to accomplish either.

IMO, the grass area should become an extension of Morgan Square. Something that looks/feels more like a plaza. I actually thought the fountain itself was nice... it just needs to be set up so that its a functional space that is more attractive to pedestrians and not made for people driving through.

[westsider28]

Agree that 1MS is terrible from an urban design perspective, and that it could easily be retrofitted for ground-floor restaurant/retail.  I strongly believe the grass area needs to be developed in the future to help re-enclose Morgan Square with a complete wall of buildings, the way it was historically.  Not enough people use the Square now to need an expansion (other than maybe closing Dunbar permanently & incorporating it into the Square).  Plus that grassy area fronting Church is pretty inhospitable with speeding traffic right next to it.

Johnson Development projects (other than Library Commons) have all been single-use, as have all of our other office buildings, which isn't great.  But I can kind of understand it, because in the past, we've had so many vacant storefronts that they couldn't really justify including retail space in office buildings.  But now that many buildings are filling up, particularly around Morgan Square (and with the Urban Code now in place) we should get ground-floor retail in all projects going forward.

On another note, about 7 buildings on Magnolia are for-sale right now.  Hopefully they get bought/filled soon.

[Spartan]

22 hours ago, westsider28 said:

Agree that 1MS is terrible from an urban design perspective, and that it could easily be retrofitted for ground-floor restaurant/retail.  I strongly believe the grass area needs to be developed in the future to help re-enclose Morgan Square with a complete wall of buildings, the way it was historically.  Not enough people use the Square now to need an expansion (other than maybe closing Dunbar permanently & incorporating it into the Square).  Plus that grassy area fronting Church is pretty inhospitable with speeding traffic right next to it.

If the bottom floor of 1MS were converted to retail, then a small plaza space there would be a great space for outdoor seating and some nice landscaping to screen the traffic.

That being said, I would support a building there too.

[westsider28]

That's true.  Walking by the building yesterday, I realized what would be perfect: make the central space an arcade.  That would have the dual benefit of adding restaurant & retail spaces while also providing a direct pedestrian connection from the Magnolia deck to Morgan Square.

[westsider28]

Here's a photo of the new Miyako building from a few days ago.  Really taking shape now.

[westsider28]

The City has made a nice webpage that lists all of the downtown construction projects.  Obviously we know about them all here, but it's a great resource for the general public.  And it's impressive to see all the projects aggregated like that.  http://www.cityofspartanburg.org/downtown-construction

[westsider28]

The former Magnolia Street Pub (and 2 adjacent buildings) have finally been listed for sale , over a decade after the music venue closed.  The building is in surprisingly good condition.  It certainly has a lot of potential; although I could see parking being a challenge.  I hope it's purchased and reactivated soon.

Edit: UBJ article with a few interior pics

Edited March 5, 2017 by westsider28
Added link to another article

[TextileTown]

10 hours ago, westsider28 said:

The former Magnolia Street Pub (and 2 adjacent buildings) have finally been listed for sale , over a decade after the music venue closed.  The building is in surprisingly good condition.  It certainly has a lot of potential; although I could see parking being a challenge.  I hope it's purchased and reactivated soon.

Maybe they can get Albert Hill to play there again lol

[Spartan]

On 3/3/2017 at 3:04 PM, westsider28 said:

The City has made a nice webpage that lists all of the downtown construction projects.  Obviously we know about them all here, but it's a great resource for the general public.  And it's impressive to see all the projects aggregated like that.  http://www.cityofspartanburg.org/downtown-construction

Great find, thanks for posting!

[hub-city]

Just in time for summer, downtown is getting a frozen custard shop.  Abbott's frozen custard is coming to 100 East Main.

[Spartan]

And FINALLY a new business opens on East Main...

[westsider28]

To be fair, the Bijou building has been a bright spot for businesses on East Main.  In addition to Hub City Scoops, Archived Clothing, and Downtown Deli & Donuts (all relatively new), A Nail Bar just opened and The Black Derby Barber Co. is opening soon (UBJ article).  And I'm sure things will pick up more when the Bishop building renovation is complete.

[sptgguy]

I agree with westsider28, when I moved to Spartanburg 9 years ago, East Main was dead. In the past few years, it has really started to come back to life. I was driving through town a few nights ago, and was pleasantly surprised at the number of people walking along East Main. Just a few years ago, once the sun went down, you never saw anyone over there. The renovated Bishop building, in my opinion, is going to act as a catalyst for that end of of main and will really wake things up. 

[hub-city]

Any updates on the FR8 Yard?  I know they had to do some redesigns, but I would think that they would want to start soon with summer approaching...

[djh1963]

Does anyone know what is going in at the corner of Forest an Wofford streets across from Itegral?

 

[spartanburgh]

The dirt pile is being pushed off to make a green space.

[hub-city]

There is a notice on the FR8 Yard site regarding the application to allow alcohol sales so hopefully this project is still moving along.  I wish they would hurry up and start!  Can't wait....

Edited April 17, 2017 by hub-city

[westsider28]

I was looking through Monday's City Council agenda (PDF), and there's a pretty cool item in there (page 14).  The Children's Museum of the Upstate (in Greenville) is interested in putting a satellite location at 130 Magnolia Street!  They want to expand their mission, and 25%+ of their visitors are from Spartanburg County.  $1.25 million of the $1.5 million needed has already been raised.  This is a great idea and should attract more families with young children to come downtown.

Edit: UBJ article about it

Edited April 22, 2017 by westsider28
Added link to article

[Spartan]

That's pretty cool. That would be a nice organization to add to downtown.

[westsider28]

Bond Street Wines is coming to the former Carolina Gallery building at 145 W. Main St.  It will be a second location for the Charlotte-based wine retail shop.  The store will feature about 250 different wines from all over the globe.  They're partnering with Renato's to provide light fare and host wine dinners.  The store should be open in 60-90 days.  Good to see this spot finally get filled!

[spartanburgh]

Some great news about the intersection of Pine St and E Main. Two of the three remaining hotels at this

intersection are supposed to close to new ownership this week. The plan is to tear them down!!! One to

go.