Downtown Projects & Developments

[westsider28]

2 hours ago, 1Spartanburg said:

I do not understand your point. They took an empty building that  no one else would, and are creating more downtown apartments and retail space. 

He's talking about the Robert H Chapman Center (to be built on Kennedy Street).  I see where @mainonmain is coming from, but I'm afraid that's likely the nature of charitable foundations that rely on big donations from very wealthy families.  If you want the $$$ to keep rolling in, you occasionally have to indulge their vanity.  Not ideal, but such is life.  All else aside, it's a good-looking building on what was an empty lot.  So that's positive.

[1Spartanburg]

Yes, I understand now. Thx! 

[mainonmain]

2 hours ago, westsider28 said:

He's talking about the Robert H Chapman Center (to be built on Kennedy Street).  I see where @mainonmain is coming from, but I'm afraid that's likely the nature of charitable foundations that rely on big donations from very wealthy families.  If you want the $$$ to keep rolling in, you occasionally have to indulge their vanity.  Not ideal, but such is life.  All else aside, it's a good-looking building on what was an empty lot.  So that's positive.

Except in this case it wasn't that people came to the foundation with money and an idea. The foundation conjured up this idea then went searching for money for it. My point is, why not go out and make the case for an actual initiative or investment that would have a more direct impact on improving the community? Rather than raising money for a building whose utility and need is debatable, at best.

[westsider28]

Ah, okay.  Wasn't the land donated to the SCF with the stipulation that they had to honor Chapman with whatever they did with it?  Was the SCF planning the building before receiving the land?  Was the board split on the idea or divided?  I admit I don't know enough about the inner workings of the SCF to effectively comment.  But regardless, the building is happening.

Edit for clarity: Those are honest questions above. Not trying to downplay or be snide or whatever. @mainonmain brings up good points. It's quite possible that I'm trying to find reason where there is none.

Edited June 7, 2019 by westsider28

[westsider28]

Just saw in this article about Pinnacle Bank, that they plan to demolish their building on East Main near Converse and rebuild on the site.  Unfortunately, this is just outside of the Urban Code boundaries (like less than 1 block), so I hope we can still get a good building out of it (street-fronting, 2-stories, etc) since it's such a prominent site.  IMO, we need to extend the Urban Code boundaries down all major commercial corridors near downtown.

[westsider28]

The two 2nd-floor windows in the former Kosch & Gray building have been unbricked.

[Spartanburg Dude]

Is there a rendering anywhere of what it's supposed to look like once finished? Are they keeping an awning? 

[westsider28]

4 hours ago, Spartanburg Dude said:

Is there a rendering anywhere of what it's supposed to look like once finished? Are they keeping an awning? 

I'm pretty certain they haven't actually gotten final DRB approval (just conceptual), so I don't know that there's a final design.  The preliminary design showed a fabric/canvas awning.

[spartanburgh]

Everyone have a good pocket knife and a good whittling stick? Looks like we may need to take up another hobby, not much happening in Spartanburg development now.......

[westsider28]

Roof is being replaced on 122 Magnolia.  It's currently roofless as work progresses.

Lots of work happening on 142 Social today.  Part of Spring Street is shutdown for a crane and equipment.

All windows have been unbricked on the old Kosch & Gray building.  Hub City Scoops will be moving to the ground floor retail space here (hoping for a Sept opening).

Finally, I saw in the paper a few days ago that 186 East Main (former Blood Bank building) is going before the DRB on July 2.  Hopefully that means we'll see movement there soon.  Really hope they target a restaurant for the ground floor.  That would really help continue to pull foot traffic further east.

[westsider28]

A few updates:

The guy that owns the former Blood Bank building is in WAY over his head, IMO.  At the DRB meeting, he said he planned to have one HVAC unit for 8 apts and do much of the reno himself.  The architect for the Kosch & Grey project noticed potential code violations in the plan. Yikes.  The building needs to be sold to a competent developer.

142 Social progress from this weekend:

The YMCA is getting close to completing their new pavilion (where the old Y's entrance used to be):

[westsider28]

The three sets of "creative crosswalks" were completed and unveiled today.  They're on West Main at Magnolia, Spring, and King intersections.  Always great to see more public art!  (photos from City FB page)

[SVL]

On 7/22/2019 at 12:23 PM, westsider28 said:

The three sets of "creative crosswalks" were completed and unveiled today.  They're on West Main at Magnolia, Spring, and King intersections.  Always great to see more public art!  (photos from City FB page)

This is great! I love all the color it adds. Wish this would happen in more places.

[spartanburgh]

A local developer has proposed this condo/mixed use project for Downtown Spartanburg.  It has not gained traction to this point, but hopefully will get the support of the City

in the coming months.  The important thing is that it represents condo's, not more apartments and would activate a corner in Downtown. While the design is different, it would

have to be blessed by the DRB as well.

[roads-scholar]

17 minutes ago, spartanburgh said:

A local developer has proposed this condo/mixed use project for Downtown Spartanburg.  It has not gained traction to this point, but hopefully will get the support of the City

in the coming months.  The important thing is that it represents condo's, not more apartments and would activate a corner in Downtown. While the design is different, it would

have to be blessed by the DRB as well.

Any details on WHERE downtown?  I love the rendering!

[Spartanburg Dude]

5 hours ago, roads-scholar said:

Any details on WHERE downtown?  I love the rendering!

Love it, and the design. Though I'm an absolutely huge fan of our older architecture, when mixed with a great modern building, it works. Greenville is a prime example. 

[CLT_sc]

I like this building....where will it be located?

[westsider28]

Wow, looks pretty good to me.  I'm skeptical about condos being feasible, though.  Everything I've read says that obtaining financing is extremely difficult, because the developer must get significant commitment from buyers prior to construction.  But if a developer can put it off, go for it.

Edit: Picture's file name says "Spring Place Condos", so I'd guess it's somewhere on Spring Street.  Could be the City parking lot at Broad & Spring?  That would require the City's cooperation for the land.  Or maybe Royce Camp's land at Spring & Harris Place?  Anything on Spring Street would also require a variance for that height. 

I'd love more info/hints about location & developer...

Edited July 24, 2019 by westsider28

[roads-scholar]

14 hours ago, westsider28 said:

Wow, looks pretty good to me.  I'm skeptical about condos being feasible, though.  Everything I've read says that obtaining financing is extremely difficult, because the developer must get significant commitment from buyers prior to construction.  But if a developer can put it off, go for it.

Edit: Picture's file name says "Spring Place Condos", so I'd guess it's somewhere on Spring Street.  Could be the City parking lot at Broad & Spring?  That would require the City's cooperation for the land.  Or maybe Royce Camp's land at Spring & Harris Place?  Anything on Spring Street would also require a variance for that height. 

I'd love more info/hints about location & developer...

Spring Street between West Main and Broad. now that would be cool.  

[timbach]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this rendering is for a proposed apartment building in Washington DC:

https://dc.curbed.com/2017/11/1/16593216/buzzard-point-residential-project

[Spartanburg Dude]

1 hour ago, timbach said:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this rendering is for a proposed apartment building in Washington DC:

https://dc.curbed.com/2017/11/1/16593216/buzzard-point-residential-project

Buzzzzz kill. 

[westsider28]

Well, crap. That's a huge bummer.  The question is, did @spartanburgh get "punk'd" and just pass on bad info, or did he "punk" us?  In retrospect, I guess we should've known it wasn't legit, since full renderings for local projects basically never leak.  Oh well.

[spartanburgh]

Hold on everyone, this project is legit.  I believe the rendering is for style, scale and scope purposes, representative of the proposed development. While the rendering may be of another project, It is the model

that would be used to base the building in Spartanburg off of.  The location has not been disclosed, but I think it could work anywhere downtown that is centrally located. I am getting second hand information,

but the contact I have knows the developer pretty well and is confident that they can pull this off. The important thing is, other than this project happening , developers are starting to see somewhat larger projects

as viable in Spartanburg. I think the Montgomery Building, Church St. Lofts, and Main and Morgan show that they can be successful. I understand that all three of these buildings are full.

[gman430]

I'm confused.  

Edited July 26, 2019 by gman430

[Spartan]

I'm intrigued. If they can do condos with ground floor retail that looks remotely like this, it will be fantastic. I'm not convinced Spartanburg has the market for projects with parking structures. If this gets built it will be surface parked or within a block of an existing parking deck.

I don't think they'd have to get a "variance" to build that exact 10-story building.  DT5 has a 10 floor limit, and DT6 has a 13 floor limit. There's also the Mixed-Use Building Height Bonus Option as follows: To encourage housing options in the downtown area, mixed-use buildings (those with ground floor uses that differ from the floors above) may exceed the permitted height with additional levels that provide housing subject to the review and approval of the DRB." So even if height were an issue due to a limit to the number of floors based on the code, this option allows for a ton of flexibility. 

So, as long as they build a mixed use building with street level businesses, developers can basically build whatever they want in terms of height.