Downtown Projects & Developments

[westsider28]

I was reading this GSA Business article and noticed a line near the end that mentioned that The Beach Company is scouting downtown Spartanburg for potential opportunities.  They've developed some pretty high-quality apartment projects in downtown Greenville, like Main + Stone, Canvas, and South Ridge.  I hope they find the right spot and decide to build here!

"Tenancy in The Beach Co.’s Greenville apartments has remained steady [...] and the company is scouting out similar mixed-development opportunities in downtown Spartanburg."

[roads-scholar]

26 minutes ago, westsider28 said:

I was reading this GSA Business article and noticed a line near the end that mentioned that The Beach Company is scouting downtown Spartanburg for potential opportunities.  They've developed some pretty high-quality apartment projects in downtown Greenville, like Main + Stone, Canvas, and South Ridge.  I hope they find the right spot and decide to build here!

"Tenancy in The Beach Co.’s Greenville apartments has remained steady [...] and the company is scouting out similar mixed-development opportunities in downtown Spartanburg."

Spartanburg is beginning to attract high quality developers.  

[Spartan]

IMO, apartments are a safe bet downtown. I'm not sure the market is ready for residential with structured parking, though, so it will be interesting to see what comes of it.

[westsider28]

There's an item in Monday's City Council agenda (page 15) about extending the special tax assessment for the Aug Smith building from the current 5 years to 10 years. It's related to an agreement made when that project first occurred, that the special assessment could be extended if the developers made a second significant investment in or around downtown.  That investment has been identified, is in the planning stages, and more information will be provided in the weeks ahead.

The Aug Smith developer is Blue Wall Real Estate.  From what I could find online, they typically do adaptive re-use (though they have been involved in some new-build projects).  I hope they're renovating another one of the large, vacant East Main buildings.  Excited to find out more about the new project in the near future.

Edit: May or may not be related, but I just found out that the Carolina Cash building and the Montgomery Ward building are under-contract. 

Edited March 5, 2021 by westsider28

[Spartan]

That's great news. Personally, I hope Carolina Cash and MontgomeryWard and this Aug Smith spin-off are all separate deals.

[Spartanburg Dude]

It would be wonderful to see MW, CC and Kress buildings all get a new life! With some great residential up top! 

[westsider28]

I've been meaning to mention this, but now I found more info.  Several weeks ago, Diamond Jewelers on East Main permanently closed.  Today in the paper, I saw a VCC notice for the property, which includes the State/Rex Theater lot (see below).  Here's the full VCC document (PDF).  The City of Spartanburg Development Corporation intends to acquire the properties "to redevelop for commercial/retail use". 

Looking closely at the document, I found that the intent is to demolish the Diamond Jewelers building as part of the redevelopment (no loss there).  The State/Rex Theater was classified as "Demolished/Ruins"; I hope the facade will be preserved and incorporated in the redevelopment.  Maybe this is the Blue Wall project?  IDK, but it's exciting to see so much potential movement on this extremely important section of the downtown core!

[Spartanburg Dude]

20 hours ago, westsider28 said:

I've been meaning to mention this, but now I found more info.  Several weeks ago, Diamond Jewelers on East Main permanently closed.  Today in the paper, I saw a VCC notice for the property, which includes the State/Rex Theater lot (see below).  Here's the full VCC document (PDF).  The City of Spartanburg Development Corporation intends to acquire the properties "to redevelop for commercial/retail use". 

Looking closely at the document, I found that the intent is to demolish the Diamond Jewelers building as part of the redevelopment (no loss there).  The State/Rex Theater was classified as "Demolished/Ruins"; I hope the facade will be preserved and incorporated in the redevelopment.  Maybe this is the Blue Wall project?  IDK, but it's exciting to see so much potential movement on this extremely important section of the downtown core!

The theater facade is so cool I do hope they preserve it! It's awesome to see, this, Carolina Cash, & Montgomery Ward all being snapped up and hopefully properly redeveloped/reused.

Edited March 15, 2021 by Spartanburg Dude

[gman430]

Can somebody give me a list of projects in Spartanburg (doesn’t have to be just downtown) to get drone shots of and post on this forum? Thanks.  

[westsider28]

53 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Can somebody give me a list of projects in Spartanburg (doesn’t have to be just downtown) to get drone shots of and post on this forum? Thanks.  

Here's my personal project map on Google Maps.  The orange is where dirt is currently moving.

The main current construction would be:

--Northside (Howard & College, The Ellington, Tapestry Bon Haven apts, Robert Smalls apts on Wofford St.) 

--Renaissance Park (The Charles apts, Silver Hill)

--County Courthouse

--Avant Street townhomes (near Converse)

--Carrington

--Drayton Mills townhomes (behind DM Elem)

--Maybe Willis Road & Hwy 29 intersection further out.  There's also a ton of construction in Boiling Springs, but you're on your own there, lol.

Looking forward to your drone pics!  They're always awesome.

[gman430]

Awesome. Thank you. That map helps a ton. I doubt I’ll get up to Boiling Springs but I’ll definitely try to get the others you listed.

Edited March 19, 2021 by gman430

[gman430]

https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2021/03/31/downtown-spartanburg-diamond-jewelers-could-soon-apartments-retail-sc-development/7054147002/?for-guid=e92c5524-118e-451b-920c-0987dc4b75e4&utm_source=goupstate-Daily Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=hero

[Spartan]

4 hours ago, gman430 said:

https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2021/03/31/downtown-spartanburg-diamond-jewelers-could-soon-apartments-retail-sc-development/7054147002/?for-guid=e92c5524-118e-451b-920c-0987dc4b75e4&utm_source=goupstate-Daily Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=hero

It's really great to see some momentum building on this side of Church Street!

[spartanburgh]

I noticed that one of the old Spartan Grain Buildings was being torn down behind the AC Marriott today. It is likely just an effort to clean up 

the site, but still good to see that portion cleaned up. This site needs some serious attention.

[gman430]

$100 million in earmarks for the upcoming state budget and included with it is $12 million for downtown Spartanburg infrastructure improvements.

 

[Spartan]

On 4/28/2021 at 9:04 AM, gman430 said:

$100 million in earmarks for the upcoming state budget and included with it is $12 million for downtown Spartanburg infrastructure improvements.

 

West Main road diet or MSQ renovation?

[gman430]

16 hours ago, Spartan said:

West Main road diet or MSQ renovation?

I am honestly not sure. 

[westsider28]

16 hours ago, Spartan said:

West Main road diet or MSQ renovation?

$12 million is the exact figure the Chamber put out a year or so ago for a Morgan Square rework, so I suspect that's it.  Interesting to note the Senators who sponsored the funding request: Scott Talley, R-Spartanburg; Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg; Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg; Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee.

[westsider28]

I've seen an alcohol permit application in the paper lately for "The Cigar Experience Lounge" at 198 Ezell Street (former Upstairs Bar / Brickhouse Pizza).

Also, the Carolina Cash Co building is back up for sale, so the initial contract offer must have fallen through.

[westsider28]

On 4/28/2021 at 9:04 AM, gman430 said:

$100 million in earmarks for the upcoming state budget and included with it is $12 million for downtown Spartanburg infrastructure improvements.

This $12M made it into the final state budget.  I thought it was for Morgan Square improvements, but I've heard from a reliable source that it will support an office building and small business incubator on West Main and a new parking garage.  Possibly redevelopment of the Herald-Journal parcel and/or the Magnolia Financial parcel on Broad.  I hope we'll get more info about this soon.  Sounds very interesting.

[hub-city]

On 6/22/2021 at 1:56 PM, westsider28 said:

This $12M made it into the final state budget.  I thought it was for Morgan Square improvements, but I've heard from a reliable source that it will support an office building and small business incubator on West Main and a new parking garage.  Possibly redevelopment of the Herald-Journal parcel and/or the Magnolia Financial parcel on Broad.  I hope we'll get more info about this soon.  Sounds very interesting.

Looks like the $12M got vetoed……

[vicupstate]

5 minutes ago, hub-city said:

Looks like the $12M got vetoed……

Legislature will override it, if I had to venture a guess. 

[gman430]

.

Edited June 27, 2021 by gman430

[westsider28]

A few more nuggets of info about the $12 million in the state budget that was vetoed by the governor in this H-J article.  Some pertinent quotes: 

"There are high-impact potential projects in the blocks west and south of Morgan Square, but they cannot advance until we have a pathway to fund some of the necessary public infrastructure improvements in that area."  --City Manager Chris Story

"This economic development effort will support new Class-A office space and new residential units."  --State Rep. Max Hyde  (hadn't heard about residential)

While the method of getting these funds does seem to lack transparency (that's a separate discussion), I hope the veto is overridden by the legislature, as it seems that the money could really spur some exciting development downtown.

[gman430]

Legislature will meet tomorrow to override vetoes which is expected to happen. I hope they do going off what the money will be used for.

Edited June 29, 2021 by gman430