Additional urban centers in SC cities

[GvilleSC]

Greenville's possible new urban center got initial approval today from city council and some more specifics were released:

"McChesney proposes to cover about 75 acres at The Point development with 500,000 square feet of new shopping, 600,000 square feet of new office space, a 420-room hotel, 1,225 condos and 1,125 apartments."

[interestedexpat]

Waccamatt is right - the cul de sac is largely a mechanism to keep traffic off your street. If it doesn't go through - then you don't get through traffic. This lowers the traffic count and in some neighborhoods functions for crime prevention. For instance - I once lived on a street that changed direction (one way - switched) to cut down on the drug dealing. Switching directions made it a ton less convenient for people swooping in from the suburbs. Changing the one way worked like a charm.

Interesting discussion about the impact of all these suburban projects on downtown. In light of the struggles of the Pinnacle and the scaling back of the Peacock... are any of these suburban projects likely to stall as well? It sounds like if anything they are picking up steam. So all the downtown projects are either stalling or struggling and all the suburban projects are rockin' and rollin'? Please tell me I've got it wrong.

[Captain Worley]

Thanks for the cul-de-sac info! Never thought of it that way, but it makes sense.

[CorgiMatt]

Columbia City Council approved a 500-home development along the Columbia Canal with retail designed in an urban manner fronting Broad River Road near the canal. The developer is new in town and has done lots of development in Atlanta among other cities. I saw this on cable channel 2.

[GvilleSC]

Interesting discussion about the impact of all these suburban projects on downtown. In light of the struggles of the Pinnacle and the scaling back of the Peacock... are any of these suburban projects likely to stall as well? It sounds like if anything they are picking up steam. So all the downtown projects are either stalling or struggling and all the suburban projects are rockin' and rollin'? Please tell me I've got it wrong.

[krazeeboi]

^And it's just the fact that suburban stuff is just easier to build, period. Our culture is still fascinated with suburbia by and large.

The scaling down of the Peacock is unfortunate. I was really diggin' the design, and it would have truly been an icon for Greenville.

[GvilleSC]

The scaling down of the Peacock is unfortunate. I was really diggin' the design, and it would have truly been an icon for Greenville.

[gs3]

WYFF4 had some pictures about the McChesney project on the news tonight. I assume they are of Greenville's development-- though I can't find them online. It looked Amazing and they also discussed mass transit on the story. The price tag: $600 Million with "major" construction starting next year. Looks like more GREAT exposure along I-85 to join Hubbell.

[GvilleSC]

Ok, guys, here's the website for Greenville's next urban center. Check it out: The Point Greenville

[Spartan]

Thanks for that info.

Just off the top of my head, that appears to be more than what was proposed at the Richland Mall/Midtown at Forest Acres site, but the setup will possibly be the same. There's supposed to be some forthcoming information about new ownership, so who knows what might come. The Point might be more along the lines of Magnolia or Noisette in Charleston. Maybe if Charleston_native or Mikeslogic get around to this thread, they could make a better comparison.

Precisely; there are no major diferences amongst the Big Three in that regard. The only difference is that they all come in different packaging.

[GvilleSC]

In Greenville you have a very unique combination of developments coming together. The land grab that has been going on since Mr Hollingsworth passed away and the ensuing development onslaught along I-85 is unprescedented in South Carolina. The volume of undeveloped land that is relatively central with in Greenville's urban area along one of the busiest interstates in the US has been Greenville's ally. I-85 between Woodruff Rd and Laurens Rd is going to be a very unique place, and based on the plans that the Gville folks have shared with us, it will be decided urban in feel, even in spie of it being in suburbia. Like many of you have pointed out, the best way to reclaim suburbia is to build the new things the right way.

Think about it- with Verdae, ICAR, The Point, and Magnolia Park (Gville Mall)- you have a lot of quality development and redevelopment (most of which is mixed use) going into one area. It has the potential to change many things. One major caveat that remains to be resolved is transportation. How will all of this development impact Woodruff Rd and Laurens Rd? With GTA's future still undecided and yet contrasted with the desire for adding transit- BRT- it remains to be seen how this development will impact the traffic patterns.

[distortedlogic]

Great looking video (click on the play button)! It kinda makes Verdae look like low density open pastures. I always thought it would have been nice for part of Verdae to resemble this. Anyone know if there is a similar video for Verdae?

[monsoon]

....

One major development that we've left out is not in one of the big three. In Myrtle Beach the redevelopment of the Air Force Base is something very much in line with the projects we talk about in the other cities. Its a massive mixed use community complete wiht a new retail center, and will not be unlike the Point in Greenville. Also, there is the redevelopment of Myrtle Square Mall, into a mixed use urban development similar to what they want to do with Richland Mall in Columbia.

[krazeeboi]

Spartan, that was a good breakdown of what's going on in the Big Three and how it relates to urbanity and the development of additional urban cores. I think that in the future, Spartanburg's model will be a mix of Columbia's and Greenville's approaches, as there is ample land for much urban development downtown, and a large mixed-use development is going to be developed off I-85 in Spartanburg County as well (and I'd also love to see some development come to the I-26 corridor).

For a visual of Greenville's unique emerging urban center in suburbia, check out this video: The Point. Without playing it, the shot shows the Point (the 3-d massings) in its relation to Verdae (the colored site plan), I-85 (between the two), Carolina First (to the right of the massings), CU-ICAR (top right), and Magnolia Park (white buildings at bottom left).

[Spartan]

Spartanburg is seeing similar types of proposals and development in suburbia, but its at a smaller scale, and notably less urban in nature. If the Cherokee Springs new urban village ever gets built, that could really change the nature of things. But that remains to be seen I suppose. While I would like it if Spartanburg had the same momentum and scale of developments going on in the other big cities in SC, its just not happening at this time.

My mom says, unfortunately, the construction is of poor quality and isn't very inviting though she was happy about the large public park and though it was well thought out.

[erm1981]

Can you imagine how bad traffic will be on I-85 when all these projects in greenville and spartanburg get built. It might get us to the nightmare situation spartan was talking about to get us some rail. Im sure they are already talking about widening I-85

[GvilleSC]

Im sure they are already talking about widening I-85

[erm1981]

....around 2030....