The Grain District

[Spartan]

I think that's pretty cool. Hopefully it will be along Main St somewhere so you can see across the city.

[Spartan]

So I was in town a couple of weeks ago, and I noticed that there has been a lot of progress in the Grain District. The logo is everywhere (like the wall on Daniel Morgan Ave, the RJR silo, etc), and the RJR area in general looks great. It's great to see that the Grain District concept is alive and well!

[westsider28]

I forgot about this thread. Moving this over here, since it fits better.

I liked this H-J article on potential growth spurred by the AC Hotel.  Roger Snyder (who owns the old grain mill land on DM) is exploring options for his property.  And the owners of the warehouse building behind Cohen's (across the tracks) said "a developer from Washington D.C. has expressed interest in redeveloping the property. The project could include apartments, an art gallery and outdoor spaces near Butterfly and Fairforest creeks."  I've always thought that building would be a good place for artists' studios or maybe a brewery ala the River Arts District in Asheville.  Hope we see lots of new development in this area in the next few years!

[westsider28]

The owner of the building that Hub-Bub vacated several months ago is converting the Showroom space (2nd floor) into 6 apartments to join the 4 apartments on the 3rd floor.  He also mentioned increased interest in the ground-floor restaurant space (formerly Zarza) due to the AC Hotel.  He said three restaurant groups are considering the space, but no lease has been signed.

[Spartan]

That's great news! I'm glad there is renewed interest in that space. 

Do you think they will rename the street back to whatever it was prior to Hub-bub?

[westsider28]

Not particularly exciting, but the CarQuest / Spartan Auto on West Main by the railroad tracks has been rebranded as an Advance Auto Parts.  I REALLY wish they would sell the older building on the downtown side of the tracks that they don't seem to be using.  It could be a great space for a bar or something, despite it being so close to the tracks (plus it will be a "no horn zone" soon thanks to the AC Hotel).

[westsider28]

The 6 new apartments on the 2nd floor of the old Hub-Bub building are now complete (H-J article).  They're still looking for a restaurant tenant for the ground floor, but they have a lot of interest.  The article said building owner Greg Atkins "plans to fix up more structures and develop in the area around the Hub-Bub building on land that he owns."  There really aren't any existing buildings around there, so I don't know what that's about.  But he does own a lot of land in the area.

Also, while checking GIS to see what land Atkins (West End Properties) owns, I found that the parcel on West Main near the RR tracks with Cohen's and those warehouses behind it in the gully was recently (May 2016) purchased by "Tiger Paw Properties LLC".  I hope this means we'll see more action in the Grain District in the near future.

[hub-city]

Is there a thread for the new Royce Camp building beside Carrage House Wines?   I didn't see one, but wanted to make sure.  The construction fencing is now up with heavy grading equipment inside ready to start excavating! 

[westsider28]

Just found a Daniel Morgan streetscaping project on the City Bids website (bids due by 12/13).  It's for the east side of DM from West Main to Harris Place.  It would significantly widen that sidewalk, add street trees, and add 16 on-street parallel parking spaces.  The street itself would be narrowed to one lane in each direction and a median turn lane (3 lanes total).  I suspect this may only be Phase 1 for DM, with more streetscaping to come, likely based on development.

Edited November 28, 2016 by westsider28

[Historyguy]

City Council will consider bids for the streetscaping project along Daniel Morgan between West Main and Harris Place tonight.  

From the packet:  

Staff recently received bids for improvements to Daniel Morgan Avenue between W. Main Street and Harris Place. This project will create additional outdoor public space, significantly improve pedestrian mobility in the area around the new AC Hotel, and encourage the private redevelopment of nearby buildings. It includes the replacement and widening of the sidewalk (eastern side) of Daniel Morgan Avenue. The work will include extra sidewalk width for outdoor dining, street trees, pedestrian lighting, and on-street parking. The new sidewalk will be approximately 12’ in width. Fifteen (15) on-street parking spaces will be added. Staff plans to immediately proceed with construction. Depending on weather, project completion is expected by mid-March. Staff will stay in contact with impacted businesses and building owners during the project to minimize disruption.

The low bid was $207,971, to be paid out of Broad Street TIF district funds.  

One more project on the downtown improvements bucket list getting underway...  I'll post pictures later if I go to City Council tonight.  

[Historyguy]

Well, no designs or schematics, so I have no pictures to post, but the way it was described, it'll be a lot like the work on Magnolia Street.  The bid was approved, so I suspect work will begin very soon.  

[westsider28]

Here's an H-J article about the streetscaping.  I actually posted a pic in the Grain District thread back when the project was out for bids.  But here's a more detailed version.  Looks really good to me.

[Spartan]

The previous three posts were relocated from the Downtown Developments thread.

I'm glad to see this moving forward. DM Ave is one of the relatively few streets that can be easily dieted in Spartanburg (the other one being Union Street). This street is also the common link for most of the Grain District, so hopefully this will help spur more development off of Main St. I hope that they are able to to the north side at some point as well (at least to St John St)

[roads-scholar]

2 hours ago, Spartan said:

The previous three posts were relocated from the Downtown Developments thread.

I'm glad to see this moving forward. DM Ave is one of the relatively few streets that can be easily dieted in Spartanburg (the other one being Union Street). This street is also the common link for most of the Grain District, so hopefully this will help spur more development off of Main St. I hope that they are able to to the north side at some point as well (at least to St John St)

I'm still hoping (dreaming, yearning) that East Main between Converse and Pine can be dieted.  Its too wide for the amount of vehicular traffic

[westsider28]

@roads-scholar Totally agree on East Main road diet.  I think maybe the fact that less development would be spurred (because most lots are occupied w/long term users, i.e. churches) makes it less of a priority for the City?  But it is desperately needed. (sorry for going a bit off-topic)

Bringing the discussion back to the Grain District, I think the section of DMA from Main to St John may be dieted next year as the Royce Camp mixed-use building at the corner of Main & DMA is finishing up.  I mean, the City already restriped it, but I presume we're talking about more substantial streetscaping (wider sidewalks, bulb-outs, trees, etc).  I feel like that would fit the City's streetscaping MO. (ex. Wall Street redo with 201 Wall mixed-use building)

Edited January 10, 2017 by westsider28

[Spartan]

It's a different scenario on East Main. You don't have TIF funding available since the land uses along that corridor are stable (churches and new office buildings) and there is relatively little space for the amount of redevelopment that would be enough to pay for a road diet via taxes.

I think East Main gets dieted eventually. It's still relatively low hanging fruit.

[westsider28]

DMA streetscaping is underway.  The City posted this photo yesterday:

[westsider28]

The first bit of curbing has been poured for the DMA streetscaping project.

[Spartan]

Interesting. I didn't realize they were only widening the sidewalk on one side.

[westsider28]

Yeah.  The City is waiting to do the other side until there's a concrete plan for the Snyder site.  No reason to do it now.  The City will be doing some streetscaping around the AC Hotel, though (once it's closer to being finished).

[westsider28]

Here are a few photos of DMA streetscaping progress.  The new sidewalks are WIDE.  It will make for a very comfortable stroll; big improvement from previous conditions.  It also looks like they expanded the scope of the project an extra block to Henry, which makes sense.  That should add an extra 6+ parking spaces, and maybe the Art Park will get more use.  No work is being done on the block next to the H-J building yet.

[westsider28]

Another quick photo update of DMA streetscaping.  The section from Harris to Henry is basically done.  They're now starting on the section from Main to Broad (next to H-J).  Just a couple spots left to finish otherwise.

Edited March 7, 2017 by westsider28
Added updated pic by H-J showing where expanded sidewalk, bump-outs, and parallel parking will be.

[westsider28]

The DMA streetscaping is almost finished.  The street has been restriped, some landscaping is in, and most streetlights are in.  There are 2 power poles that I think need to be moved down near the former Hub-Bub building before the final few feet are paved.  I suspect Duke Energy is dragging their feet; they often do that.  Anyway, it's looking good.

[Spartan]

On 3/28/2017 at 8:51 PM, westsider28 said:

The DMA streetscaping is almost finished.  The street has been restriped, some landscaping is in, and most streetlights are in.  There are 2 power poles that I think need to be moved down near the former Hub-Bub building before the final few feet are paved.  I suspect Duke Energy is dragging their feet; they often do that.  Anyway, it's looking good.

Duke is the absolute worst. They've delayed road projects in Charlotte by two years because they won't move their poles.

[westsider28]

The Herald-Journal had an article about various road closures, and I did not realize there was going to be such large water main replacement projects on West Main and DMA.  Those projects will last until July and October, respectively.

There will also be a streetscaping project that will redo the intersection of West Main and DMA with decorative brick, so it will be closed to traffic for ~4 weeks.  I wish there was a rendering/plan that showed what it will look like.  The closest thing I know of is this old landscape plan for the AC Hotel (top right corner), but I don't know how accurate it is.