The Grain District

[westsider28]

Saw a notice in the paper today about a VCC for two brownfield properties at 283 and 289 Brawley Street (~1 acre).  They're currently owned by Wakefield, but West Main Partners, LLC intends to acquire the property and develop it for mixed-use commercial and multi-family residential.  The property was once used for dyeing and dry cleaning.  West Main Partners is registered to Blackstock Development, the same group who owns several parcels on West Main (355, 311, and 277 aka Piedmont Bonded Warehouse).  This could also be related to "Project Edge" mentioned on the previous page. 

And IMO, it's positive to see that Wakefield is willing to sell these properties.  Hopefully they'll eventually sell the large one next door (seems the best use might be a park).

Edited February 13, 2022 by westsider28

[westsider28]

On 1/20/2022 at 12:34 PM, westsider28 said:

Found a very interesting rendering on Seamon-Whiteside's website for a mixed-use development on the south side of West Main, just west of the RR tracks. 

I'm a bit disappointed that there seems to be no effort to preserve any of the buildings currently on-site (Cohen's and warehouses behind it), but the public park along the creek is an exciting possibility that we've talked about here in the past. 

New P&C story about this project.  Blackstock Development is planning 250-300 apartments on ~7 acres, 4 stories tall, with 10k SF of retail.  Greenspace along the creek would be created.  Cohen's would be demolished.  It's in the early phase of design, but they hope to potentially break ground before the end of 2022.

It's a small thing, but I hope the cobblestones on Warehouse Street are preserved.  That's our last cobblestone street. (Ezell Street had cobbles, but they were removed ~15 years ago during a streetscaping project)

[Spartan]

On 2/13/2022 at 11:23 AM, westsider28 said:

Saw a notice in the paper today about a VCC for two brownfield properties at 283 and 289 Brawley Street (~1 acre).  They're currently owned by Wakefield, but West Main Partners, LLC intends to acquire the property and develop it for mixed-use commercial and multi-family residential.  The property was once used for dyeing and dry cleaning.  West Main Partners is registered to Blackstock Development, the same group who owns several parcels on West Main (355, 311, and 277 aka Piedmont Bonded Warehouse).  This could also be related to "Project Edge" mentioned on the previous page. 

And IMO, it's positive to see that Wakefield is willing to sell these properties.  Hopefully they'll eventually sell the large one next door (seems the best use might be a park).

The Wakefields are good Spartans, IMO, but I doubt they will sell the car dealership. I hope Brawley Street gets reconnected, and I hope they will buy out that one sad little house back there and find those folks a better spot in town.

[westsider28]

Saw that an LLC registered to Johnson Development bought a ~0.5 acre parcel at 183 Harris Place (see below) on January 20.  As we know, Johnson Development owns the Spartan Grain site (~12 acres) just across DMA.  Definitely something big cooking in this part of downtown.

[westsider28]

On 12/5/2021 at 8:56 PM, westsider28 said:

Activity is happening on the former Spartan Grain site owned by Johnson Development.  Former Maaco at Henry and DMA has been demolished.  Asbestos remediation is happening on the grain mill building.  I really hope it isn't going to be demolished, but I'm not holding my breath.  Things definitely heating up behind the scenes.  Maybe we'll hear an announcement in the semi-near future?  This is also the area where the $12 million state budget allocation for "infrastructure improvement" is supposed to be spent.  Anyone heard anything more about the potential development plans here? 

Unfortunately, this building is currently being demolished.  And the last remnant of the Spartan Grain operation will be gone, making the "Grain District" name kind of worthless, as there will be no physical evidence of its inspiration remaining.  Johnson Development claims it wasn't fit for renovation (which is BS; they just didn't want to do the work necessary to save it), and they needed to "make the property as safe as possible" to comply with Opportunity Zone regulations.  

There better be a darn good redevelopment plan for this site, and the public better see those plans soon...

[roads-scholar]

1 hour ago, westsider28 said:

Unfortunately, this building is currently being demolished.  And the last remnant of the Spartan Grain operation will be gone, making the "Grain District" name kind of worthless, as there will be no physical evidence of its inspiration remaining.  Johnson Development claims it wasn't fit for renovation (which is BS; they just didn't want to do the work necessary to save it), and they needed to "make the property as safe as possible" to comply with Opportunity Zone regulations.  

There better be a darn good redevelopment plan for this site, and the public better see those plans soon...

I had a friend whose dad worked here.  40 years ago he and I "toured" this building.   It seemed decrepit way back then so I'm not surprised it is being demolished.  

[hub-city]

I know it’s probably a pipe dream, but I was having supper at Level 10 and was looking down at that site thinking what a great location for a ballpark.  I know it’s been discussed before….

[roads-scholar]

16 minutes ago, hub-city said:

I know it’s probably a pipe dream, but I was having supper at Level 10 and was looking down at that site thinking what a great location for a ballpark.  I know it’s been discussed before….

Nothing is a pipe dream anymore. 

[djh1963]

Does anyone know how much earmark money Spartanburg got in the state budget this year. I heard there was $12 million in the Senate budget for downtown infrastructure once again.

[Spartanburg Dude]

Damn shame that they're demolishing that building. It could have and should have been resused. Could have been really cool.

[roads-scholar]

Coming down. 

[Spartanburg Dude]

On 7/6/2022 at 7:32 PM, roads-scholar said:

Coming down. 

Not happy about this. I mean it was such a cool building and I don't believe for a minute that it was so far gone that it could not be reused. 

[roads-scholar]

21 hours ago, Spartanburg Dude said:

Not happy about this. I mean it was such a cool building and I don't believe for a minute that it was so far gone that it could not be reused. 

Maybe at one time it was a cool building but it became a decrepit eyesore.  I wouldn't invest my money in it and no smart developer would invest in it either. 
 

I predict that ten years (or less) from now we'll have long forgotten this hulk and be proud of what replaced it. 

[westsider28]

I hope the new development is good enough that we'll forget.  But a smart developer would have saved it.  It's being done regularly all over the country, because good developers know people like authentic places with a connection to the past (and will pay a premium for it).  But we largely have lazy developers who lack creativity and vision, and our history and what makes Spartanburg unique is being destroyed as a result.

I walked by the site today, and saw that the core building was structural brick nearly a foot thick.  It was solid as a rock.  Replace the wooden floors and strip off the fading paint, and we'd have had a cool industrial structure to incorporate into a new development.  

We're still demolishing too much downtown, especially when we have so few historic buildings left (and so many empty lots / parking lots).

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by westsider28

[Spartanburg Dude]

On 7/11/2022 at 9:05 PM, westsider28 said:

I hope the new development is good enough that we'll forget.  But a smart developer would have saved it.  It's being done regularly all over the country, because good developers know people like authentic places with a connection to the past (and will pay a premium for it).  But we largely have lazy developers who lack creativity and vision, and our history and what makes Spartanburg unique is being destroyed as a result.

I walked by the site today, and saw that the core building was structural brick nearly a foot thick.  It was solid as a rock.  Replace the wooden floors and strip off the fading paint, and we'd have had a cool industrial structure to incorporate into a new development.  

We're still demolishing too much downtown, especially when we have so few historic buildings left (and so many empty lots / parking lots).

 

100% this. 

[NotNotSanti]

As with many other projects, the part of me that is tired of seeing old, abandoned buildings stay an eye-sore for years, if not decades, is glad that the situation is being addressed; the part of me that loves seeing structures get repurposed, especially historically ones like these, is sad that this is the approach that was taken. I heard though that the Coca-Cola building will be saved. At least there's a win there, if it happens to be the case.

 

[westsider28]

A $4.5 million earmark has been included in the State Budget for the city's "West Main Street Strategic Growth Corridor" project (H-J article).  Goals for the 1.5-mile stretch include creating a more pedestrian friendly environment, a safer biking infrastructure, promoting mixed-use development, creating a gateway to downtown and a positive brand of the corridor.  According to Rep. Hyde, the $9 million project will include $4.5 million in earmark funds along with $4.5 million in private funds.

[westsider28]

Looks like this building is a goner, too.  R.I.P. Grain District.

Still waiting to hear/see literally anything about the "amazing" planned redevelopment here...

[westsider28]

Going down...

At least it appears they're salvaging some of the brick (there are neatly stacked pallets of bricks).

[gman430]

[Sparkleman]

Looks like a perfect spot for a ball field!

[camtology]

1 hour ago, Sparkleman said:

Looks like a perfect spot for a ball field!

along with a baseball field (which would bring a bunch of people downtown multiple times a week for a part of the year) I'd also love something like Gather Greenville in this area as well

[goodbye]

Sad to see the grain building(s) gone.  Especially after seeing the successful revitalization of The Silos in Easley.  They created The Grainyard, which would have been a nice idea in this part of Spartanburg as well (it is a railroad-themed version of Gather GVL.

[westsider28]

On 10/10/2022 at 6:11 PM, roads-scholar said:

I'm hearing rumblings of a major development out West Main.  Along with the streetscaping this could be a game changer.  
Fingers crossed.  

Moved to this thread.  I found some info on Blackstock Development's website about the planned project on the Cohen's site and up to S Walker Street (I assume this is what you're talking about).

Blackstock owns approximately 8 acres of property in downtown Spartanburg that is in the design phase on 250+/- apartment units and up to 10,000 SF of commercial space. The project is estimated to be roughly $60MM, and we anticipate breaking ground in 2023.

Current conditions:

Reminder of potential project massing I found many months ago:

[roads-scholar]

1 hour ago, westsider28 said:

Moved to this thread.  I found some info on Blackstock Development's website about the planned project on the Cohen's site and up to S Walker Street (I assume this is what you're talking about).

Blackstock owns approximately 8 acres of property in downtown Spartanburg that is in the design phase on 250+/- apartment units and up to 10,000 SF of commercial space. The project is estimated to be roughly $60MM, and we anticipate breaking ground in 2023.

Current conditions:

Reminder of potential project massing I found many months ago:

After talking with someone last night I believe this is it.