Augusta Road

[vicupstate]

Will the 4 townhouses at Prentiss be facing Augusta with parking in the back? Which corner is the CVS going on at that intersection and which two storefronts are renovating?

 

Thanks!

Yes, fronting Augusta with parking in back.  The CVS is going across Faris from Walgreens. It is a half-empty strip center now.  The storefronts are currently chain-fenced off they are on the Fire house side of Augusta. 

[johnpro318]

Yes, fronting Augusta with parking in back.  The CVS is going across Faris from Walgreens. It is a half-empty strip center now.  The storefronts are currently chain-fenced off they are on the Fire house side of Augusta. 

 

Thanks. Love that this area is gaining some density. I expect a lot more mulifamily developments will pop up in the coming years.

[gman430]

The CVS will have decorative architecture, benches, lots of landscaping, wide sidewalks, etc. also.

Edited May 20, 2014 by gman430

[gman430]

Well, it looks like that grocery store at Lewis Plaza is finally going to happen.

[greenjoesc]

Do we know a brand? Do we know what happens to Lewis Plaza itself?

[gman430]

Do we know a brand? Do we know what happens to Lewis Plaza itself?

Probably Publix from what I hear. No clue what happens to Lewis Plaza itself.

[scgubers]

Probably Publix from what I hear. No clue what happens to Lewis Plaza itself.

I've heard talk of a publix greenwise. If you think about it it makes pretty good sense.

[Gville2012]

http://greenvillesc.gov/PlanningZoning/PlanningApplications/Applications/2014/JUNE/PlanningCommission/06-12-2014/MFD-14-166-WestPrentissandAugustaStreet.pdf

[ausrutherford]

http://greenvillesc.gov/PlanningZoning/PlanningApplications/Applications/2014/JUNE/PlanningCommission/06-12-2014/MFD-14-166-WestPrentissandAugustaStreet.pdf

 

Getting an error. 

[GvilleSC]

There's an article on Augusta Walk (YWCA) development in the UBJ. The elevation looks pretty nice, with 3 story residences up on Augusta. The 3.7 acre development will have 24 homes and prices will range from 700,000-800,000. This is really going to help turn that area around (between this, Claussen Bakery renovations, old Wilkins House site, Scott Towers redevelopment, etc all within a very close proximity).

[gman430]

United Community Bank coming to Augusta and Grove Roads. Ground was broken for the bank yesterday.

Edited June 12, 2014 by gman430

[vicupstate]

 

On Augusta Street, a bridge is rising.

Not the literal kind with deck and trusses, but a movement, a turning of the tides.

Augusta Street, once lined with the grand mansions of Greenville's forefathers, is seeing a wave of development that is "unprecedented" for the corridor sometimes called a bridge from the West End to Augusta Road, said Mayor Knox White.

"If any sector has always been somewhat blighted, not much happening, it would be that section, always," White said.

Not for much longer.

At least five plans have been built, announced or submitted to the city in the last year, including two residential projects and the $6 million renovation of an iconic bakery. Other sites — Scott Tower and Lewis Plaza — are in transition, their futures unclear.

GreenvilleOnline.com first reported one development last month at the former Claussen Bakery, which developers plan to transform into modern office spaces with a view of Fluor Field.

McMillan Pazdan Smith, a local architectural firm, will relocate from its downtown offices to occupy the second floor of 400 Augusta St., said Joe Pazdan, managing principal.

Two blocks down, commercial real estate company RealtyLink is under contract to buy the YWCA property, listed for $3 million, and build 24 detached single-family homes. The subdivision will be called Augusta Walk "because you can walk downtown," said developer Neil Wilson.

More new homes are springing up on West Prentiss and Augusta. Two banks. And on the estate of William T. Wilkins, an assisted-living home anticipated to bring $20 million in investment.

So what's behind the recent movement?

The developers behind these projects all say it was only a matter of time before Augusta Street changed from what it is now. More than once, they used the words "missing link."

White, who as a mayoral candidate years ago opened his campaign headquarters on Augusta, sees it as the inevitable rollout from downtown's renaissance. The $5 million redesign of the Church Street bridge from bypass to boulevard was another driver, he said.

As with any inner-city redevelopment, however, there are also concerns.

Housing friction

The YWCA at 700 Augusta St. once boasted its own swimming pool. Classrooms were full, the child development center open.

"We've seen a decline," said Ashley Cuttino, chair of the Young Women's Christian Association board.

The organization decided to put the 38,000-square-feet building on the market, as only a fraction of the footprint had been in use in recent years, Cuttino told Greenville planning commissioners at a recent meeting.

She and two others spoke in favor of RealtyLink's proposed single-family subdivision over the objections of nearby Greater Sullivan residents, who said the homes going for $700,000 and up are out of scale with their historically black community.

Augusta Walk homes would average 3,000 square feet in size, have two-car garages and back up against Burns Street, the main entrance into Sullivan, said Horace Butler, the neighborhood association's president.

Others said the development would inflate property values, pricing residents out of their homes. The proposed height and lot sizes also don't meet Sullivan's adopted design guidelines.

"We have asked them over and over again to become a part of our community, not have their backs to us," Butler said.

Wilson, the developer, said significant changes have been made to the design after input from residents but that the high price point is tied to the cost of the property.

One block up, affordable housing is still in the picture on the site where Scott Tower was razed, though the original deal with a national developer has since fallen through, said Andy Arnold, chair of the Housing Authority board.

Preliminary plans from McCormick Baron Salazar that called for a 250-unit, mixed-used development recently reached an "impasse," Arnold said in an email.

While the original concept of affordable and low-income housing is still feasible, Arnold said the Housing Authority is now considering "all of its options, including looking for potential partners for redevelopment."

The 14-story public housing project for seniors came down in January after serious structural issues were found, leading to its closure.

New efforts to develop the site won't begin until a new executive director is hired, Arnold said.

The old and the new

Back up Augusta Street, the long-vacant Claussen Bakery will soon see new life, with McMillan Pazdan Smith as its primary anchor.

Glass, metal and concrete will be woven into the original brick building built in 1930, where the Claussen name is still embedded, according to design plans submitted to the city.

"It'll be a nice complement of taking an older building and modernizing it," said Pazdan, managing principal.

The firm, which employs about 60 people, will occupy almost the entire second floor of the old bakery for a total of 17,000 square feet. Another 16,000 square feet of space is available downstairs for multiple tenants.

A move-in date is set for December.

The factory is a nostalgic landmark for many longtime Greenville residents, including Pazdan, who can still remember clearly early morning runs by Greenville High School and the smell of fresh bread baking.

Scott Tower was then known as Graham Field, home of Furman baseball. The Wilkins House had been leased to Jones Mortuary. In 1948, Lewis Plaza opened, the product of local developer R.M. Caine, who came across a kind of shopping center he had never seen before while stationed in California during World War II.

All are pieces of history being reshaped by progress.

Ground is expected to break on an 88,000-square-foot assisted living home at the corner of Wilkins and Augusta streets late this year, said Dan Simmons, who is redeveloping the $2.2 million property once the Wilkins House is relocated.

The facility will have assisted living as well as a memory care ward and be made to look "as residential as possible," Simmons said.

What will happen to Lewis Plaza — the complex at the heart of Augusta Road retail — is less clear.

The current owners, AVTEX Commercial Properties, purchased the nearly 50,000-square-feet shopping center for $4.25 million in 2011 with plans to build a grocery store on the site, according to White.

Preliminary plans that have been shown to the city "would require a lot of zoning variances and maybe even zoning changes," White said.

AVTEX representatives couldn't be reached for comment.

Many of the plaza's original anchors are now long gone — Belk-Simpson, Sutton Shoes and Winfred Gravley's barber shop. More recently, two retailers, Ten Thousand Villages and Gage's, also have relocated.

"Anybody who drives over there can see that it's in transition to something," White said.

What that is, "We don't exactly know yet," he said.

CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE

The Scott Tower site is back on the drawing board.  

[gman430]

Another dead project for downtown. Just perfect.

[scgubers]

Another dead project for downtown. Just perfect.

 

I don't know why you're whining so much. It's the story of development. Not every project announced is going to get built immediately. :facepalm:

[Gville2012]

It could end up working out for the better too... never know.

[gman430]

I don't know why you're whining so much. It's the story of development. Not every project announced is going to get built immediately. :facepalm:

You're right...at least in Greenville.

[vicupstate]

It could end up working out for the better too... never know.

True.  There were plans for the old Woolworth/ONE site years ago.  It was nice enough, but it was a small fraction of what is there now.  

[gman430]

A site grading permit has been issued for the old Scott Towers site. Weird.

[ausrutherford]

A site grading permit has been issued for the old Scott Towers site. Weird.

 

Maybe to get rid of the foundation elements to form a field until they can build?

[gman430]

 

[Galley]

I hope they keep the Claussen Bakery sign.

[greenjoesc]

Has anyone seen renderings of what will go between S-W paints and the nail place on Augusta rd / Faris rd? I know there is a new parking lot being proposed back there, but was unsure of the retail space.

[sc smitty]

Has anyone seen renderings of what will go between S-W paints and the nail place on Augusta rd / Faris rd? I know there is a new parking lot being proposed back there, but was unsure of the retail space.

New retail space is going in to match the Starbucks / Zoe's Kitchen side.  The new buildings will have entrances facing both Augusta and the interior side of the development, with all parking on the interior, and landscaped space replacing the old asphalt on the street side.  The LA Nails building will be incorporated as well.

[btoy]

I do not know the answer to that question, but something to think about...a site needs to be made available for Firehouse Subs so that they can relocate and the center they are in torn down for the CVS to move forward.  So, maybe they will be going there?

[greenjoesc]

There is a sign in front of Firehouse Subs that says they have moved to Haywood rd. It's next to Mens Warehouse. The Augusta rd location is now vacant.