Augusta Road

[Gville2012]

Regarding the CVS on Augusta - http://upstatebusinessjournal.com/news/new-cvs-coming-augusta/

[mallguy]

Does anyone know the train schedule (admittedly a "more or less" schedule since it's a freight line) for the Norfolk Southern branch line that parallels Augusta Road from the West End until Greenville High School?

 

I'm thinking that a heritage streetcar from North Main through downtown and down Augusta Road, partially on those tracks, would be an attraction.

[greenjoesc]

Community meeting Monday concerning Lewis Plaza redevelopment. I wish I had more info, but I'll try to attend.

[gman430]

Community meeting Monday concerning Lewis Plaza redevelopment. I wish I had more info, but I'll try to attend.

The plan is or at least was for a 45,600 square feet Publix store with above store parking on two or three levels.

Edited December 14, 2014 by gman430

[mallguy]

Isn't Publix concerned about siphoning off business from the downtown store? 

[vicupstate]

Community meeting Monday concerning Lewis Plaza redevelopment. I wish I had more info, but I'll try to attend.

What is the time and place of the meeting? 

[gman430]

What is the time and place of the meeting? 

 

6:00pm at Augusta Road Baptist Church. 

[gvegascple]

Isn't Publix concerned about siphoning off business from the downtown store? 

I had heard that this might be a Harris Teeter and not a Publix, and that it would be something more like their version of Whole Foods.  I hope someone can make it to the meeting and fill us in later!  That could be an interesting anchor store for that plaza for sure.

[vicupstate]

SRO at meeting. It is Harris teeter.

No deck parking. One wing of new building, will be 2 story. P.O. will be demolished.

H.T. will be where Earth Fare was but bigger new building. Also, new Wells Fargo.

Edited December 15, 2014 by vicupstate

[GvilleSC]

That sounds awful. The old Post Office's future should not be in question. This site deserves mixed use and incorporation of its historic buildings. What a joke!

[greenjoesc]

Harris Teeter for Lewis Plaza. A unique "super flagship" variety which has several additional amenities. Dollar General will come down and a new Wells Fargo will go there. The building with Fleet Feet and Mcalisters will stay. Overall timeline is 2016 for opening.

[gman430]

Any site plans or renderings at the meeting? What about parking?

[mallguy]

Ugh, as much as I like Harris Teeter, I love my downtown Publix.

 

What store will be impacted the most? The Bilo near the hospital, maybe?

 

Wouldn't Harris Teeter plan to open a number of new stores in Greenville then?  Usually grocery stores don't open just 1 per market.

Edited December 16, 2014 by mallguy

[gman430]

I'm hearing Starbucks will be included and things got hostile at the meeting. Can anyone confirm? Not surprising if true.

HT should just open at Roper Mountain/I-385 and be done with it. Yippee Ki yay.

Edited December 16, 2014 by gman430

[GvilleSC]

Another Starbucks? I'm not impressed w anything I've heard thus far. Still baffled on how the Post Office could be even proposed for demolition.

[gman430]

Another Starbucks? I'm not impressed w anything I've heard thus far. Still baffled on how the Post Office could be even proposed for demolition.

I honestly don't see anything wrong with the tenant mix. Have you seen some of these new Harris Teeter's? They're amazing.

[GvilleSC]

I honestly don't see anything wrong with the tenant mix. Have you seen some of these new Harris Teeter's? They're amazing.

I don't agree with their demolition plans from what people have posted about it. I'm all for a HT on Augusta, but they should attempt to fit it in and make the site work.

Edited December 16, 2014 by GvilleSC

[gman430]

I don't agree with their demolition plans from what people have posted about it. I'm all for a HT on Augusta, but they should attempt to fit it in and make the site work.

Oh, I agree with you there. A parking garage should be included with the post office building saved.

[vicupstate]

All parking is surface.  I was a few minutes late for the meeting, so I may have missed some things and the explanation about the P.O. is one thing I did miss.  My guess is the P.O. has to go  (in their minds) because having it remain blocks visibility of HT, and also the additional parking is needed.  

 

The main objection people seemed to have was that the store would be open 24 hrs.  There were some on both sides of that issue, but the HT rep agreed on the spot to be open from 7-11.  There were reservations about truck deliveries and the impact of that on Aberdeen.  But bye and large, the project had more support than dissent.  An architect did say he was disappointed that the P.O. couldn't be included, and he got significant applause.  However, the developer said it is necessary and did not walk that back at all.

 

I expect the neighborhood to be split, but more for than against.  It was a big crowd.    

 

I think the Starbucks might be inside the HT, but on the corner so that it has a walk-up window with alfesco seating. 

Edited December 16, 2014 by vicupstate

[Greenville]

All parking is surface.  I was a few minutes late for the meeting, so I may have missed some things and the explanation about the P.O. is one thing I did miss.  My guess is the P.O. has to go  (in their minds) because having it remain blocks visibility of HT, and also the additional parking is needed.  

 

The main objection people seemed to have was that the store would be open 24 hrs.  There were some on both sides of that issue, but the HT rep agreed on the spot to be open from 7-11.  There were reservations about truck deliveries and the impact of that on Aberdeen.  But bye and large, the project had more support than dissent.  An architect did say he was disappointed that the P.O. couldn't be included, and he got significant applause.  However, the developer said it is necessary and did not walk that back at all.

 

I expect the neighborhood to be split, but more for than against.  It was a big crowd.    

 

I think the Starbucks might be inside the HT, but on the corner so that it has a walk-up window with alfesco seating. 

 

This all sounds really good to me.  That section of Augusta Road needs a really good grocery store, and that location is perfect for one.  I think Harris Teeter re-enterting the Greenville market will be a good thing.  Their new store concept sounds great, and I think it will add to the already great grocery options in Greenville.

 

While I would love to save the post office, I think history has shown us that a store hidden behind it does not perform as well as one with better visibility and more parking.  Starbucks makes sense too, and will do well.  Not sure why anyone would have a problem with that.

Edited December 16, 2014 by Greenville

[mallguy]

I liked the HTs on Roper Mountain Road and S. Pleasantburg & Mauldin Road in the '90s.  I'd have given HT a better shot at doing well then, since the only higher-end grocery competition back then was the Fresh Market.  Now there are Publix locations around town plus Whole Foods.  Wonder why HT thinks that the second time around will work?

[greenjoesc]

Starbucks will be inside the grocery store. There will also be a second floor wine bar area. On the side of the grocery store, there is going to be a small green space.

[Exile]

I like HT also, and I hope they learned their lesson last time. They only had two stores (I think) back in the 90's, one at Mauldin Rd and 291 and the other out near Foxcroft. Then they opened a much larger store on Roper Mtn at 385 and were pummeled by Publix within a couple of years.

 

I suppose if it were a true competitor with Whole Foods they could come in on a smaller scale, though.

 

Ugh, as much as I like Harris Teeter, I love my downtown Publix.

 

What store will be impacted the most? The Bilo near the hospital, maybe?

 

Wouldn't Harris Teeter plan to open a number of new stores in Greenville then?  Usually grocery stores don't open just 1 per market.

[Jael]

That Roper Mtn location was terrible because of the traffic. I was working at Patewood back then and would head down Pelham to Bilo after work even though HT was closer because the traffic at that intersection made it nearly impossible to get in and out and onto 385 to head home.

[sc smitty]

They went on and on how they wanted this to be a unique store and the best Harris Teeter in the state.  I didn't see anything that unique about it.  It's basically a big box with a sea of parking in front of it.  I was surprised they wouldn't make an effort to bring the building up closer to the road and hide some of the parking on the interior.  The current site layout does a much better job of breaking up the parking lot around the buildings.  The Harris Teeter in downtown Charleston does a much nicer job of taking an existing warehouse building and reusing it as part of the grocery store to create a much more unique store that fits into its context.  It's a shame something similar couldn't be looked at and work with the old post office.  The whole thing looks very disappointing to me and not at all in keeping with the scale and quality I would think should be demanded for Augusta St.