Northside Developments

westsider28 · October 24, 2020

They are really hauling on 500 NS Station. Already started on the 2nd floor!

westsider28 · November 3, 2020

The Herald-Journal recently published an article with a pretty comprehensive look at Northside development. The new thing I saw mentioned was that there's a preliminary agreement to develop the Aden Warehouses (along RR tracks behind Cleveland Academy and Star Mill) into commercial and retail space. The developer is Rob Howell of Avison Young, and I suspect it would be pretty similar to their Hampton Station development in Greenville.

Here's the latest Northside newsletter (PDF), which also has some updates. Village at Creekside should start near the end of the year, and The Ellington and 500 NS Station should be completed in Fall 2021. Also, the apartments at the former Bon Haven site should be done by late summer 2021.

Here are some photos from this past weekend:

Star Mill:

Bon Haven apartments:

500 NS Station:

Grading and site work has begun for the Northside Townhomes between Raindrop and Milan:

westsider28 · November 5, 2020

So the Church Street commercial project came before the DRB again yesterday, mainly for site placement guidance (still not any formal approvals). They wanted confirmation that fronting just Church was okay, basically. There was a lot of discussion and trying to grapple with how to apply the Urban Code guidelines to this difficult site. There were also some heavy-hitters in the Zoom expressing support for the project, like Bill Barnet, SRHS CEO, Wofford CFO, and the Northside Voyagers head. The DRB eventually accepted the general siting, but will require an enhancement of the Magnolia streetscape (wider sidewalk and trees, but no street parking). The project still needs preliminary approval and final approval, so it will continue to be refined.

Like I said last time, this is a tough one. One DRB member worried about the Church Street side being dead, since the focus is on the interior outdoor plaza. I agree, but on the other hand, that may actually make the Magnolia side feel more lively, even though there's parking there. IMO, Magnolia has much more walkable urban potential than Church (with all its high-speed car traffic), so it's important that there's activity along there. I don't know. I'm warming up to the project a bit. Here's an updated site plan (drive-thru was thankfully removed) and some renderings:

Edited November 5, 2020 by westsider28

mainonmain · November 5, 2020

I don't know how locked in the architectural renderings are to what they're thinking design-wise, but if this is where they're heading, I kind of like that it has a Wofford campus design feel. Situated right between the campus and Northside Station where there are Wofford residential units and eventually (if not already) plans for some type of Wofford curriculum/programming , this would provide a nice link. Not sure if the developer and Wofford have discussed trying to target tenants that would be attractive to college students, but that would make a lot of sense and the design "cues" would help make it feel like an extension of the main campus and hopefully encourage more students and professors to cross Church Street.

Edited November 5, 2020 by mainonmain

westsider28 · November 5, 2020

2 hours ago, mainonmain said:

I don't know how locked in the architectural renderings are to what they're thinking design-wise, but if this is where they're heading, I kind of like that it has a Wofford campus design feel. Situated right between the campus and Northside Station where there are Wofford residential units and eventually (if not already) plans for some type of Wofford curriculum/programming , this would provide a nice link. Not sure if the developer and Wofford have discussed trying to target tenants that would be attractive to college students, but that would make a lot of sense and the design "cues" would help make it feel like an extension of the main campus and hopefully encourage more students and professors to cross Church Street.

The architecture will be reviewed at a later DRB meeting, but the developers mentioned that the connection to Wofford design is intended.

They are definitely targeting tenants that would be attractive to Wofford students. The Wofford CFO mentioned how students need something close by that they can easily walk to. I believe the hope is to create something of a new, small "college row" here, like many college towns have had for decades.

westsider28 · November 14, 2020

Here are two awesome aerial photos of the renovated Star Mill from SeamonWhiteside's Facebook page.

westsider28 · November 17, 2020

Here are some photos from this past weekend.

Bon Haven apartments:

500 NS Station:

Edited November 17, 2020 by westsider28

roads-scholar · November 17, 2020

10 hours ago, westsider28 said:

Here are some photos from this past weekend.

Bon Haven apartments:

500 NS Station:

The Northside is buzzing with activity!

westsider28 · December 2, 2020

A few updates from this past weekend.

Bon Haven apartments:

The Ellington senior apartments:

500 Northside apartments:

westsider28 · December 14, 2020

500 NS apartments:

Retaining wall at townhomes site:

The Ellington:

Bon Haven apartments:

westsider28 · December 21, 2020

The Ellington up to the 3rd floor:

Here's another awesome aerial photo by Marcos Gomez (dellfrio on Instagram) of the heart of Northside development:

westsider28 · January 6, 2021

The commercial project at the former Sunshine Inn site received preliminary approval at tonight's DRB meeting. The main sticking point of Magnolia Street was resolved as it will have a 2 ft grass strip, 6 ft sidewalk, and 6ft of landscaping (trees/bushes) which also serves as a parking lot screen. Church Street will be 6 ft of landscaping and 8 ft sidewalk. The only thing the DRB thought could be improved would be to make the north end of the building more prominent to welcome those coming from the north. Here are some renderings that were presented:

westsider28 · January 11, 2021

Photo update from this week

Bon Haven apartments:

The Ellington:

Northside Station / Commons / Townhomes:

Robert Smalls affordable housing site:

I found a tweet from BMarko Structures (out of Georgia) about a modular-wood apartment project in Spartanburg that I'm pretty sure is this one. On the one hand, I'm excited that they're trying an innovative new construction method that has the potential to be more affordable to build than conventional construction. But on the other hand, I'm a little nervous about the quality and long-term durability of a less-tested approach. Anyway, I hope they turn out well. They'll at least be way better than Norris Ridge.

Edited January 11, 2021 by westsider28

Spartan · January 12, 2021

On 11/4/2020 at 10:18 PM, westsider28 said:

So the Church Street commercial project came before the DRB again yesterday, mainly for site placement guidance (still not any formal approvals). They wanted confirmation that fronting just Church was okay, basically. There was a lot of discussion and trying to grapple with how to apply the Urban Code guidelines to this difficult site. There were also some heavy-hitters in the Zoom expressing support for the project, like Bill Barnet, SRHS CEO, Wofford CFO, and the Northside Voyagers head. The DRB eventually accepted the general siting, but will require an enhancement of the Magnolia streetscape (wider sidewalk and trees, but no street parking). The project still needs preliminary approval and final approval, so it will continue to be refined.

Like I said last time, this is a tough one. One DRB member worried about the Church Street side being dead, since the focus is on the interior outdoor plaza. I agree, but on the other hand, that may actually make the Magnolia side feel more lively, even though there's parking there. IMO, Magnolia has much more walkable urban potential than Church (with all its high-speed car traffic), so it's important that there's activity along there. I don't know. I'm warming up to the project a bit. Here's an updated site plan (drive-thru was thankfully removed) and some renderings:

I think this is a great building for Spartanburg. Its going to be a long time before Church Street is a walkable environment, so it will be to our advantage to have buildings that front the street. One day, it will just "gel" as we hit a critical mass of buildings and people. This is foundational, and represents good progress.

roads-scholar · January 12, 2021

On 1/5/2021 at 7:32 PM, westsider28 said:

The commercial project at the former Sunshine Inn site received preliminary approval at tonight's DRB meeting. The main sticking point of Magnolia Street was resolved as it will have a 2 ft grass strip, 6 ft sidewalk, and 6ft of landscaping (trees/bushes) which also serves as a parking lot screen. Church Street will be 6 ft of landscaping and 8 ft sidewalk. The only thing the DRB thought could be improved would be to make the north end of the building more prominent to welcome those coming from the north. Here are some renderings that were presented:

Do you think this project is on par with the United Community Bank Plaza (Pine & Main)? By "on par" I mean quality of construction and quality of tenant mix.

westsider28 · January 12, 2021

4 hours ago, roads-scholar said:

Do you think this project is on par with the United Community Bank Plaza (Pine & Main)? By "on par" I mean quality of construction and quality of tenant mix.

It seems very similar. It was referenced a few times in the DRB meetings as a comparable project.
I think this one has the potential to be more active/vibrant due to the large outdoor space and its proximity to Wofford. But it also depends on the tenants they can get.

westsider28 · January 17, 2021

Progress at Northside projects.

Brick going up on NS apartments:

The Ellington:

Bon Haven apartments:

westsider28 · February 1, 2021

Northside Gateway Art Committee selects Brooklyn-based Olalekan Jeyifous for new iconic public art at the corner of College and Howard Streets.

He has created large-scale installations for a variety of public spaces in Alexandria, VA, Grand Rapids, MI, Durham, NC, and Cleveland, OH.

The next steps for the Northside Gateway Art project include a site visit by Jeyifous to continue the planning and community engagement process for the art project. The work is scheduled to be completed by summer 2022.

Here's Jeyifous' website. His works look to be colorful and contemporary; something we need more of here, IMO. Excited to see what he comes up with!

westsider28 · February 10, 2021

As of this past weekend, the site of the townhomes on the Milan/Raindrop block looks ready for alley paving and for concrete slabs:

And cladding continues to go up on the Northside Station apartment building:

Saw an RFP for site work at the Village at Creekside project in the paper a few days ago with a deadline of March 2, so we'll hopefully see construction start late-March, early-April?

westsider28 · February 14, 2021

There's finally confirmation of an official name and a webpage on the developer's site for the Tapestry Bon Haven apartments. Nice aerial from January as well: