CONSTRUCTION THREAD: Riverplace

[goodbye]

And of course there is this old website as well:

http://www.hamptoninnandsuitesgreenville.com/

This is an interesting webpage showing the Woodruff Road Hampton Inn has one a WOW award.

[gs3]

Remember when...........

[cafealotaguy]

Remember when .......... (Hope they have a way to deal with this )

In this one you can see an ad for 55 Riverplace

[TREY]

IMO the trees really add a lot to this space.

Great place for a morning walk.

Remember when .......... (Hope they have a way to deal with this )

It appears to me that the large stone below the walk are at the high water level (let's hope).

I have a couple more shots of the new river walk that I am saving for photos of the day if some one else does beat me to it.

Edited May 17, 2006 by TREY

[RestedTraveler]

Wow! Very nice! Thanks, TREY!

I'll abstain from posting to the POTD tomorrow. Have at it!

[goodbye]

Great to see more GREEN adding to the new urbanscape of the Reedy River corridor.

[Chickenwing]

This place is really starting to look amazing.

[gs3]

Article in Greenville News about High Cotton opening at Riverplace. Also, the High Cotton website.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs....ENT02/605180345

http://www.mavericksouthernkitchens.com/highcotton.html

[Greenville]

Great addition to our restaurant scene! I am excited about this!

[RestedTraveler]

That's odd. I thought High Cotton was going to open in Falls Place across South Main Street from where this article says.

[vicupstate]

WYFF has clip about High Cotton. Mayor White mentioned that more restaurants, retail, and hotelS (plural) would be headed DT soon.

[adrockc2]

He could be talking about the hampton inn and the city hall site, that's two.

[gs3]

Soby has plans for a Mediterranean style restaurant at Riverplace. This could be one of the new ones the Mayor was refering to.

[LuvSC]

That's odd. I thought High Cotton was going to open in Falls Place across South Main Street from where this article says.

Just goes to show, not everything you hear -- and not everything that's posted on Urban Planet -- pans out.

[goodbye]

That is what GSABusiness Journal reported as well, but it now sounds as though High Cotton will definitely be locating in RiverPlace. I wonder what is planned for the Falls Place space?

[Greenville]

Cheesecake Factory, perhaps? I am keeping my fingers crossed, since we have heard that they are coming to Greenville.

[RestedTraveler]

Just goes to show, not everything you hear -- and not everything that's posted on Urban Planet -- pans out.

Actually, I'm fairly certain that I read about High Cotton going into Falls Palce in either the Greenville News or the GSA Business, but I cannot find a link for an online article.

[btoy]

He could be talking about the hampton inn and the city hall site, that's two.

Actually, there was an article that stated JHM was considering both The Point and Downtown for their next hotel and I can think of at least one other party looking at Greenville for a Hotel.

Actually, I'm fairly certain that I read about High Cotton going into Falls Palce in either the Greenville News or the GSA Business, but I cannot find a link for an online article.

You did, I read that too, there was an article and I am sure it is on UP somewhere that stated it was going in Falls Place, but the article was wrong. Not a big surprise.

[goodbye]

I mentioned it on UP awhile back, but obviously that "plan" has changed long ago. I do hope something unique goes into the Falls Place space. Overlooking the park and river is an advantage.

[GvilleSC]

Gosh, there's so many great resturants downtown it's GREAT!, but I wish there were more shops.

[Greenville]

Gosh, there's so many great resturants downtown it's GREAT!, but I wish there were more shops.

National retailers will be downtown and in the West End. That is the next piece of the puzzle. I like the fact that our urban development is a result of those places being a destination, rather than retail locating there simply because a large number of people live there already. In our case, people will follow development, which will have a snowball effect. I can easily picture stores like J. Crew, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Gap, etc. lining our downtown streets in the near future. Can't you?

[g-man430]

I don't know if I would like having national retailers downtown. People could go like to Haywood Mall instead of downtown if they wanted to go shopping at a national retailer. I remember a few years ago, Knox White said one of the reasons our downtown thrives is because we are unique and have local retailers instead of national retailers. I've always liked to help out the local retailers more than the national retailers. I'm personally glad we don't have national retailers downtown and I don't want to really see any either. Like if Borders came downtown it could take all of Bentley's bookshop business. It's sort of like a wal-mart effect if you know what I mean.

[RestedTraveler]

I've always felt that a healthy mix of national chains and local offerings is best to both sustain and grow downtown. I don't want Downtown Greenville to become anything like King Street in Charleston, but a few chains here and there wouldn't hurt, as long as they were kept in check and weren't allowed to take over completely.

[GvilleSC]

National retailers will be downtown and in the West End. That is the next piece of the puzzle. I like the fact that our urban development is a result of those places being a destination, rather than retail locating there simply because a large number of people live there already. In our case, people will follow development, which will have a snowball effect. I can easily picture stores like J. Crew, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Gap, etc. lining our downtown streets in the near future. Can't you?

I can see it... I'm kind of picturing something like Georgetown. but I also agree with RT. I wouldn't want it to take over! I think that if the West End OR North Main tapped into this market but left the other one free of them, that that may help...? Maybe the North End could do this? Without national Retailers, where is there for us men to shop downtown? that's not Rush Wilson's . I think that national retailers would help bring places that offer men's clothing and also mens interest. You know, no more boutiques with little pink gift cards and such... locally owned stuff caters too much to women.

[breed]

There is a significant disconnect between what local and national retailers are willing to pay in lease rates. Right now, national retailers are willing to pay the highest rates to locate in places like Woodruff Rd and Cherrydale. National retailers are largely interested in locating where they believe their stores will be most profitable. While rents are cheaper downtown, national retailers get better traffic and sales in the suburban spots, so that's where they tend to choose to locate.

Unfortunately, I don't think local retailers can reap the same rewards of locating in those suburban markets... as they lack the name recognition to attract non-local drivers.

An interesting dynamic is whether local retailers will be able to maintain their hold downtown. As the numbers get stronger and stronger, the pressure for national retailers to locate downtown will increase. The addition of Staples is a big event in this regard.