awp69

Been there a few times as well. It was jam packed last weekend. I think it’s already doing / will do better than people think.

I don’t see Lucille’s Music and Comedy Venue on that site plan either but that’s still on the website as coming in 2024.

Music / comedy venue is a nice addition at least.

Had been on City-Data for years but it’s been crickets over there on this project so decided to skip on over here. Been so out of the loop that I had no idea that Cinergy was gone from the plans. A shame. That’s the one thing I was looking forward to there was some other option for cinema in town. Wonder if Hughes could entice Alamo to consider the area again. A dine-in theater seems like a sure thing in this market. Get it done already!

Still no news on which theater chain this will be?

Anyone know what is being built on Woodruff Road next to QuikTrip (across from Walmart)?

I love how the CCF spokesman can't confirm anything without a lease, but they have a building permit? Whatever. At least it looks "official" now. Hopefully be done by my birthday in February (not likely) -- just for the cheesecake. Their food is just...okay.

Has there been official confirmation yet on this? It's baffling how it's been rumored to go in that spot for what, like a year? Yet, to my knowledge nothing has been announced. I know there's CCF haters here, but I would think Simon Malls and/or the city of Greenville itself would be crowing about it.

Sad to see that Toby Keith's bailed out, but reading that article, it certainly doesn't sound like it would have been a good thing. Lawsuits and unpaid taxes? Down from 14 to 6 locations? Yeah, that doesn't sound good for the business as a whole. I'm surprised there were a few new locations coming, but maybe those are in states where they haven't caused trouble yet. LOL. I kind of wish that this is where the Cheesecake Factory would go instead of at Haywood Mall. And, yes, I know there's CF haters here, but it just seems like it would fit in better as a "destination" restaurant in a zone that's more geared toward dining and entertainment.

Honestly, I've always been shocked at the lack of Denny's in the Greenville area. I mean the only one I know of is the one on Wade Hampton and I'm not even sure it's still there. Not saying we're missing much but a thriving economic area 30 miles from their headquarters and don't have a presence? Just always was weird to me. IHOP does well enough on Woodruff Road.

Still hoping for Cheesecake Factory as well. I had no idea it was going to take this long for Panera to break ground. But see the groundwork has been laid and fences up marking the area so construction should begin any day. If the Cheesecake Factory is coming, I'm surprised they didn't seek out a different location. I think the rumor with Panera has been well over a year and maybe going on two years. Another rumor was that they would take the Pier One location, but obviously that's not happening. I guess with the space next to Panera being blocked out there's still hope that it is indeed coming there. Honestly, the space where Cheeseburgers in Paradise and the now also defunct Grill 33 were would have been a great spot. Cheesecake Factory has a big enough reputation that it would have really have jump started that strip mall. I really have my doubts as to how well Conn's and Gabe's are doing -- particularly Conn's in the oversaturated electronics/appliance/furniture market. Then again, I also don't see how HH Gregg stays in business either. Anytime I've been there, it's dead.

So there was a rumor that the Cheesecake Factory had gotten a construction permit to build a restaurant at the current Panera Bread location in Haywood Mall. Panera would move outside of the mall. Is this still happening? I have heard anything new on it and last time I was there Panera was alive and well. While every other business has failed at the last location of Grille 33, Cheeseburger in Paradise, etc., that spot seems like it would be an available and promising location for the Cheesecake Factory. I'm sure it would thrive compared to the past tenants.

Geez. Sorry I went down the "redneck" path. I don't consider even Cabela's to be redneck. And the other places mentioned also aren't either. Guess my feeling was just that the gun range (yes, even if it has a store) feels out of place with what's being built around it. And while I know plenty of non-rednecks that love to shoot guns (my father-in-law included), I just don't think it gives a good first impression of Greenville. Yes, downtown is what really should impress people about G'ville. But the main exit for people to stop off to get a bite to eat, go to a hotel or even just do some regional shopping and one of the huge signs on Woodruff Road is for a gun range, I don't know, it just isn't what I would want the area to be remembered for -- and since it is out of place, IMO, it is something that may be remembered.

I understand the need for hospitals to advertise but doesn't it almost seem like a slap in the face to have people complain about rising health care costs and here's nearly half a million dollars being spent just to have their name on a building? Surprised that companies like Michelin and BMW that are so associated with the area didn't bid on it.

Alright, alright. Sorry if I offended anyone. There are probably more guns per capita in NYC LOL. Guess it seemed a little out of place is all in relation to the retail/restaurant development going on around it.

It almost seems like more effort was put into pulling shows for Charter Ampitheater (since it's also under the same management) this year -- The Black Keys, Kiss, Mumford & Sons. Mumford in particular was a huge win for Greenville -- and sold out so it bodes well for the future (at least for the Ampitheater).

Looking at the plan, I'm not seeing that anywhere that it mentions Dave and Busters being next to the parking garage. The first sentence mentions that the original proposal included the parking garage and D&B next to the movie theater. But now it says the latest version has the parking garage and "a new building" behind the theater. It doesn't specify D&B. I hope that doesn't mean D&B is gone from the plans. That was probably the only thing I was really looking forward to having around here. Of course, I wouldn't mind if they built it elsewhere, but I hope it hasn't been scrapped completely from the D&B's plans for Greenville. Honestly would have rather have had a more full-fledged D&B in the old Gattitown space rather than a freakin' shooting range (how redneck does that make Greenville look?).

Haven't been over to these threads in a while, but how is that possible? Have they even started building it yet? I thought it was supposed to near Hollywood 20 on the side towards the strip with Bed, Bath & Beyond,etc. I don't remember seeing any construction going on in that area of MP when I was there just last weekend.

Despite whether the project turned out to be a "Town Center" or not, Greenville officials bear the brunt of criticism for screwing the pooch on Woodruff Road. Traffic still would have been an issue even if the original plans had moved forward. I know Woodruff Road is the "hot" place to be for retailers (even if Menin struggled to get this project rolling). But I just can't see how traffic couldn't have been a big concern before allowing this project to move forward in the first place. And IMO, it's too late to do anything about it. Any project to do anything to widen or do some other traffic management along Woodruff Road would be an absolute nightmare. The city has made some good decisions about downtown and extending rejuvenation efforts into the West End, etc. -- even the proposals to give some new life to the Haywood area. Seems like the slow-burning projects on Verdae haven't really taken off. But the lack of forethought in regards to Magnolia and even Greenridge (God, that one entrance idea must have came from a mad man), is just sad. BTW, just another thought, does anyone know how Ruth's Chris Steakhouse is doing? Menin dropped the ball on getting them for Magnolia Park, but I'm not sure they're doing so well being attached to a hotel and, generally speaking, off the map compared to other restaurants in the area. If they aren't doing well, I'm not sure if they'd be willing to put more money in to relocate to Magnolia or not. It would just be a hit to lose a higher end restaurant all together due to the timing of this project.

Wow, come back after a few days and can't believe the bickering in this thread. Yes, Magnolia Park isn't what everyone may have hoped for. Sure, I'd rather see something like the Cheesecake Factory over Toby Keith's (ironically, there are fewer locations of Toby Keith's and a fair amount of them are in the North (Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts -- so don't know if you could genuinely call it just a "redneck" bar.) But to say that people are going to get the wrong impression of Greenville from Magnolia Park is ludicrous. People that I know of when they come to Greenville are surprised to see how much it isn't just a hick town in the South. Heck, go to Greenridge and you'll see shops like Talbot's and White House Black Market (both of which were from the formerly upscale Greenville Mall). Honestly, it's our downtown that's the pride of the area. EVERYONE who I've taken downtown from other areas (I myself am a former Yankee) are incredibly impressed and genuinely love the area. To compare Magnolia Park to a bunch of rusty cars stacked up on someone's front lawn is wrong. Again, I'm not saying I'm not disappointed in the way it's turning out, but it's far from being an eyesore for the city (at least from a tenant perspective). I, like many others, are more concerned about how much more horrible the traffic is going to be on Woodruff Road. To me, that's the worst part of this city's planning is seemingly having no realization of what it's going to do to traffic. On a typical Saturday, there's already traffic backed up all the way from the light at TGIF all the way down to Roper Mountain Road at times. Then, you've got the mess between I-385 and I-85 (mostly due to Greenridge). People visit and if they get any impression, they'll probably be thinking that the traffic on Woodruff Road is just as bad as big Northern cities or suburban Atlanta. Thankfully, our interstates don't suffer nearly as much. But to put most of the recent retail growth in one basket on Woodruff without considering the traffic is just plain stupid. And really, it began long ago before Magnolia Park and Greenridge. Yes, they widened the road what like 15 years ago. But look what's happened since.

Thanks, I'll be curious to see what these "new" stores look like since I've only been to a few of their first locations. As for the project itself, it is pretty disheartening. How many more "strip mall" style stores do we need in this area? Doesn't look like the plan would be conducive to even luring things like the long-rumored Cheesecake Factory (which, I know is probably now a pipe dream anyway). There's a glut of small tenant business locations with many sitting empty -- even on Woodruff Road. So long town center concept.... As much as people complain about Greenridge, it's starting to look like a work of art compared to this IMO.

Haven't been around on these forums for a while but when I heard about Cabela's, I was curious to see how the plans for Magnolia Park are looking now. The new plan is crap, but am I the only one that thinks the size of the Dave & Busters looks incredibly small? I've been to D&B in other cities and at least the one in Gwinnett County, GA, is probably closer to the size of the Cabela's location. Are we getting some sort of scaled-down, wimpified version of D&B? Even Gattitown, I'm sure, is much larger than what appears in these plans.

Been a while since I've read these boards, but whatever happened to that something USA place that was announced (believe it sounded like something between Gattitown and Dave and Busters)? Not that I really wanted something like that in Magnolia Park (and if we did, I'd prefer D&B).