westsider28

Yeah, I know. I just hope the timeline is such that the block doesn't sit empty for years while they build closer to the stadium or something.

Saw a notice in the paper that The Zeplin, LLC applied for a license/permit for sale and ON premises consumption of beer, wine, & liquor at 187 N. Church St., Ste. A (former Sidewall Pizza space, I'm pretty sure). The LLC is registered to Joe Clarke, a chef who formerly owned American Grocery and currently runs Vault & Vator in Greenville. Seems like this could be an exciting new restaurant offering.

277 West Main assemblage (~13 acres) is for sale for $8.5M, so I guess Blackstock Development's plans for apartments there fell through. Hopefully it attracts a developer with similarly ambitious plans (or better).

Dude, I'm talking 7 lanes to 5 on Asheville Hwy, so you could still pass. But also, slowing traffic is absolutely one of the (positive) reasons for road diets. More often than your scenario is keeping people from doing 50 in a 35. Not to mention the safety and mobility improvements for those NOT driving a car.

In a special meeting today, County Council voted on an application for a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Implementation Grant (part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law). Spartanburg County grant submittal will be for $20M. With a required 20% ($4M) local match, the total would be $24M. These funds will be utilized for transportation related safety improvements along Asheville Hwy. between Hearon Circle and Hwy. 221 and N. Pine Street between Hwy. 221 and E. Main St. Hopefully Asheville Hwy is a road diet that includes heavily upgraded bike/pedestrian facilities. Pine Street could use some sidewalk improvements (or additions) too. And maybe extend the third northbound lane to Hwy 221 (rather than ending awkwardly at McCravy Drive).

Post & Courier confirms that the Herald-Journal building will be demolished "in the near future," though demolition permits have not yet been issued by the City. I'm not looking forward to having a completely empty block in the heart of downtown in the near future, so hopefully redevelopment moves quickly here.

I guess the deck got prelim approval, because they're asking for final approval at the May 7 DRB meeting.

The Oakland Ave townhomes are trying again for final approval at the May 7 DRB meeting.

Oddly, this project is on the agenda for the May 7 DRB meeting. I guess they made some minor design tweaks? Construction is well underway and seems to be moving pretty quickly.

I actually wondered about that. The downtown BoA land is owned by Johnson Development. I remember they did some soil drilling a year or two ago. Edit: Just found the real-estate listing. Looks like they're keeping the building and trying to lease the space. 11k-19k SF, office or retail, available Nov. I'd love to see a restaurant here, for now (and a full redevelopment of the site in the future).

There's an item in today's County Council agenda which would certify several parcels near the Drayton-Skylyn intersection as "abandoned textile mill sites" to allow for tax credits to build townhomes on the parcels. "Drayton Townhomes LCC" is the developer (which is registered to John Montgomery). Interesting, as he still hasn't started Phase 2 of Northside Townhomes. It would be ideal to annex these parcels into the City, but I'm sure that won't happen (sigh). Also, the original Drayton master plan envisioned commercial/mixed-use at this major corner, so this is a bit of a disappointment from that angle. I hope the townhomes will at least face the street...

Team name will be unveiled at a block party on DMA near the stadium site on May 11. Entrance will be free to the event with live music and food trucks. After the name is revealed, fans can buy merchandise and enjoy fireworks. https://www.postandcourier.com/spartanburg/news/spartanburg-baseball-stadium-tickets-prices-name/article_5bac6208-f769-11ee-b91d-9785326d8d11.html

Here's the new site plan for the now "Oslo townhomes". Looks like 20 units (down from 22). Also looks like a worse site plan, with no units facing Oakwood (which is kind of the primary street). Still good density, but it's disheartening to see all these developments being "close but not quite there". If I had to guess the reason for the change, I'd say fire truck access, which is a friction point amongst urbanists all over the US. (basically our fire trucks are too big and it hampers good urbanism) Maybe some grade issues too, IDK.

Site clearance underway. Drive-by photo:

Big City Council meeting tomorrow for many of the technical/financial mechanisms of the stadium. They're voting on an ordinance to put certain properties in a Joint County Industrial Park, an ordinance for an intergovernmental agreement on funding, an ordinance on a sub-lease agreement with DBH Kinston LLC, and an ordinance authorizing the issuance of Spartanburg Stadium Facilities Corporation Installment Purchase Revenue Bonds (City Of Spartanburg Project), Taxable Series 2024, in the aggregate principal amount of not exceeding $67,500,000. Sublease highlights: 20-year initial term, with two optional 5-year extensions; $500k annual rent (increasing with inflation every 5 years); $1 per ticket facility fee (1% increase each year) going into the Capital Maintenance Fund; Team Owner may limit access to the Public Spaces up to three (3) hours before and after any Stadium Event; Team Owner shall license the use of the Leased Premises to the City for no fewer than ten (10) City-sponsored civic-oriented, community not-for-profit or educational events (the “City Events”) per Lease Year; Team Owner is entitled to 100% of concession revenue; Team Owner pays for routine maintenance, utilities, and public safety; the City will provide 30 free parking spaces for team employees; they'll develop a multi-modal transportation plan and wayfinding; the Capital Maintenance Fund will maintain a minimum balance of $500k; Team Owner is entitled to 100% of sponsorship revenue; the team shall provide free digital signage to the City for up to three (3) community-oriented messages during events. Ground lease to Johnson Development is $1 per year until 2059. (I didn't read everything. These are dense documents, ~400 pages total.)

Saw a note in recent Planning Commission minutes that said the City's new Planning Director is scheduled to start in April. Hopefully this means that we can soon begin the process of rewriting the City's zoning code, as recommended in the Comprehensive Plan. Edit (4/8): Fredalyn Michelle Frasier has been hired for the position.

Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE), in partnership with Spartanburg County and the State of South Carolina, seeks to purchase and permanently protect 945 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to SPACE’s Glendale Shoals Preserve for $25 Million. The acquisition would be one of the largest conservation wins in the SC Upstate, and would add to the existing complex of conserved land in Glendale, SC which currently consists of nearly 150 protected acres owned by SPACE, The Tyger River Foundation, and Wofford College. If successful, the 945-acre property east of the Glendale Mill Property would be owned by the State of South Carolina, leased and managed by Spartanburg County Parks and Recreation as a public greenspace park, and permanently protected from development with a SPACE conservation easement. SPACE has requested funding assistance from the South Carolina Office of Resilience, the SC Conservation Bank, Spartanburg County, and other local private organizations and citizens to help raise funds to protect the property. This land is owned by Tyger Oak Inc, which is Milliken legacy land (probably Pacolet Milliken these days). Kind of a bummer they wouldn't just donate the land as a tax write-off. This is the land where the greenway connection from Glendale to Clifton would run, as well. Anyway, this a great thing, and I hope the purchase goes through. However, I wish we would focus on conservation land acquisition in more developed areas (like Boiling Springs). Despite calling this Spartanburg's "Central Park" (ugh*), it has virtually nothing in common, as this is a very rural area and most usage will (unfortunately) be drive-to. Urbanized areas need preserved green space much more urgently. In an ideal world, we'd do both. But with limited funding, I don't know if this is the best use of it. But you take what you can get, I suppose (need supportive land owners, applicable grants, etc). *Pet peeve: Why do we compare every public open space with Central Park? Is it because that's the only one people know? Central Park is huge, but highly formalized and accessible in the middle of one of the most dense urban areas in the world. Whereas this will remain largely natural and is in a very rural location with barely any residents or businesses nearby and very poor access. If you must compare, it's more like Grunewald in Berlin, or more locally (and they mention it in the press release) Croft. /rant

The Spartanburg County Safety Action Plan has been updated with results from the public survey, which are predictably heavily car-oriented. There's a map of where people feel unsafe, a map of the "high injury network" (8% of roads account for 47% of fatal / severe injury crashes), priority corridors, and safety strategies. Those strategies are: -Prioritize roadway maintenance (pavement quality and striping) along High Injury Network corridors. -Create education campaigns to raise awareness on the danger of distracted and impaired driving. -Implement projects that create options for people to walk, bicycle, drive, and use transit safely. -Adopt policies that lead to increased safety along corridors with multiple driveways. -Retrofit intersections known for fatal and serious crashes with elements to reduce approach and turning speeds. -Install enhanced trail crossings at all roadways to increase safety and comfort of trail users. -Create policies and programs to install traffic calming elements in residential areas. -Emphasize slow speeds, safe crossings, and increased visibility on all roadways near schools. -Develop standards and guidelines for reducing speeds on truck routes through residential and commercial areas. -Prioritize filling sidewalk gaps and reducing crossing distances for pedestrians of all ages and abilities. There's also a follow-up survey at the very bottom of the site.

Recent view of downtown from the Denny's building, it appears. From Downtown Spartanburg's Facebook page.

Some new (to me at least) renderings of the suites and club seating via https://spartanburgprofessionalbaseball.com/season-ticket-shop/

Here's a direct link - https://spartanburgsc.portal.civicclerk.com/event/53/files/agenda/290 Honestly, pretty good as far as parking decks go. Very nice neo art deco design (gives me hope for the City / County building), decent placement at the "back" of the site, and retail. A few more images:

Pouring the concourse level yesterday. Lots of signage up on the team office at 131 West Main. Here's a photo through the window. Looks like a model of the stadium's seating. It appears to be mesh, which is a stadium seating type that's increasing in popularity, particularly in hot climates like ours (it helps with air flow and reduces sweating).

Yesterday, I overheard a foreman on-site saying that they would start the elevator pit today.

Pic from yesterday evening: