westsider28

The former ZL Madden school site (15.5 acres) is for sale for $1.55M. A lot of potential here. Unfortunately, it is 4 houses / 250 feet from City limits, so non-contiguous. Though, if developed commercially, it should still eventually be required to annex via Water agreement. BTW, how many properties have been annexed in that way since the agreement was signed? It's frustrating to see Greenville be so aggressive with annexation while we seem to sit idle. It also appears that the 1017 Florida site never had final reading for annexation (it doesn't show as within City limits on GIS).

Cherry trees on Pine Street are at peak bloom right now!

I was looking again at the March 5 DRB submittal for this project and noticed a site plan that outlines a future potential office building and future potential parking deck. Using the AC Hotel lot for scale, it looks like it would be a relatively narrow parking deck, and it seems to be in an good location at the "back" of the site. That would leave 2 more parking decks currently unaccounted for.

Work underway at Viking Plaza.

I took my DSLR downtown this weekend and got some decent pics of the the material samples. Pretty nice looking brickwork. And stadium construction from along the RR tracks at West Main.

The other half of the slab has been poured.

2023 Census Population Estimates for Counties and Metros have been released. Some SC county figures: Greenville 558,036 (+10,191 from 2022) Richland 425,138 (+3,612) Charleston 424,367 (+5,017) Horry 397,478 (+14,331) Spartanburg 356,698 (+10,750) Spartanburg MSA (383,327) was the 8th fastest growing MSA in the nation by yearly percentage (+2.9%). That's even more impressive when you consider that Spartanburg's MSA includes Union County, which is losing population. Growth in Spartanburg has really been supercharged post-pandemic (and we are woefully unprepared, IMO). Myrtle Beach MSA was the 3rd fastest growing in the nation (+3.7%).

A dock will be built on Duncan Park Lake in June, and the lake will be opened to non-motorized boats soon after for a six-month pilot program.

So I was looking at the land-use report in the March County Council agenda, and saw a listing for 1196 units at 300 Rainbow Lake Road next to the new Libertas Academy charter school they're building. I thought that must be a typo. But no, instead it's a bombshell. A massive mixed-use town center development called "Essentia" is planned. It would have townhomes, apartments and senior living, as well as 79,000 SF of retail, green space and a trail connection to Va-Du-Mar McMillan Park. Site plan below (it's rotated 90-degrees, so North is to the right and Rainbow Lake Rd is at the top).

A few pics from today: There are some material samples along the AC parking lot retaining wall, but they're a long way back from the fence along DMA, so they're hard to see well.

Well, I'm surprised and disappointed to learn that this project was not approved at Tuesday's DRB meeting. "The board commented that the design was flat and boxy and that the facade details were too visually busy. They encouraged the developers to come back with a simpler design, provide more detailed elevation drawings, and include additional details on the landscaping." I'm with the developer who said, "I feel like some of those comments should have been made on the preliminary [submittal]." But the developer is still optimistic about getting approval and starting construction in May or June.

Spartanburg ranked #3 on Southern Living's "The South's Best Cities on the Rise 2024".

Through the fence behind home plate. From a few weeks ago.

The ballpark was given final approval (with conditions) at yesterday's meeting. The conditions include understanding that there will be streetscape improvements to DMA, and that planning staff will review the final brick color for the exterior. Apparently the bullpens moved from left field to right field since preliminary approval (a very minor change). Interesting note in the article: "The stadium's occupant load will be 5,040 people." That confirmed my suspicion that the 3,500 number was purely seats. Good to see that it can handle more people.

Found that the old Stone Lighting site (148 Oakland Ave.) has been listed for sale. They're suggesting 11 townhomes (potential for 18 with a neighboring parcel) which would be nice additional residential density, but it would be a shame to lose those grand historic homes...

Looks like this site is listed for sale again (so whoever it was under-contract to apparently backed out). $2.65 million for 8.08 acres. Phase 1 Environmental completed Boundary Topography completed Engineered site plan completed SCDOT Driveway Confirmation The property consists of 5 tax parcels that have been combined into one. Zoned DT-5 for Urban Center [...] in an Opportunity Zone and eligible for redevelopment credits through the SC Textiles Communities Revitalization Act. Will be interesting to see what happens here.

Looks like a more detailed landscape plan. Also, the upper level of the stadium exterior is now brick with phantom windows, rather than metal. IMO, the overhang is a bit awkward, but brick is nice. The City consultant recommends that the phantom windows match the shape of the real windows on the left-field side. Also, improved streetscaping on DMA is missing (it's only shown on Henry), so the consultant recommends requiring DMA streetscape improvements (even if that side will be developed eventually). Consultant also suggests possible temporary landscaping on that side to mitigate the stadium's blank wall until the DMA site is developed. Old homeplate rendering: Versus new homeplate rendering: Here's a cool angled view:

2910 East Main is for-sale and being marketed as a potential mixed-use development site with 42 townhomes and retail.

Updated Oakland Ave. Townhomes plans in the March 5 DRB packet. Rooftop decks changed a bit, and we've got a detailed site/landscape plan that improves the sidewalk there. Again, I really like this project and hope it's approved. Also noticed a (large) new house on the final lot on Woodward Street nearby. Great single-family density here.

On-street parking has been striped on East DMA between Dean Street and Liberty Street. It's a bit odd how much of it is in front of the car dealers, but part of the reason they can't put any near the retail businesses is because of all the driveways/curb-cuts. (btw, that's not a bike lane, but rather a buffer zone for door opening).

Apparently the Oakwood townhomes are back from the dead. Landscape plans were approved recently, according to the March 21 Planning Commission agenda. This is the site at 153 Oakwood Avenue at Garrett Street, where there's currently a decaying medical office. Here's the site plan from years ago, when the idea was first proposed.

The parcel at 1621 JBW, Sr Blvd (east of Five Guys / Jersey Mike's) is requesting a rezoning so that a Huey Magoo's (chicken tender restaurant) can be built there. I'm getting pretty sick of burger and fried chicken chains... Also, it's really disappointing how this stretch is developing so car-centrically (new carwash just east of here). We need new zoning regs ASAP. And definitely need a traffic light at Camelot Court and JBW Blvd here.

Lots of survey markings all over the Square. It's interesting how several buildings have basements that protrude ~6 feet out under the sidewalk. Apparently it was pretty common back in those days.

Most Eastside residential development coming to the large wooded lot south of the Daniel Morgan Technology Center on Zion Hill Road. Shown in the March 5 County Planning Commission agenda, Knights Landing is a 108-unit townhome development. It also shows a future ~250-unit apartment development next door. Developed by Crown Development. The projects will surround the existing home on the land, but not connect, because we have a broken land-use policy in the County... This is contiguous to City limits, but I'm sure won't be annexed for some reason. This joins townhouses (57 units) and patio homes (126 units) on Plainview and the massive 570-unit Ellison residential development just up East Main.

P&C article about the many issues at Robert Smalls. HVAC problems, broken floors, leaks, mold, smoke alarms and appliances malfunctioning. No comment from the developer or manager. I had concerns from the start about the modular construction of these units. Unfortunate for residents who were supposed to be getting an upgrade from the terrible Norris Ridge housing. I hope the developer/manager will be held accountable and living conditions made right.