westsider28

Lots of rebar and some forms for the field level of the stadium structure (where the locker rooms will be, etc). No concrete poured quite yet.

DBH Kinston, LLC--the owner of the Kinston Wood Ducks (future Spartanburg team)--has registered in South Carolina (at the 131 West Main address) as of January 24, 2024. More interestingly, I found that DBH Kinston, LLC has acquired the "Spartanburgers" trademark. This doesn't necessarily mean that the new team will be called that (could just be covering their bases--pun intended), but it's a possibility.

A few more details in this P&C article. Asbestos abatement in the former City Hall will begin this month, with demolition to follow this "spring". A time capsule from 1961 located in a granite stone on the building’s northeast corner will be opened ahead of the demolition. The new city-county municipal building’s proposed design will likely be presented to City Council sometime in March. The first step after the demo is to build a new parking deck centered in the middle of the block that will have new development all around it.

UBJ article about the Square renovations. It talks about the idea of connecting the Square to the baseball stadium and adjacent development. Phase one designs should be finalized by late March or early April and, if approved, construction could begin this fall. Also, a City podcast with Biederman Redevelopment Ventures on future programming on the Square.

Anyone know what's going on at the Herald-Journal building? There have been two large dumpsters in the parking lot. Is the paper moving out? I know this block will eventually be redeveloped (as part of the stadium agreement). I believe I heard the Greenville News is moving out of their building, and both papers are on death's doorstep...

Went through there today at 5:30 PM and the right lane of westbound Reidville was backed up to almost the light at Walgreens. This means that the volume is primarily straight traffic. I suppose the new plan would allow slightly longer straight cycles at the current intersection, but that would be negated by the new light. Plus, I guarantee the left turners from eastbound Reidville would back up to the current intersection. And Oak Grove would back up (like it does now) even with the addition of a right turn lane. The only real solution is more/better connectivity further out.

You may have seen on the City's social media accounts (IG link) that they found a column capital from the 1914 City Hall under the parking lot while surveying! The City says they plan to work with local history organizations to preserve and display it. Such a cool piece of history to discover!

I agree with you 100% that lack of connectivity is our biggest problem. That said, in this particular instance the heaviest movements by far are left from westbound Reidville onto Anderson Mill and left from eastbound Reidville onto Oak Grove. There are very few lefts from Anderson Mill and Oak Grove onto Reidville. So I'm not sure your reasonable alternative would help much. (I'd love to see the full street grid, but alas that's a fantasy.) Anyway, that's why my solutions are further away. I perceive to Oak Grove traffic as coming from Woodridge and Rock Springs residents, thus a new Caldwell Drive connector to Reidville would help. And a new Old Georgia Road interchange with I-26 would service the new neighborhoods on Anderson Mill Road while also serving the new homes near East Blackstock that clog up the Reidville Road and I-26 interchange right now. SCDOT doesn't seem to like creating completely new ROW through undeveloped land (eminent domain stigma?), which NCDOT does all the time. I can't think of single instance of SCDOT doing this in Spartanburg County in my lifetime. And the County seems to discourage connectivity because they don't want the responsibility of more road maintenance. The single-entrance subdivisions can be all private roads, which the County seems to prefer. Obviously this is short-sighted and doesn't actually save money long-term, but that's what they're doing. Honestly, the whole situation feels kind of hopeless and spiraling out of control. The only public outcry is the misguided call to widen the arterials. I wish we had stronger local urbanism advocacy/leadership here...

Skyline view from the City View area near the DT airport a week ago. I think the City/County building could potentially peek over the trees where the cell tower is (which I hope will be removed...)

P&C article about the redesign. Not much new. Final review of design this spring, with potential completion in early 2025. "The city is also working with New York-based Bierdman Redevelopment Ventures to develop a programming plan for the square to attract more visitors with new events and activities." Surveying to happen in the next few weeks. Some quotes of trepidation on certain design elements from a few interested parties.

Fair, lol. Does First Baptist ever tow? I feel like you could rely on that parking "unofficially" anyway. But IMO, road-diet is most important. I believe that section is owned by SCDOT. The City really needs to take control. Also, it's on the list to be repaved with the new penny tax. I'd love to see at least a restriping at that time, if we can't get a more significant streetscaping with new curbs, etc.

The best thing to help that area would be an East Main road diet that created more on-street parking and added protected bike lanes. Also, they could easily have a night-focused business (like a bar) and negotiate off-hours parking-share agreements with SCC (and/or BoA and First Baptist). Long-term, I'd like to see both BoA (site owned by Johnson Dev, I'm pretty sure) and the First Baptist parking lot redeveloped with mixed-use, including parking decks. But also, we need to work to continue to change the mindset of both business owners and customers to not expect front-door parking and be more willing to accept walking. It's downtown! I bet they go to Greenville and are willing to walk...

H-J article about the final City Council meeting in the current City Hall, and a bit of history (more history in this new City podcast). It finally mentions a date for the Fire Dept. to move: "The central fire station response base will move to the new station at 450 Wofford St. in the last week of February." "In the next few weeks, construction fencing will go up around City Hall, excluding the fire department and large parking lot to the left of the building. Hazardous materials used in the construction of the current City Hall must be removed before demolition begins this spring."

After years ago proposing some simple right-turn lane additions, SCDOT has now instead concocted an absolutely insane "solution" to traffic at the Reidville Road and Oak Grove / Anderson Mill intersection. https://sc-296-at-s64-scdot.hub.arcgis.com/pages/overview-of-proejct They propose eliminating ALL left turns at that intersection and using a new cut-thru road to route traffic around via a series of lefts, rights, and straights. IMO, this just moves the problem and adds new problems. And it doesn't account for human behavior (people will be confused and still turn left even more dangerously at the original intersection, they'll cut thru the gas station even more, etc). I pass through here every day, and this "solution" is ridiculous. The real solution is adding other travel options "upstream", such as connecting Caldwell Drive to Reidville, adding an interchange at Old Georgia Rd. and I-26, etc. Public meeting at West View Elementary on Feb. 6 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Or you can leave comments on the webpage.

Light DRB agenda for the February 6 meeting (at County Council chambers). Just a prelim for a new residence at 186 Harris Place, and final for the ground floor apartment at 249 E. Main (which the board approved against the recommendation of staff...) I'm surprised the baseball stadium hasn't come back for final approval yet. It seemed like there was a lot of urgency at the prelim approval meeting. Maybe they determined they could go ahead with substantial construction without final approval? (since the items they need for final are relatively minor: cladding details and streetscaping plan)

Pretty nice sunset this evening.

Looks like they're saving some of the bricks at least...

Looks like grading for the Boxcar Apartments is getting pretty close to completion. There's been a lot of work on the retail building as well.

Lately, I've seen crews pouring concrete into some of the other holes shown in the aerial above^. Photo from today:

Fire Dept. HQ seems to be making slow progress. I wonder how it's completion timeline may effect the City Hall demolition timeline. Maybe it's far enough along? Or maybe they can spread stuff amongst the branch locations? IDK. It looks like there's finally movement at the Magnolia Street Townes site (between Raindrop and Milan). Reminder that the plan is 11 units, owner-occupied (not rentals). Looks like at least one owner has moved into the rowhouses at Village at Creekside. No evidence of further construction yet. No sign of movement on Northside Townhomes Phase 2 or Aden Bonded Warehouse.

I haven't seen it on any CRE websites in a while. I suspect it's a victim of both the terrible national office lending environment and the local impact of Project Core / baseball stadium development sucking the oxygen out of the room (since it will have office).

The first Silver Hill Street-facing house has been framed:

Phase 1 should begin next month.

There was a timeline update at Outlook Spartanburg, but I forgot to screenshot the IG story that showed it. I think it said foundation work would happen over the next few months, then steel structure in the summer/fall, then field installation in December. Anyway, I walked by yesterday, and it looks like foundation work is underway. The team should have an office presence soon at 131 West Main (former DK Boutique that just closed). By the end of January, they hope to have a waitlist for season tickets available for folks to sign up for. The team's name should be revealed in Spring. Also, Fifth Third Park's IG account just posted a time-lapse from a camera atop the AC Hotel. I don't know if it's publicly accessible; I haven't found it after a quick Google.

This project was apparently included as an upcoming development at the Outlook Spartanburg event today, which suggests that it's still happening (eventually).