westsider28

According to this H-J article, many Robert Smalls residents have been without heat recently, but the units are now being fixed. That site seems to be cursed... No exact move-in date for the new Fire Dept. HQ. Driving by recently, it looks like work has stalled a bit. Not much seems to have changed in the past month, at least on the exterior, which still has a tarp over the future fire engine bays and gravel where the driveway will be.

P&C article about the project. Not much new, but it says February 2024 for construction, and "the project has not gone out for bid, but funding for it has already been approved by City Council.” Hopefully, the full engineering drawings will be posted on the City website when the project goes to bid. (I haven't gotten a response to my email...)

It relies on tax credits from State and/or Federal sources, which are competitive (only certain projects get them each year) and take a long time to secure (paperwork, etc). But I have no idea if they're still working through that process or not. I suspect that affordable housing projects may have a tough time getting built in the current financial environment, at least without more direct public contributions toward their construction.

Some photos I took on Thanksgiving morning:

Plywood is off the front of 134 Magnolia (where Cara Bella Boutique will be one tenant). Windows are open on the Spring Street side, so they're still doing significant interior work. I believe January is the projected opening for Cara Bella. Cool ghost sign on the inside wall. Also, 124 Magnolia (above Nacho Taco) is leased, but I don't know to whom.

Doesn't bother me one bit. Anything that forces drivers to go slower and be more careful in downtown is a positive.

Knowledge Perk / Two Scoops Creamery just posted on Instagram that they're having a soft opening tomorrow (November 22) 6am-5pm.

Wasn't sure where to put this, but Fox Carolina has a story on the upcoming West Main streetscaping. It includes protected bike lanes, wide sidewalks, medians, more crosswalks, and some on-street parking. They showed a portion of an engineering drawing, and I emailed the City to try to get the whole document (which, IMO, should be posted publicly on the City website). The project should happen in early 2024.

This will be going before the DRB for full and final approval at their Dec. 5 meeting.

Found an updated listing on Loopnet (their Avison Young page is out-of-date and the PDF brochure has been removed). Unfortunately, it looks like Noble Dog Hotel has pulled out. There are some other slight changes on the floorplan: Suite 4A has changed from food/bev to studio/office (even though new renderings have what looks to be a brewery suggested for that spot) and the "bike/pump track" has been removed in favor of undefined "outdoor space", however Suite 12B is now listed as "Entertainment concept" which is potentially exciting. Completion date has been updated to Q1 2025. Some new renderings:

I believe they said that SCDOT is contributing in some capacity to repaving the State roads, but I don't know to what degree. Here's the H-J article. "Local funds will be added to DOT funds to complete DOT projects 'that otherwise would not be completed.'" Not too many details, though. I agree with @camtology that SCDOT should give us more local control of the roads. Though I've heard that the City / County doesn't necessarily want to take on the responsibility.

Fall colors at Milliken

At Monday's City Council meeting, they will vote on a development agreement for this project that would include a 20-year FILOT that would go from $60,000 of local gov't revenue in the first year it's complete to $132,000 in the 20th year. The project includes 60,000 SF of commercial space, including 30,000 SF of office, 20,000 SF of event space, and over 5,000 SF of retail space. The investment is required to be at least $12 million, but will likely be ~$18M. This agreement is just for Phase 1. Phase 2 (apartments) would likely come back to Council for a separate agreement. The developer is expected to install sidewalk and landscaping improvements along West Main that will connect to the trail system. The City is committed to complete certain public infrastructure improvements along the West Main corridor adjacent to the Property to include lighting and streetscaping in accordance with its West Main Corridor Redevelopment Plan. The City expects this project to spur additional investment in the corridor.

Popeyes, I believe.

According to WSPA, with 99% of precincts reporting, the penny tax for roads has passed! It will take effect on May 1, 2024 and last for 6 years. Yes - 18,932 (55.4%); No - 15,264 (44.6%)

The stadium received conditional approval for the structural massing and location on the site, but had conditions that they return with streetscape plans and ideas to address some blank walls. They'll likely return for full and final approval in January, which is also when they hope to begin vertical construction. Right now they're mainly working on upgrading/replacing a sewer line that runs east-west through the low point of the site. It handles drainage from much of downtown west of Church Street. I believe they said that powerlines along Henry and DMA will be buried (I really hope I heard that right). They said they'd start a parking deck after the stadium construction starts, because it's faster to build the deck. They said that the building along DMA (apartments?) would likely be under-construction during the first season. That's all I can remember for now. Anyway, things continue to move forward.

Industry standard is ~175 SF per office employee, which at 800 employees would be a 140,000 SF building, which is exactly the size of office building #1 in the development agreement. The QS/1 building is 120,000 SF for comparison. @Historyguy The early renderings from the State budget documents showed the office building in left field, probably near West Main, and the apartment building in right field, along DMA. It looks like that could still be the case, with the X-factor being parking decks. The plaza was where that underground detention area is, and a retail building / event venue along DMA, too. I believe the H-J block is for the hotel and office building #2, in the more distant future. Edit: forgot there's another apt building; not sure where that will go.

There are buildings right behind the outfield wall at Fluor Field that get hit with home runs routinely, so that's not a problem. They've got to fit 2 parking decks, an apartment building, and an office building on the site somewhere.

Agenda packet for tomorrow's (Nov. 7) DRB meeting has been posted! "Other" is the file with site plans and renderings. Consultant/staff are mostly concerned about the long blank wall along Henry Street. Materials and streetscaping are secondary concerns. There's an access road paralleling the RR tracks all the way across the site. Stadium is set back pretty deeply from DMA, such that future development can happen along the street. It's probably a wide enough site that a parking deck could go there under apartments. Looks like three entrances: home plate, right field, and left field. Team store is beyond the berm in left-center field.

The Penny Sales Tax for Roads is on the ballot tomorrow (Tuesday, November 7). Remember to vote! I'll be voting YES, as I see this as the least painful way to tackle a huge problem that must be addressed ASAP. https://www.voteyesspartanburg.com/

I like the idea of a possible railroad tie-in, but it's important to remember the "usability" or "communicability" of the name (i.e. does it sound good spoken). Two syllables (with first syllable emphasis) is ideal for chants (three or one can be serviceable). Also, "Spartanburg" is already a lot of syllables, so the nickname should be as short as possible if we want to use "Spartanburg Team-Name".

Here are some early construction photos from opposite ends of the site (taken on Sunday):

This Post & Courier article about the project has this juicy tidbit: "Johnson said they’re already talking with potential tenants to move into the office space, including one that could move 800 to 1,000 employees downtown. 'We feel optimistic about the ability to lease the space,' he said."

I thought we were starting to get serious about protecting historic landmarks after the HARB and City Council put several buildings (particularly those important to the black community) on the local register. But then City Council got cold feet after HARB recommended the Kress Building and Masonic Temple be added. We need to make City Councilors aware of how important historic preservation is to citizens, and hopefully they'll do more.

Good point, the clubs they own have pretty tame, normal names.