MAJIKMAN

Hey. I’ve been kind of wondering who would know about the new development on Caulder Avenue by the Montgomery Development Group. There redeveloping the old school at Caulder Ave and Caulder Circle. Here is the website: https://www.montgomerydevelopmentgroup.com/portfolio/multifamily/the-avenue

Surprised no one here has mentioned this. But have been out of town for some time and drove up Rutherford Street to notice that something was being built across from the Salvation Army. Does anybody have any insight?

Well I maybe able to elaborate better on that. The city and the residents of the southern side neighborhood have a long standing agreement of not allowing establishments that serve alcohol. That means if you have to get a liquor license, they don’t want it. That’s the reason no one has opened anything in the old nightclub space next to the post office. I personally know of a couple that wanted to open a restaurant there. But couldn’t get the approval of the whole neighborhood. Now in that case. The Hampton-Pinckney folk were in favor of it. But the Southernside folk didn’t. And that’s probably what’s going on here.

Just went by there just a few minutes ago and it appears that they are assembling the crane today.

Well they can't muck it up any worse than they already have. We will just have to see.

It's the change in the roofline. I don't know if I'm really feeling the flat roofs. Felt like they are forcing things to get this thing through. Just my opinion.

Everyone is basically rehashing the same points. But essentially the market will determine what's going to be built and where, with maybe a couple of exceptions. Like with the city of Greenville buying property around downtown for the main purpose of affordable and work force housing. So just because people don't hear about those kinds of things, please don't assume they aren't happening. And by the way everyone isn't going to want to be in downtown proper. Being a mile or even two away is more than close enough. That's where public transportation comes in. Being honest that is where the focus should be. Normally land cost justify that kind of development. And that puts at least 95% of people who want to live close to downtown someplace to live.

Look for all who are thinking that this site will ever have a low income or an affordable home option need to keep dreaming. The price of this property will make it prohibitively unobtainable. Every development in and around downtown shouldn't be aimed at the upper to middle class. And I think we all can agree with that. But there are/will be other areas that affordable housing will work.

I would have to assume that alot of this stems from the Pendleton St. Church project and the neighboring community. I get it. Most development is spreading out so fast that surrounding neighborhoods want assurances that they won't be next. And there will be a next one. Think County Square, areas along Church, Main, and of course Pendleton Streets. There are countless number of other examples and you all get the jest. Planning is important.

Well, with that many rooms and accompanying space. Height is to be expected. So we would have to imagine the first floor would have administrative office, restaurant, and museum space. Then account for minimum 10 to 15, maybe more, rooms per floor. Being in that tight a space. Well you do the math.

Now I can say this. If they hadn't built those cottage home directly behind there. And then plan to construct a driveway from townes to wilton then I could possibly see something like that. But that is a would of, should of, could of kind of thing.

Long of short of it is this. I went back in and talked to the guy who I got the initial info from about the potential buyers. He told me that a developer had approached them about building a multistory apartment building stretching from their property over to the property next door. Maybe a couple hundred units. He kind of said it in passing, the first time we spoke. But I think when this person came back he knew he was seriously considering it. But I said then that something like that happening there was slim to none. Traffic would've been crazy trying to get that many vehicles in and out of there. Unless you constructed a back road onto wilton. But I know the folks in the Heritage Historic District and Viola Street were not gonna have that. So Im figuring they scrapped that idea.

I knew that there was alot of intereste in this property. Kind of glad this one materialized. The others I had heard about were going to get alot of push back from the folks in the neighborhood. Especially the apartments mentioned in the article.

I gotcha.

I believe the mystery over the signs is over. If you were watching the Olympics last night, I don't remember when, you saw a commercial with two animated cars. Well it was the latest drunk driving deals and in it the drunk driver mentions the signs to the officer. Edit: may be a coincidence, but the commercial was about something else. The plot thickens.....