Greenville Summit

[mallguy]

I've posted about this building before-the yellow former hotel that is across the street from First Presbyterian and diagonally across from the Aloft hotel.  I've always been intrigued by it.

Why hasn't it been renovated like the Poinsett Hotel was?  Is its interior just nothing to be excited about, and too costly to fix up? 

Are there are any plans or rumors about it?  It's certainly a good location now.  I assume that there are so many new hotels coming downtown that it would be a while before such a large block of hotel space would be needed.

I also remember going to the Poinsett Hotel in the '80s when it was senior housing.  The main restaurant (overlooking Main Street) was open then, even though the rest of the building was a retirement center. I wonder if the main restaurant space in the Greenville Summit could be fixed up and open to the public in that way?

I remember when it was a dumpy hotel in the '70s, then closed, and then derelict, and then fixed up in the '80s, but it's looking pretty ragged again (not as bad as it was, though).  Couldn't it be turned into better housing than it is now-perhaps a small hotel and condos?  While I'd be reluctant to move its current residents, such a prime piece of real estate surely hasn't found its best use as low-income housing.

[vicupstate]

It would look bad to make seniors move form their home just to make a buck, especially when the Scott Towers units haven't been replaced yet. 

[btoy]

Also, if the property happened to be under a LURA contract it could be years before you may be able to do anything other than affordable housing.  I don't know if it is or not, but I would not be surprised.

[PuppiesandKittens]

Charlotte's version of the Greenville Summit (the Hall House, which is the former Hotel Barringer on North Tryon Street) is being converted from affordable housing back to a boutique hotel.  

I would think that the Greenville Summit is a prime candidate for a similar redevelopment or a County Square-type redevelopment: selling the building, either for renovation or demolition, and using the profits to build newer, nicer housing for current residents somewhere else.  The Greenville Summit is the last semi-eyesore left in the core of downtown.

 

[Exile]

I still think of it as the "Hotel Greenville" and it's something like a decade older than the Poinsett. Please, let's not mention the "D" word until some structural engineer tells us it's going to fall down on its own.

I'd love to see that building restored.

[Exile]

14 hours ago, Exile said:

I still think of it as the "Hotel Greenville" and it's something like a decade older than the Poinsett. Please, let's not mention the "D" word until some structural engineer tells us it's going to fall down on its own.

I'd love to see that building restored.

Maybe if redevelopment ever happened, they could shoot for something like this (the Hotel Charlotte; sadly, destroyed in 1988):

(addition to earlier post. I'm not talking to myself!)

Edited July 10, 2017 by Exile

[gman]

I noticed scaffolding on this building. Anyone know what is going on? New exterior? 

[Upstatescre]

All I know its under contract. 

Edited February 13, 2018 by Upstatescre

[PuppiesandKittens]

2 hours ago, gman said:

I noticed scaffolding on this building. Anyone know what is going on? New exterior? 

Same.  Doesn't Greenville have a law like other cities have, requiring cleaning and repair of exteriors every few years?

Whether or not it does, that building needs an exterior (and likely interior) upgrade.

[PuppiesandKittens]

I have an idea for this building!

Some larger cities have co-living spaces, like co-working spaces: small bedrooms but large community areas, for 20-somethings and others who don't want to pay high rents of urban areas.

Surely this would be a good use for this building, assuming that its hotel rooms are intact or if it otherwise has smaller apartments than normal.  Maybe a few floors of WeWork space, large common areas (a hotel already has those, and the first floor of this building has some large rooms in it) and the rest as co-living space?

[vicupstate]

I've wondered if some sort of new [or  extinct]residential concepts would emerge given the ever increasing cost of housing, stagnation of wages and popularity of urban living.  

Things like boarding houses for example. 

[PuppiesandKittens]

I think that this hotel was partially a boarding house (long-term occupancy of hotel rooms) at least in the 1960s and 1970s.  Sounds like it must have been kind of scuzzy, but it has some unique things inside (beautiful wood paneling, for one).

[vicupstate]

City council approved a special tax assessment that allows a property owner that provides affordable housing to rehabilitate the property and receive a frozen tax assessment for up to 20 years. The Summit will be the first to receive it. Obviously a rehab of some sort or significance is in the works. 

[PuppiesandKittens]

vicupstate, thanks for the tip!  Very helpful!

I see from an article that I found (thanks to your post) that the owners are going to spend $1.5MM to update the Summit so that it can be affordable housing for the next 20 years.   With 101 apartments in the building, that's $14,851 per apartment.  At that price, I'm guessing that it's just enough to keep the building up to code and maybe do some cosmetic upgrades. 

[PuppiesandKittens]

There’s a “For Lease” sign on the West Washington Street side of the Greenville Summit.

Do I have reason to hope that finally part of this building is being restored, or it only a small part of the main level that is for lease?  If I recall correctly, the corner of the floor where the “For Lease” sign is was some kind of separate business in the 1970s, such as a barber or something.

 

[gman430]

48 minutes ago, PuppiesandKittens said:

There’s a “For Lease” sign on the West Washington Street side of the Greenville Summit.

Do I have reason to hope that finally part of this building is being restored, or it only a small part of the main level that is for lease?  If I recall correctly, the corner of the floor where the “For Lease” sign is was some kind of separate business in the 1970s, such as a barber or something.

 

It’s just a retail space that’s for lease. 

[PuppiesandKittens]

16 hours ago, gman430 said:

It’s just a retail space that’s for lease. 

You're right- thanks- and looks like a pretty sweet improvement coming:

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/201-W-Washington-St-Greenville-SC/14319292/

[PuppiesandKittens]

I see that NAI Earle Furman is marking this site for restaurant space and work is going on inside.

Anyone have any further news? 

Thanks!

[apaladin]

Why would any restaurant locate there and why would anyone patronize it? Bad idea. The Summit is what it is. 

[PuppiesandKittens]

3 hours ago, apaladin said:

Why would any restaurant locate there and why would anyone patronize it? Bad idea. The Summit is what it is. 

I am pretty sure that the building will be fixed up and repurposed over the next 20 years so that it will be a normal for-profit building once the current tax credits expire.

Until then, I agree with you.  Who would want to locate a prime business in a derelict building?  At least the exterior and the ground floor would need to be fixed up first.  

But surely there are some historic spaces on the ground floor that would be a neat setting for a restaurant or other business.  I haven’t seen them though, despite walking through the space a few months ago; it was just a dump.

[PuppiesandKittens]

It looks like significant construction is now underway- DP3 Architects and I forget the name of the construction company.  Anything more than behind-the-scenes structural updates and a re-do of the ground floor, hopefully?

[Cityplanner]

Looks like the ground-floor renovations are approaching completion.

Any news about possible tenants or public access to the ground floor?  This could be a beautiful or at least charming building.

[GvilleSC]

Poorly written and covers very little actual information: https://upstatebusinessjournal.com/business-news/former-greenville-sc-summit-building-is-bringing-history-to-the-present/

The historic photos and depictions of the building are somewhat grand. The biggest shame that I notice from the old depictions to today is the public realm around the building. The sidewalk along Richardson is unfortunately narrow today, and the landscaping could be greatly improved upon.  It's a shame that neighboring buildings have been demolished in favor of surface parking. 

[Cityplanner]

On 11/20/2020 at 8:26 AM, GvilleSC said:

Poorly written and covers very little actual information: https://upstatebusinessjournal.com/business-news/former-greenville-sc-summit-building-is-bringing-history-to-the-present/

The historic photos and depictions of the building are somewhat grand. The biggest shame that I notice from the old depictions to today is the public realm around the building. The sidewalk along Richardson is unfortunately narrow today, and the landscaping could be greatly improved upon.  It's a shame that neighboring buildings have been demolished in favor of surface parking. 

Thank you very much for posting this.  That's a great picture of the West Washington Street lobby.  It looks to be in better shape than when I walked through the building.

[GvilleSC]

Wow - I wasn't expecting this. Decent height and I think the design compliments the existing building fairly well. The blank wall is a shame, but the reality of a zero lot line.

https://www.greenvillesc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/23336/23-320-PUBLIC-POSTING-201-W-Washington-St