Greenville County Square redevelopment

[GvilleSC]

Great to see Lima One maintaining this growth and investment in their hometown. I hope the developer adds some floors to this building, but great to see more office jobs being spread across downtown. 

[gman430]

Great news. And yes hopefully it’s taller but I imagine it won’t be just due to what the rendering shows. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by gman430

[GvilleSC]

13 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Great news. And yes hopefully it’s taller but I imagine it won’t be just due to what the rendering shows. 

To confirm -- this is not the same building that you've shown leasing flyers for in the past, correct? 

[gman430]

10 minutes ago, GvilleSC said:

To confirm -- this is not the same building that you've shown leasing flyers for in the past, correct? 

Correct. This is a different building. The office building with the flyer which will also get built as part of phase 1 is the one with the red arrow while the Lima One office building is the one with green arrow: 

Edited June 15, 2023 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

18 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Correct. This is a different building. The office building with the flyer which will also get built as part of phase 1 is the one with the red arrow while the Lima One office building is the one with green arrow: 

^^ Such of a waste of an opportunity in terms of layout, density, and especially architecturally!

Edited June 15, 2023 by distortedlogic

[gman430]

29 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

^^ Such of a waste of an opportunity in terms of layout, density, and especially architecturally!

Oh I don’t disagree. I know there are height restrictions but they could have at least made the office buildings twelve stories tall. And don’t even get some started on the Whole Foods Market…yikes. Looks like it belongs on Woodruff Road not downtown. I am much more impressed with the proposed plans for Union Bleachery and Bridgeway Station than County Square. The plans for County Square continue to get worse as it evolves more. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by gman430

[apaladin]

The current county parking garage is going end up being the tallest building in the entire project. What a missed opportunity. I guess the original renderings have been thrown out the window with every building 4-5 stories now.  What happened to the 10-12 story mid-rises. 

On 5/29/2023 at 7:57 AM, gman said:

There are still building supply issues. It takes longer to build anything these days. 

There are no longer supply issues. My wife is a credit manager at the largest building supply corporation in the country. With few exceptions things are back to normal.

[GVLer]

Given the price paid for the land, one would think the developers would press for height and density for financial reasons. 

[motonenterprises]

It is what it is.

[gman430]

Yep…Greenville could have easily doubled its skyline with this development but now we’re stuck with nothing better than a Tanger Outlet Mall. Feels like I am watching a re-run of the Peacock and Pinnacle projects. What’s next for the site? A Bass Pro Shops? I’m gonna go drink a beer. This is too depressing.  

Edited June 16, 2023 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

Just out of curiosity I looked at some examples of other mixed use developments and it looks like County Square is about par for the course; literally could anywhere USA. I guess architects and developers have no vision or creativity anymore. It makes me appreciate Bridgeway Station and the concept for UB even more.

 

[vicupstate]

We have all known there will be one 12 story building and several 8 story ones since the project was approved. No evidence that has changed.   

[PuppiesandKittens]

Based on what I know about architecture (very little), (1) architects are trained in modern styles that are used frequently and (2) clients want low costs.  Result?  The same office park that is built all over the US is built here.

This is where long-term plans for Greenville should include more terms than just maximum density, type of building and parking requirements and the like.  

What if the powers that be had required that this site have minimum density, minimum heights and consistent architectural styles?

[distortedlogic]

45 minutes ago, PuppiesandKittens said:

Based on what I know about architecture (very little), (1) architects are trained in modern styles that are used frequently and (2) clients want low costs.  Result?  The same office park that is built all over the US is built here.

This is where long-term plans for Greenville should include more terms than just maximum density, type of building and parking requirements and the like.  

What if the powers that be had required that this site have minimum density, minimum heights and consistent architectural styles?

Yep, I agree. There is no reason the powers that be; council, DRB, etc, couldn't also set architecture requirements (or at least restrictions) for developments. Even with height restrictions at this site, there are architectural styles that that could have made this development truly something transformational for the city that would also be beautiful for decades to come. Instead we are filling it up as fast as possible with suburban office park buildings that add no character or creativity to DT. Don't get me wrong, the County Square Project is great and the investment, etc are awesome, but it's just a shame the architecture and fabric of it don't match its significance.

[gman430]

It’s just sad. Lima One could have been different and built a 30+ story building downtown like Mutual of Omaha is doing in that city but nope they have to be like every other company headquartered in Greenville and build a boring suburban looking mid-rise like UCB and Southern First did. It’s like watching a bad bar crash happen right in front of your eyes. Not even worth wasting my time taking drone pics of it under construction. 

Edited June 16, 2023 by gman430

[GvilleSC]

Lol. Once Lima One is the size of Mutual of Omaha, I think we can expect more of them.

[apaladin]

7 hours ago, gman430 said:

It’s just sad. Lima One could have been different and built a 30+ story building downtown like Mutual of Omaha is doing in that city but nope they have to be like every other company headquartered in Greenville and build a boring suburban looking mid-rise like UCB and Southern First did. It’s like watching a bad bar crash happen right in front of your eyes. Not even worth wasting my time taking drone pics of it under construction. 

The use of the term mid-rise in error. Should have used low-rise. 

[motonenterprises]

There are other cities for people that don't like this one. I'm just saying.

[gman430]

Well…I guess it doesn’t look THAT bad minus the Whole Foods Market of course which really takes away from the density aspect of the project: 

Edited June 17, 2023 by gman430

[GVLover]

I feel I'm in the minority here, but while the project has seemed underwhelming thus far, I do think it'll turn out to be a phenomenal project when fully realized. I hope we can attract some destination retail space to the project, and a few places that close past 9 to avoid it feeling like a development and more like an extension of downtown. 

[NewlyUpstate]

Yeah if this development had no surface lots I'd have no issue. Hopefully Whole Foods is the only one, and that specific lot was supposed to be zoned to be a little less dense from the beginning. Still disappointed though

Edited June 17, 2023 by NewlyUpstate

[gman]

On 6/16/2023 at 1:36 PM, gman430 said:

It’s just sad. Lima One could have been different and built a 30+ story building downtown like Mutual of Omaha is doing in that city but nope they have to be like every other company headquartered in Greenville and build a boring suburban looking mid-rise like UCB and Southern First did. It’s like watching a bad bar crash happen right in front of your eyes. Not even worth wasting my time taking drone pics of it under construction. 

Lima One is building to fit their needs, and I am glad they are doing it in our hometown of Greenville. Thank you Lima one. We have a few negative Nancy’s.  Most citizens appreciate you being here. 

[GvilleSC]

54 minutes ago, gman said:

Lima One is building to fit their needs, and I am glad they are doing it in our hometown of Greenville. Thank you Lima one. We have a few negative Nancy’s.  Most citizens appreciate you being here. 

Are they building it? Or leasing it from a developer?

[gman430]

37 minutes ago, GvilleSC said:

Are they building it? Or leasing it from a developer?

Looks like Lima One is paying for the office building and owning it after completion with it being a $51+ million investment by them.  UCB is doing the same with their building. Probably cheaper over the long term than paying a lease rate which continues to increase for Class A office space downtown. The proposed eight story office building at County Square also has the most expensive Class A office lease rate of any Class A office space downtown at $39.50 per square foot. 

Edited June 17, 2023 by gman430

[NewlyUpstate]

57 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Looks like Lima One is paying for the office building and owning it after completion with it being a $51+ million investment by them.  UCB is doing the same with their building. Probably cheaper over the long term than paying a lease rate which continues to increase for Class A office space downtown. The proposed eight story office building at County Square also has the most expensive Class A office lease rate of any Class A office space downtown at $39.50 per square foot. 

Buying real estate and building Class A office space for a growing business in downtown Greenville is probably not only a good long term business decision, but the equity growth is probably a nice profit center for the business as well... as an individual, my wealth is growing more from my equity than my income over the past several years. Kinda interesting to reflect upon as a pretty decently paid white collar worker.

Edited June 17, 2023 by NewlyUpstate