Greenville County Square redevelopment

[distortedlogic]

7 hours ago, gman430 said:

Because it’s the holy grail Whole Foods Market. Having them helps the developer land other national retail/restaurant tenants. Basically it’s a good selling point and the developer caved in. One thing I don’t get though is why it’s okay for other cities to have Whole Foods on the bottom floor of a mid or high rise like you see in uptown Charlotte but it’s not okay in downtown Greenville? Is it something about the Greenville market or did Whole Foods have a change of heart corporate wise? Makes you wonder. 

So that's what I mean;  why cave? If they're willing to do it in other markets then they're willing to do it, you just have to stand up for yourself.  Greenville may not be as expensive as CLT ( and thank goodness) but it doesn't have to cave either. Say " this is our requirement for this development,  take it or leave it. If not we'll find someone else." Act like you have some confidence in what you're doing and stop begging. 

And just my opinion,  but Whole Paycheck (I mean Whole Foods) is waaaay overrated anyway. 

[hauntedheadnc]

On 8/9/2023 at 1:29 PM, gman430 said:

Just received word that even more tenants that haven’t been revealed yet have signed on. Expect an announcement soon. 

How exciting!  I'm going to go ahead and put on my complainin' shoes now so I'll be ready to jump up and pitch a beotch fit as soon as the news drops! 

[DirectorBob0209]

https://www.wspa.com/news/local-news/new-music-venue-restaurants-other-developments-coming-to-downtown-greenville/

Gives some good information about the new tenants  

[motonenterprises]

Greenville and Charlotte are two vastly different cities. Charlotte is not a small or midsized city. I don't understand certain posters infatuation with comparing the two. Greenville is not in Charlotte's category. So just stop it. Compare Greenville to similar sized areas.

[PuppiesandKittens]

19 hours ago, distortedlogic said:

So that's what I mean;  why cave? If they're willing to do it in other markets then they're willing to do it, you just have to stand up for yourself.  Greenville may not be as expensive as CLT ( and thank goodness) but it doesn't have to cave either. Say " this is our requirement for this development,  take it or leave it. If not we'll find someone else." Act like you have some confidence in what you're doing and stop begging. 

And just my opinion,  but Whole Paycheck (I mean Whole Foods) is waaaay overrated anyway. 

Agreed.  I prefer Publix.

Sidenote: the name for this development is County Square?  Really?  They’re keeping the name of a 53-year old abandoned mall-turned government offices?

[gman430]

Some tenants I would like to see listed below. A few of them like Nordstrom are definitely wishful thinking. There’s a few I didn’t include because they have already signed on and haven’t been announced yet.

 

Nike store

Apple store 

Wahlburgers

Urban Outfitters

Target

Chipotle or Qdoba 

Trader Joe’s 

Nordstrom 

Von Maur

H&M

Crate & Barrel 

Container Store

Bahama Breeze 

Capital Grille 

Chick Fil A 

Ralph Lauren

Lacoste 

Alamo 

Edited August 14, 2023 by gman430

[Birdbrain]

I had a sudden recall of a user from at least 10 years ago that would greet each new project with a rambling, misspelled stream of consciousness; listing just about any store he/she could think of.  My memory of the user's name is long gone, perhaps others with a few years here (GMan430?) will remember the person.

[PuppiesandKittens]

39 minutes ago, Birdbrain said:

I had a sudden recall of a user from at least 10 years ago that would greet each new project with a rambling, misspelled stream of consciousness; listing just about any store he/she could think of.  My memory of the user's name is long gone, perhaps others with a few years here (GMan430?) will remember the person.

There was one poster who self-identified as autistic and who would make such posts; I think that forum members were happy to engage with him about projects and listen to his proposals.  I haven’t seen him post for a long time and I hope that he’s ok; he was a valued member of the community.

[GVLover]

1 hour ago, Birdbrain said:

I had a sudden recall of a user from at least 10 years ago that would greet each new project with a rambling, misspelled stream of consciousness; listing just about any store he/she could think of.  My memory of the user's name is long gone, perhaps others with a few years here (GMan430?) will remember the person.

ATL something if I'm not mistaken. He would even mention that every store needed wifi, ice cream, among other things. Good times. Good times. 

[motonenterprises]

6 hours ago, GVLover said:

ATL something if I'm not mistaken. He would even mention that every store needed wifi, ice cream, among other things. Good times. Good times. 

ATLfan. Was on another forum not this one.

[btoy]

there are other forums?

[gman430]

19 minutes ago, btoy said:

there are other forums?

Yes. City-Data. 

[Birdbrain]

Yes, ATLfan was the poster, thank you.  And yep, sorry that I mixed this board up with City-Data.  Still, it was a small joy to read his/her posts and wonder what it would be like if such stores ACTUALLY got included in new projects. 

...And every store would have skylights and benches with the free wi-fi. 

[gman430]

[apaladin]

Thanks for the pics 430. So it looks like this site will be developed first instead of the one across the street where the county offices are? 

[gman430]

45 minutes ago, apaladin said:

Thanks for the pics 430. So it looks like this site will be developed first instead of the one across the street where the county offices are? 

I believe the Whole Foods Market is going up first due to the site already being demolished and lease signed. They have to wait for EMT’s new facility to be ready and moved in at McAlister Square before they can start demolishing the old county office building. That should happen in October. 

[apaladin]

Went by and nothing is going on, no work at all. Has work stopped or maybe they don’t work on partly cloudy days? 

Edited August 28, 2023 by apaladin

[vistatiger]

Nice Pics. What was the large two level department store anchoring Bell Tower (building closest to the new County bldg car park) back in the day?  Was it a Woolworth's or Woolco?

Edited August 28, 2023 by vistatiger

[PuppiesandKittens]

2 hours ago, vistatiger said:

Nice Pics. What was the large two level department store anchoring Bell Tower (building closest to the new County bldg car park) back in the day?  Was it a Woolworth's or Woolco?

Edward's, which was eventually bought by Walmart, on the upper level.  Winn-Dixie on the bottom level.  EDITED TO ADD: Exile is correct below; there was another grocery store on the  bottom level (on the University Ridge side) at least for a while.

Woolco was on the other end, towards Augusta Road.

Edited August 28, 2023 by PuppiesandKittens

[Exile]

1 hour ago, PuppiesandKittens said:

Edward's, which was eventually bought by Walmart, on the upper level.  Winn-Dixie on the bottom level.

Woolco was on the other end, towards Augusta Road.

I have a distinct memory of there being a WD and an A&P side by side on the lower level of the Bell Tower Mall, facing the movie theater.

This would have been back in the day when grocery stores weren't large. Roughly the size of a current-day CVS or Walgreens.

[PuppiesandKittens]

16 minutes ago, Exile said:

I have a distinct memory of there being a WD and an A&P side by side on the lower level of the Bell Tower Mall, facing the movie theater.

This would have been back in the day when grocery stores weren't large. Roughly the size of a current-day CVS or Walgreens.

You are correct.  I have no memories of the second grocery store so it must not have lasted too long.  Odd to have two grocery stores next to each other in the same mall, but you are right.

Edited August 28, 2023 by PuppiesandKittens

[vistatiger]

2 hours ago, Exile said:

I have a distinct memory of there being a WD and an A&P side by side on the lower level of the Bell Tower Mall, facing the movie theater.

This would have been back in the day when grocery stores weren't large. Roughly the size of a current-day CVS or Walgreens.

I was going to say may have been an A&P or a Big Star.  Both grocery stores were big in Atlanta even into the late 80's.  Not sure if Greenville ever had a Big Star.  I slightly remember when I visited Grans Big Star having  a store in Greenwood. I believe it was located in the same plaza as an Edwards in Uptown Greenwood. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by vistatiger

[Exile]

18 hours ago, vistatiger said:

I was going to say may have been an A&P or a Big Star.  Both grocery stores were big in Atlanta even into the late 80's.  Not sure if Greenville ever had a Big Star.  I slightly remember when I visited Grans Big Star having  a store in Greenwood. I believe it was located in the same plaza as an Edwards in Uptown Greenwood. 

There were two other A&P's that I knew of: at the south end of Lake Forest Shopping Ctr and on Easley Bridge Road at White Horse Rd. They pulled out of Greenville all at once by 1973 at the latest. Probably earlier.

For years those two buildings were recognizable as former A&P's by the cupola on the roof.

Don't know anything about Big Star.

[gman430]

On 8/28/2023 at 12:18 PM, apaladin said:

Went by and nothing is going on, no work at all. Has work stopped or maybe they don’t work on partly cloudy days? 

No work being done on Tuesday either. Fun while it lasted. 

[gman430]

I have received a list of several national retailers and restaurants that have signed on that haven’t been announced to date. I am not allowed to say who they are yet unfortunately. I will say it is a very good and diverse mix though. Some are new to Greenville/Upstate and some are new to South Carolina. I think you all very happy when they do get announced. Poor Haywood Mall.  
 

Lots of workers on site today also. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by gman430