301 College Street High-rise mixed use development

[gman430]

  
 

Beach Company is the developer. Looks like it will be the second tallest building downtown. 

https://www.greenvillesc.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/10240?fileID=56706

Edited December 23, 2022 by gman430

[vicupstate]

301 College St

 

2,000 SF Retail

480 space garage

264 residential units

 

[NewlyUpstate]

Wow.. 19 stories, 264 units. This one looks really good.  

Has there been any recent news on the old building next door? Hopefully this project helps "activate" this whole area.  The townhomes being built look great so far.

Let's fast track this thing and get it going! This in an incredible opportunity for this awful (IMO) site.

Edited December 21, 2022 by NewlyUpstate

[GVLover]

Love it! I wish the former BB&T building, which they own, would be filled with office space to show there is demand for additional office space (height) in this project. Considering it's Beach, I'm excited knowing this one will come to fruition. 2023/24 could potentially be years of incredible crane activity in Greenville if all plays out right. 

[gman430]

229 feet tall. Falls Tower at Camperdown is technically taller at 250 feet but sits at a much lower elevation so this building will actually end up looking taller if it gets built. Going for LEED certification. Townhomes and retail space on ground floor. Expect a Post & Courier story soon. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by gman430

[GvilleSC]

This is exactly what this awkward triangle needs, and the kind of influx of people that this area of downtown could use. The height and presence of the building on the street alone will help slow traffic, but the addition of pedestrians will work to that end as well.  

[PuppiesandKittens]

The old BB&T building needs to be re-done on its exterior to be more harmonious the other new buildings around it.   Otherwise, the new building and the BB&T building don’t match at all, and neither matches the new brick condo building. So even though the new building and the new brick condo building each are attractive, a jumble of styles just is jarring.

[GvilleSC]

The application calls for "market rate" units. I presume that means for-rent apartments, not for-sale condos?

I appreciate the mix of architectural styles. They complement each other quite nicely from the renderings, and represent the respective eras in which they are built. 

[vicupstate]

2 hours ago, GvilleSC said:

The application calls for "market rate" units. I presume that means for-rent apartments, not for-sale condos?

I appreciate the mix of architectural styles. They complement each other quite nicely from the renderings, and represent the respective eras in which they are built. 

Market rate is a term applied to for sale units  just as often as rentals.  Given the expensive construction, I assume this has to be condos, not apartments. 

[gman430]

The lack of excitement over this project on this forum sure is depressing.  I guess it having a flat roof and not being a new state’s tallest killed the vibe. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by gman430

[GVLover]

1 hour ago, gman430 said:

The lack of excitement over this project on this forum sure is depressing.  I guess it having a flat roof and not being a new state’s tallest killed the vibe. 

At the rate the conference center project is taking shape, it would be great if the Greenville County Museum of Art would work to integrate their annex into this project. Of course that's wishful thinking, but it would absolutely help us get a tad bit more height. 

[motonenterprises]

Looks good. But has it passed through the design and review board? And yes, some of us would like to at least see a new tallest in Greenville.

[gman430]

14 minutes ago, motonenterprises said:

Looks good. But has it passed through the design and review board? And yes, some of us would like to at least see a new tallest in Greenville.

It’s going to the DRB on January 5th for approval. Maybe Hughes will bring back his proposed state’s tallest from the dead. One can hope. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by gman430

[motonenterprises]

4 hours ago, gman430 said:

It’s going to the DRB on January 5th for approval. Maybe Hughes will bring back his proposed state’s tallest from the dead. One can hope. 

I wouldn't mind seeing a new state tallest in Greenville. I'm not sure where the numbers fit in with that, but the area is still seeing heavy growth.

[distortedlogic]

21 hours ago, GVLover said:

Love it! I wish the former BB&T building, which they own, would be filled with office space to show there is demand for additional office space (height) in this project. Considering it's Beach, I'm excited knowing this one will come to fruition. 2023/24 could potentially be years of incredible crane activity in Greenville if all plays out right. 

Wow, pretty cool, did anyone know this was in the works?

I will remain very cautiously optimistic, it seems like we've seen a lot of high rise proposals over the past few years and, well, our track record is less than stellar.

I like everything about this building except the top. I wish they could do something different than the chopped off look; maybe taper it, have one side higher, something to break the mold a bit. Otherwise, very nice.

 

So 229 feet would make it one foot higher than the BOA building at 228,  and the third highest DT. It would be only the 5th building to exceed the 200ft threshold.

Edited December 22, 2022 by distortedlogic

[gman]

Why I am thinking the DRB will reject this plan because it is too tall for that particular area?

[gman430]

58 minutes ago, gman said:

Why I am thinking the DRB will reject this plan because it is too tall for that particular area?

Is there anywhere we can put high-rises downtown without somebody thinking this? They won’t. The Landmark building is literally right there and is taller along with the Canal building which is right around the same height. This site is zoned C-4 and is along a major four lane road which means no height restrictions. If anything they’ll just defer it and ask for more of a setback. They approved Falls Tower with flying colors which is taller in terms of number of feet. Gateway site was also approved. 

News stories: https://upstatebusinessjournal.com/square-feet/new-19-story-proposed-for-downtown-greenville-near-college-and-academy-streets/ and https://www.postandcourier.com/greenville/business/planned-19-story-tower-would-dwarf-greenvilles-former-bb-t-building/article_4b50ef2c-8218-11ed-8259-bf16ab39635f.html

Edited December 22, 2022 by gman430

[motonenterprises]

2 hours ago, gman said:

Why I am thinking the DRB will reject this plan because it is too tall for that particular area?

That's for main street. No height restrictions in this area or set back rules.

[gman430]

Bolded and underlined the important parts: 

In an interview with The Post and Courier, Beach Company CEO Dan Doyle said the eye-catching size and design of the planned project is part of the point.

While the site sits within the footprint of downtown Greenville, Doyle said the arterial nature of Academy Street has acted as a physical and psychological barrier between the area and the core Central Business District.

By constructing a 264-unit development on the 2.4-acre site bordered by Academy, Buncombe and College streets, Doyle said, the Beach Company hopes to help bridge that gap.

He said the project is also intended to compliment the city’s plans to establish a “cultural corridor.” That project will include foot paths and streetscaping between downtown and Heritage Green on College Street, which would see lanes reduced.

“It was about how to show that this is part of downtown Greenville,” Doyle said. “From a zoning perspective, it’s all there. The zoning this property has is intended to be higher density, taller development that acts as a gateway to the downtown area.”

The development would include a 480-space parking garage that Doyle said will serve both the planned project and the adjacent Canvas Tower.

Beach Company acquired the former BB&T building in 2017. Original plans for the 1970s-era office building called for renovation into apartments, but those plans were scrapped in favor of office use.

Doyle said the building has remained completely vacant since then, with a lack of parking posing a major obstacle to bringing on a large-scale tenant. 

“We’ve come in a close second on a couple of occasions for some large users, but one of the key things for them was additional parking that we simply couldn’t accommodate,” he said. “So this allows us to have that additional parking to support not only the existing, but the new.”

Doyle said his company is still searching for a large company to rent all or most of the 130,000 square feet of office space, but has not abandoned the idea of converting the building into apartments if office use doesn’t materialize at some point. 

The development company is also hopeful the new tower would help fill the commercial space at Canvas Lofts, a mixed-use project across the street that the Beach Company acquired with the Canvas Tower site.

Doyle said the initial plan was to attract a grocery store tenant to the 21,000-square-foot retail space, but that idea ultimately fell through. It’s now unlikely that a grocer will ever go in that development, Doyle said, but the Beach Company has been in conversations with other potential tenants.

“This will help us attract and get users into that space,” he said.

The 2,000 square feet of commercial space at the proposed tower project would be marketed to small-scale tenants like cafes, coffee shops and restaurants intended to compliment the amenities at Heritage Green across the street, Doyle said.

“It’s really there to be able to play off of those that are going to the art museum, the theater, the children’s museum in an attempt to really help activate that corner,” he said.

The residential units will range from one to three-bedroom apartments, as well as a handful of townhomes facing Academy Street, which will be designed to function as “live/work-style” homes and conceal the bottom level of the parking garage.  

The proposal is scheduled to go before the city’s Design Review Board on January 5. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by gman430

[gman430]

The new tower would be the second-tallest in downtown Greenville — three stories short of the 22-story Landmark Building and two stories taller than the new 17-floor Falls Tower overlooking Reedy River Falls.

Mayor Knox White told The Post and Courier that the Beach Company and the city coordinated extensively before the plans were submitted to the Design Review Board and that the proposed development would fit in well with the city’s hopes for that area.

“It’s a stunning building,” White said.

Edited December 22, 2022 by gman430

[GVLer]

This proposed building looks great. With all due respect to the beauty of the Canvas mural, it reinforces how ugly that building is. They look jarring next to each other. 

[vistatiger]

1 hour ago, GVLer said:

This proposed building looks great. With all due respect to the beauty of the Canvas mural, it reinforces how ugly that building is. They look jarring next to each other. 

Yes mural aside It would have been great if they would have just imploded that ugly former Bank Building and just started from scratch.  Oh well, The planning people will probably wack around 9 stories off this because it doesn't fit mid-rise city anyway.

[GVLover]

1 hour ago, vistatiger said:

Yes mural aside It would have been great if they would have just imploded that ugly former Bank Building and just started from scratch.  Oh well, The planning people will probably wack around 9 stories off this because it doesn't fit mid-rise city anyway.

 I wouldn't mind an implosion to move forward with a twin tower configuration, with a museum annex in the podium. One tower office and hotel (hotels are rather lackluster on that side of town), the other residential. One 19, the other 29.

Edited December 23, 2022 by GVLover

[vicupstate]

If the Beach Company had not cannibalized the parking by selling off the townhouse parcel, then I bet a grocer would have gone into the Loft building.  It is a great location for one, especially with the tower now going in. Oh well. 

There is a whole block across Buncombe Street from this tower that has sat empty for decades.  Maybe something will finally happen there. 

[pressw]

Probably a dumb question, but is this now the tallest actively proposed/planned building in Greenville?