New Greenville developments

[Greenville]

I agree, having the new post office in a better area of downtown would be great - especially if it could be a good development on vacant land or in place of an old building.

[Spartan]

I don't think the current location is bad, but the building itself needs to be reconstructed regarldess of whether or not they use the current site or a different one. And it needs to front the road, which the current one does do. And as long as they are doing that, how about give the post office on Laurens Rd a much needed face lift?

Yeah thats the Hampton-Pinkney neighborhood that its currently in. I think that will be the next up and coming neighborhood rehab area in Greenville. Its a fantastic location, and nice houses too.

Did the news you heard happen to say where the new post office will be? Couldn't you imagine a new main post office being part of a larger development on North Main between Academy and and Stone, complete with a large parking garage for both public parking and mail truck parking, and a nice new post office surrounded by mixed-use buildings? Maybe I've had too much caffeine today.

That would be nice, but no- they didn't say where it would go. I heard it on a morning talk show, and it was an aside comment from an employee who works at the post office... the actual conversation was on something else entirely. It definitely was not a major announcement or anything of that sort.

[gs3]

Snapped this photo of the old Goodys location on Laurens Road. It's now being leveled. Isn't this piece of land (and the old Best Buy spot next door) where Wal-Mart was looking to put a store?

[btoy]

I had always heard Goody's and Sams. And didn't the furniture store in Sams close recently.

[linkerjpatrick]

Snapped this photo of the old Goodys location on Laurens Road. It's now being leveled. Isn't this piece of land (and the old Best Buy spot next door) where Wal-Mart was looking to put a store?

That's the most rediculous thing I have ever heard. They used to be a Wal-Mart and Sam's Club on Lauren's Road in a just a few years ago and they went out and built brand new ones at near the Intersection of Woodruff Road and I-385 adding to the ever growing Woodruff Road mess when they already had places on Laurens Road with a newly widened road. I find it very weird they went to all that trouble to widen Lauren's Road and then a lot of vendors left, i.e. Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, etc.

[vicupstate]

Bizarre indeed.

They widened Laurens, then everyhting left. Now, it's building up again.

There is already a Murphy's Gas Station which is WalMart owned/affliated in this area. So I guess Walmart is coming back. There will no doubt be a lot more retail in it's wake. Hopefully, this will be one of the nicer (brick) Walmarts.

[gs3]

That's the most rediculous thing I have ever heard. They used to be a Wal-Mart and Sam's Club on Lauren's Road in a just a few years ago and they went out and built brand new ones at near the Intersection of Woodruff Road and I-385 adding to the ever growing Woodruff Road mess when they already had places on Laurens Road with a newly widened road. I find it very weird they went to all that trouble to widen Lauren's Road and then a lot of vendors left, i.e. Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, etc.

Crazy yes, I agree. Sometimes IMO retailers tend to be too short sighted, but when Wal-Mart and others left Laurens there was no ICAR, no Verdae development, no Millenium Campus, no South Financial Campus, etc, etc. With all these developments now, Laurens has resurfaced as a good retail destination. Great to see this road reinvent itself.

[Spartan]

That is weird/frustrating, but like gsupstate said, ICAR and Verdae will force some life back into Laurens Rd in the long run. I think that people will choose it over Woodruff if they have options as I don't see Woodruff Rd's problems improving any time in the near future.

[GvilleSC]

It's encouraging that Walmart might be interested in coming back to Laurens, but I'm not real sure I want them. Walmart is a suburban thing and this portion of Laurens Road has gone from being a pretty much suburban part of town to almost the center of town. We're working on making this area connected to downtown with mass transit and increasing the pedestrian friendliness, neither of which Walmart will help contribute to. Like I said, it's a good sign, but that's the only good coming from this. What's next, the average Walmart strip center that appears next to every single Walmart? Not the development that I want to see on a road that you have a RARE second chance to recreate and get right. Come on, Greenville, this is THE chance to tackle several problems that hold us back from getting mass transit on bigger levels.

[btoy]

The Old WalMart on Laurens Rd. was not a Super Center, that is why it closed. Any new one will be. Also, something to consider. The Goody's is owned by Verdae Properties. Considering their ownership and their interest in the area and how it looks and is developed means, that what ever happens on that site will probubly look good.

[linkerjpatrick]

The Old WalMart on Laurens Rd. was not a Super Center, that is why it closed. Any new one will be. Also, something to consider. The Goody's is owned by Verdae Properties. Considering their ownership and their interest in the area and how it looks and is developed means, that what ever happens on that site will probubly look good.

Oh, boo hoo hoo. I can't stand the SuperCenter concept. If they had wanted too however they could have relocated Sam's club to Woodruff or another location and converted the old Sam's club into a Super Center or expanded the location on Lauren's it's not like that Strip mall is a hub of activity. I still wonder how Books-A-Million is able to stay in business. Everytime I go in their it's usually to browse the "millions of books" , I tend to buy more online or at Barnes and Noble but when I'm in there I only see 4 or 5 customers in that giant store. I however have shopped at Wal-Mart less since they went the way of supercenterism. If I want to get my groceries I don't want to have to walk past granny panties, Asian nail salon's, etc.

[Spartan]

I've heard that Walmart is starting to consider urban locations and urban styles of building. Perhaps they could be made to build an urban walmart/2 story super center.

[goodbye]

Mostly out of tradition, I actually really like shopping Books-a-Million. There are definitely times when the store is quite busy, but most of the time you don't have to shop around a bunch of other people like at both of the Barnes & Noble stores - something I don't really care to experience very often in a bookstore. BAM has tons of great bargains as well, which is not always true of B&N. I have nothing personal against B&N, especially the new one with its sizeable collection of foreign films, but I seem to more frequently prefer Bently's Bookshop (soon to be a fond memory), The Open Book (although its location could be better), and Books-A-Million (many years-worth of shopping there).

[gs3]

The Old WalMart on Laurens Rd. was not a Super Center, that is why it closed. Any new one will be. Also, something to consider. The Goody's is owned by Verdae Properties. Considering their ownership and their interest in the area and how it looks and is developed means, that what ever happens on that site will probubly look good.

I'm never thrilled when a Wal-Mart opens anywhere. I feel about them, the way I feel about Piggly Wiggly.

But, in this case, retail coming back to Laurens is a good thing. I think the new Bi-Lo Super Center will have good impact on retail in the area.

Thanks btoy. This is positive to know that Verdae may have say so in what a big box store will look like.

[linkerjpatrick]

Sorry I got so "snippy" in the previous post. I'm just the type who hates to see waste and after enduring the Laurens road widening a few years back at the promise it would be easier to get in and out of the "big box" stores and then to see a good many of them go to the woodruff road was frustrating to say the least. I realize these companies want to locate where they can get the most bang for the buck but all to often it seems like they are thinking of themselves and not the local consumers which they try to sell to.

I do like the choice and 'breathing room" at Books-A-Million but I can't stand too long looking at book and magazines without getting a serious crick in my neck. I need the chair provided at Barnes and Noble. I can also get online at Barnes and Noble so I can go shopping for books I will really buy at Amazon.com

I tried shopping at Bentley's before they closed but everything seem well, used. Yes, I know it was a used book store but some of them seem "too used". They did have small sections of signed books or really hold collectibles which I think would have sold better in an antique store. I'm amazed Bentley's stayed open as long as it did. Perhaps they would have done better by encouraging people to bring in their used books in much the same way college book stores do. Also a dedicated are well presented area of signed and collectable books would have made another difference.

I've had a harder and harder time taking the Open Book seriously as a book store. They do have a good magazine selection and seem to host book signings more than any other book store but more often than not a lot of their shelves seem quite bare and the rest of the store seems very run down as if the owners don't care to make the place a big success. Ironically it seemed a lot more alive when it was a part of McCalister Square even though it was pretty cramped.

[wellen]

Here are a couple interesting tidbits from the City Planning Commision:

AX 07-02. A request to annex approximately 17 acres of land located on Roper Mountain Road Extension, and to provide a zoning classification of PD, Planned Development. The plan calls for up to 70 single-family attached dwellings or 4.4 dwellings per acre. The tax map numbers of the properties are 540.1-1-17, -17.1, & -18.

AX 07-01. A request to annex approximately 22.5 acres of land located on Ridge Road and Workman Drive, and to provide a zoning classification of RM-3, Multi-family Residential District. The tax map number of the property is M11.2-1-5.8.

[Greenville2Nashville]

It seems like there are alot of projects in Greenville that are using the Italian/Tuscan theme. Does anyone have an explanation for why that is?

It seems fewer people know about this today than a few years age, but back in the 80's Greenville adopted a sister city. The city, Bergamo, Italy! I know of one local restaurant boasting a related Italian name. It is called Restaurant Bergamo located at Main & Coffee streets. I've also heard that county square, I think it's called, adjacent to the restaurant is patterned after the town square in Bergamo, Italy. I'm not 100% sure if this has anything to do with the new developments choices in architecture and design, but I know the city has made similar efforts in the past.

[RestedTraveler]

It seems fewer people know about this today than a few years age, but back in the 80's Greenville adopted a sister city. The city, Bergamo, Italy! I know of one local restaurant boasting a related Italian name. It is called Restaurant Bergamo located at Main & Coffee streets. I've also heard that county square, I think it's called, adjacent to the restaurant is patterned after the town square in Bergamo, Italy. I'm not 100% sure if this has anything to do with the new developments choices in architecture and design, but I know the city has made similar efforts in the past.

Welcome to U.P., Greenville2Nashville!

That may be true for the general population out there in Greenville; however, most everybody on this forum from Greenville (that I know of anyway) is very aware of Greenville's sister cities (Bergamo, Italy; Kortrijk, Belgium; and Tianjin, China) as well as Piazza Bergamo (the plaza between Main Street and the Bank of America Building to which you have referred as county square). I believe Restaurante Bergamo probably takes its name from the Piazza as much as from Greenville's relationship with one of its sister cities, though?

This may have something to do with the trend toward Italian-style architecture in new developments in and around Greenville; however, I wouldn't give it that much weight.

[mcashlv]

"Hillbilly Linthead Pseudo-Italianate"--a new architectural movement! You gotta love it! They don't call it the Piedmont for nothing...

It seems like there are alot of projects in Greenville that are using the Italian/Tuscan theme. Does anyone have an explanation for why that is?

[linkerjpatrick]

Maybe a lot of the Italian themes are because of 1.) one of our sister cities 2.) The geography of Greenville kind of lends itself to the theme. I don't think a Southwest theme would work (well actually a southwestern/mexican theme would work better for the W. Parker Road/Cedar Lane Road area in lieu of all the mexican/hispanic businesses instead of the boring worn out strip mall look.

I do find it interesting how the Olive Garden at Cherrydale has the unique look compared to the one on Lauren's Road. It fits in with the Italian styled village on the hill behind it.

Also consider they are parts of Northwest Georgia, Western NC and TN that have a very Germanic/Alpine theme.

[RestedTraveler]

I do find it interesting how the Olive Garden at Cherrydale has the unique look compared to the one on Lauren's Road. It fits in with the Italian styled village on the hill behind it.

This is Darden's current prototype for their new Olive Garden restaurants, that's all. Don't read anything special into it. In fact, the very first of these was opened on International Drive in Orlando just a couple of years ago. I've been there many times. I've yet to set foot in the new one at Cherrydale though. Perhaps this coming weekend.

[goodbye]

The one in Anderson was built on this design as well, at least a few years ago.

[Spartan]

^ The new Olive Garden in Spartanburg has that same design. I don't really care for it on its own, but if it fits in with Cherrydale in anyway, that is fantastic. This is my biggest pet peeve with chain restaurants (not just Olive Garden)... they don't build with the local architectural styles/ trends etc.

[linkerjpatrick]

I know the new Olive Garden is part of their new design. I just thought it was interesting how it blended in with the surrounding area better. I like it when businesses create a look that is more natural to the surrounds and looks less "fake". As much as I dislike Wal-Mart (the experience and their practices) I do like their more natural brick designs compared to the souless warehouse look of many of them. In the Southpark area of Charlotte they have a McDonalds that does not look like a McDonalds but fits in more with the look of that area.

The Library at North Greenville College is also another good example. I went there in the mid 80's and it stuck out like a sore thumb. It was remodeled in the 90's to have a more colonial look as well as other areas of the campus.

[g-man430]

I have no idea if this has been mentioned or not, but a new clothing and jewelry store called Go Fish, which will be located at 612 S. Main Street across from Falls Park will be opening soon. Here is their website: http://www.gofishgreenville.com/