Greater Spartanburg Projects & Developments

[Spartan]

Hopefully Lime Leaf will be another restaurant for that area. It seems like the only activity generators in the evenings are Wild Wing and Delaneys. Its starting to build though

I have no idea what is going on with the Bijou Market

[goodbye]

WSPA had a story on the Bijou Market this past week. You may find it on their website.

[Spartan]

Can you not share some of the details?

[goodbye]

I was surprised when I saw that WYFF had a similar story, but theirs went into more detail. Essentially, it highlighted downtown residents who are looking forward to the new activity in the Bijou development. A couple of investors in this project were interviewed as well. It should definitely be a positive for the DT growth efforts.

[Spartan]

Now if we could only have more downtown residents....

[Spartan]

I saw an ad in the Journal for 520 E Main. Just a small shop, but what intrigued me is that it said diagonal parking is propsed for this area. That means the diagonal parking (read: lane reduction) is not goign to stop at Pine St, but continue on to St Johns as we had hoped.

[goodbye]

That's a positive development indeed!

[goodbye]

There is a GREAT article in the current issue of GSABusiness on QS/1 Data Systems' thriving headquarters. They plan to add 50 jobs over 3-5 years, which would bring the total number of employees working at this location to 400. This is the headline article in the publication, so you can read the tease online, but pick up a copy to get the whole story.

Now for the bad news - or at least the speculation of bad news:

A survey on job growth in the Upstate for 2006 has found that Greenville and Anderson will have growth rates higher than the state and national average, but Spartanburg will be considerably lower.

[goodbye]

WYFF News 4 had a fabulous story today about downtown Spartanburg development. The City has released a document with criteria for proposals of a new master plan for downtown. The goal is to take the current momentum into a long-term vision for a vibrant Spartanburg.

Also mentioned was that Sonny's Brick Oven Pizza will double in size and include an oyster bar. Carriage House Wines proprietor said business is great. There are currently 20 or so projects proposed or underway, totalling approximately $70 million.

[krazeeboi]

Good news for Sparkle City. If I had about $10 million in spare change, I'd definitely invest some of it in Spartanburg.

[Spartan]

WYFF News 4 had a fabulous story today about downtown Spartanburg development. The City has released a document with criteria for proposals of a new master plan for downtown. The goal is to take the current momentum into a long-term vision for a vibrant Spartanburg.

Also mentioned was that Sonny's Brick Oven Pizza will double in size and include an oyster bar. Carriage House Wines proprietor said business is great. There are currently 20 or so projects proposed or underway, totalling approximately $70 million.

Sonny's has been expanding for a while. They bought the former Java Jive... I had no idea that it was to be an oyster bar. How odd. Since its the only thing of the sort in Spartanburg I'm sure it will be a hit.

I am excited to know that these new projects are. There only only about 7 or 8 that are underway that I can think of. There should be some really cool stuff on the horizon if the Journal is accurate.

Also, the parks system should be getting a big upgrade soon. Some companies have been selected to get the ball rolling on this task

[goodbye]

The fact that the City wants to hire a designer to create a master plan is a very positive move.

The bad news today is that the largest lender in the Rennaisance Project is pressing charges to get the $20 million owed. This means that the project is not about to take off once again anytime soon.

[Spartan]

No suprise though. If you don't pay your bills that will happen.

[Spartan]

The HJ has confirmed that Books-a-Million is propery shopping. It is unclear as to whether it will be in Hillcrest or Westgate. This article mentions that they are referring to the site as "the mall" which could potentially mean either. The Journal (not the Herald-Journal) mentioned the former Goody's in Hillcrest as a potential site.

article

Coldwater Creek might be coming to Westgate. "A Coldwater Creek representative visited WestGate Tuesday" and seemed to like the mall.

article

[emo]

Does anyone know what is moving in to that Chinese restaurant on Pine St. It's right beside Arby's.

[Spartan]

I have no idea.

[Spartan]

Looks like that lot infront of the Eastside Walkmart will be filled in:

Article

The developer wants a small-box store and several outparcels.

What irks me about this is that he wants an additional light in that area. I think that is a bad idea. I do not want E Main turning into Reidville Rd or Wade Hampton in Gville.

[GSP Tiger]

I do not mind the proposed development. I agree with you that East Main Street should not go all out. I would prefer it to have a tree lined median from Converse College through Hillcrest. This would make the corridor slightly more attractive.

[Spartan]

I bet that more Spots of Pride will be going on that part E Main before too long

[Spartan]

Starbucks is on the way.....

It will be one of those stand alone stores and will be located at the old Mexico Lindo (formerly Shoney's) site on N Pine.

Not only that, but Starrbucks is looking at other locations in Spartanburg.

I think that the obvious contenders for new locations would be the Westside, Hillcrest, and Boiling Springs.

While I am not excited about these standalone shops, I guess its good that Sparkle City is finally getting on the bandwagon here.

[goodbye]

Hopefully they'll actually stay in Spartanburg, unlike some other popular franchises who've left.

[Spartan]

I see no reason why they wouldn't. I don't know anyone in Spartanburg who doesn't want a Starbucks.

What franchises have left that haven't gone out of bsiness anyway?

[goodbye]

A couple off hand:

• Atlanta Bread Company
  
• Checkers
  

There are others, but I can't think of them at the moment and don't have time to search right now.

[krazeeboi]

I hate the drive-thru Starbucks.

[Spartan]

Atlanta Bread Company was just in a bad spot. you have to go to the mall insome random place to get there (not teh food court, like you'd expect). I don't know why Checkers left. I loved that place. They had great food. I think that they may have had other problems though. There were other Checkers around that closed too.

I can't think of any other restaurants that have left the area. Maybe its just me.