Greater Spartanburg Projects & Developments

[goodbye]

That is exactly what I had hoped the Morgan Square renovation would do for downtown - become a magnet for pedestrian traffic and then a catalyst for further development. In my opinion, there is no place in Spartanburg I would rather live than downtown. It is by far the most advanced urban area in or around the city, and has potential exceeding any other part of the county. There are issues that need to be addressed in the near future though, if any new developments are to be a complete success. One of those issues is the need for parking adjacent to Barnet Park and the Chapman Cultural Center. According to people I know, the current distance to park and walk keeps them away most of the time. Hopefully pedestrian-friendly development will extrend out to that area and help draw some of these people there more often, but there is still a need for parking in the immediate vacinity.

[hub-city]

That's true about the parking. There will be a parking lot at the CCC besides Barnet park, but I don't know if they will allow parking for the park there or not.

FBS has a huge parking lot across the street from Barnet park, but you have to cross St. Johns. Hopefully, when they reconfigure Converse Street, they will put better crosswalks in etc...

the city just finished another "spot of pride" median enhancement between FBS and Barnet park. Looks nice.

[Spartan]

Tell your friends its a myth! There's thousands of parrking spots around the park and CCC! People just choose not to see it because they have to walk across St John Street or perhaps because they aren't located in direct sight of the building.

There's a large parking lot behind 1st Baptist

There will be parking lots at the CCC when they are done. They will be hidden behing the front wings as they should be. There is also

• Dunbar St Grage (500) - 1 block away
  
• Magnolia St Garage (600) 2 or 3 blocks away
  
• Kennedsy St Garage (700?) 4 or 5 blocks away
  

In total there are probably close to 2,000+ parking spaces parking spaces within 1/4 - 1/2mile of the CCC site including garages, street parking, and surface lots.

IMO its not the distance to the park, but the pedestrian UNfriendly ways of getting there combined with people's not understanding that you don't have to park infront of the building you are trying to get to.

I'm going to check on these numbers. I may be a little off, but the point is that parking is not an issue at all.

[goodbye]

I agree that parking and walking is the best way to get around, but you have to understand that some of these people have families with small children, and they are less likely to feel safe walking a good distance in the dark. I understand this feeling as I have had to walk from the Marriot to the Magnolia Street garage after dark on more than one occasion. It don't have a real sense of personal "safety" during that walk. Lots of strange people hang out along those streets after dark.

[Spartan]

That walk is definitely not a friendly one for pedestrians at night. Its pretty dark, and not much to look at either. Its way too dark. However, First Baptist and Dunbar Garage are well-lit parking areas that are very close.

[krazeeboi]

This is a good article from today's HJ about how the latest Morgan Square rennovation has been a lot more succesful than the previous ones, and how it has started to spur some other developments around downtown.

Spartanburg has nowhere to go but up (literally!)

Sounds great!

I don't think I've heard of the Champion project. What are your thoughts on that one?

[Spartan]

I hope that mexican restaurant decides to move in there. I was dissapointed to see that sign taken down in the Bijou Market/arcade thing.

[hub-city]

Adidas might be looking at a distribution center in Sptbg adding 1200 jobs. There is another code name development the council is looking at, but they're keeping mum on the details.

STORY

Edited March 19, 2007 by hub-city

[Spartan]

Thats exciting. Another 1200 jobs would really put a dent in that unemployment rate. I still want more white collar jobs!

[westside96]

Looks like they are building a gas station at the Spartan Exchange Village. This is just my guessed based on the steel frames already in place. Can anyone confirm?

It's confirmed, it will be an Exxon Gas Station at Spartan Exchange Village (on US-29 near I-85).

[Spartan]

You may have noticed that there are about 3 pages missing from this thread... that is because I have pulled out the posts relevent to specific projects in downtown and create their own separate threads, as the probably should have had to start with. Plus, I got tired of always trying to find information on things that were buried in this thread! Anyway, I think most of the discussions are uninterrupted, except for one a few posts back from this one.

Here are the new threads:

Liberty Street [Condos]

St. Paul Catholic Church [E Main & Alabama]

300 Block East Main [Carolina First]

Carolina Alliance Bank HQ

[emo]

so has anyone been to cedar springs lately? the hardees is moving about a 100 feet in the parking lot and there is a food lion coming there. i've also heard that Johnson is buying up hundreds of acres in this area. i wonder what he has planned? i mentioned several months ago that this would be an IDEAL location for a large mixed use development. The sports complex is there, schools are close, easy access to downtwon and the east and west sides, and it's close to Duncan Park. I'm interested to see what happens.

[Spartan]

Last time I went that had successfully messed up the Southport and Union St intersection.

Hardee's is moving? To a new building or are the going to physically move the building itself?

I agree that this would be a great location for a mixed use development for all the reasons you stated. Camp Croft isn't far away either. I bet that the widening of Southport will get something moving there. Having a large interchange, and a large flow of people tends to do that.

[alias007]

Hardee's is actually constructing a whole new building. My wife had heard that the old Winn-Dixie is going to become a Food Lion (I don't know her source). That whole shopping center is in need of a facelift. Hopefully the Hardee's will inspire something to happen on that side of the road. Even if it's just some fresh pavement, paint and landscaping. That would do the trick, I think.

[Spartan]

I hope that area has newer design standards and that we won't get a generic hardee's. Cedar Springs can easily be something more than a nice grocery store next to a mediocre shopping center.

[goodbye]

I hear Adidas is planning to build a 2 million square foot distribution center in Spartanburg. That is HUGE!

Edit: For reference, the massive Anderson Walgreens distribution plant was initially 700,000 sf.

Edited April 6, 2007 by Skyliner

[Spartan]

So I assume that means the 1200 jobs are coming to town then? That is good news indeed. 2 million sq ft is pretty huge. I want to say that's about big Dollar General in Jonesville/Union County is.

edit: its about twice the size of Dollar General.

[GvilleSC]

That is big! Fantastic.

[Spartan]

Here's the article from the Herald-Journal

Basicly 375 jobs will be relocated from other Adidas and Reebok distribution centers in other states to Spartanburg, 34 will be relocated from the current Spartanburg center. The other 791 will be new jobs for the company, and make this the largest employment boost related to a German company since BMW came to town

"Spartanburg was chosen for the two brands' consolidated distribution center in part because it's close to the two brands' product shipping locations and to many customers."

So, all in all 2700 new jobs in six months aint bad.

[MikesLogic]

Very nice! That is going to be a huge warehouse!

[roads-scholar]

Today's H-J reports that Adidas will be constructing it's new distribution center on Interstate 85 at exit 68. Exit 68 is SC-129. There's a huge amount of undeveloped real estate around this exit. Perhaps we'll see more activity here.

[Spartan]

I think so too. There is already growth in that direction, and the Welford-Duncan area is becoming increasingly connected with Spartanburg. That is a prime location, particularly such easy access to 26 in addition to 85.

[roads-scholar]

I think so too. There is already growth in that direction, and the Welford-Duncan area is becoming increasingly connected with Spartanburg. That is a prime location, particularly such easy access to 26 in addition to 85.

My hope is SC-129 will be extended south to link up with US-29.

[Spartan]

That would REALLY open things up in that area. Do you know if SPATS has every looked into that?

[roads-scholar]

That would REALLY open things up in that area. Do you know if SPATS has every looked into that?

Spartan, I've never seen anything from SPATS that mentions SC-129 linking up with US-29 / Abernathy Highway. But it's always been a no brainer to me!