|
|
GREENVILLE AND
SPARTANBURG DELIVER NEW PROJECTS
Brad Thomas
Developers in Spartanburg and Greenville, South Carolina, are
attracting businesses and people with a number of commercial
real estate projects that are underway. Spartanburg, in particular,
has become a beacon in economic development for cities across
the Southeast. Using creative economic development tools such
as tax increment financing, multi-county business parks and
economic enterprise zones, the city of Spartanburg has initiated
record real estate investments that have created hundreds of
jobs and increased tax revenue.
The city has partnered with local developers to stimulate commercial
real estate development. By all measures it appears that Spartanburg
is underway with very dramatic development plans, which promise
more than $150 million in new retail, office, hotel, conference
facilities and residential housing.
Spartanburg’s new mayor, Bill Barnet, is committed to
the support of the many exciting projects underway. Barnet recently
stated, “We are blessed to have the demonstrated energy
and passion of so many great and dedicated citizens. The partnership
of our city and these remarkable entrepreneurs bodes well for
the future of our shared community.”
Hospitality
One of the larger developments, The Renaissance Project, will
consist of 40 acres when complete. A four diamond, nine-story
hotel with a 38,000-square-foot conference center will anchor
the project. Arthur Cleveland, lead developer of The Renaissance
Project, has been working on this public-private partnership
for over 6 years.
Cleveland, owner of Cleveland-White Real Estate, made this project
official on October 29, 2001. He estimates that the first phase
of the project, which will cost approximately $47 million, will
be completed in early 2004 and create 250 jobs. “The city
is an excellent partner because they accelerated development
and have the creativity to make the financing work for everyone’s
benefit,” Cleveland notes.
In downtown Greenville, the Poinsett Hotel recently reopened.
This nationally registered historic property was originally
built in 1924. The renovation and restoration of the project
cost more than $20 million. “It has been a real catalyst
for what has happened along the South Main Street area of the
central business district,” says Robert Benedict, vice
president of Carolina Holdings, a Greenville-based developer.
The Poinsett Hotel is managed by Westin.
Downtown Greenville
Greenville’s city and county governments have been working
with Clemson University on a plan to build along Reedy River,
which runs through the heart of Greenville. The Reedy River
Plan calls for a mix of uses: retail, office, residential, natural
areas and trails. “It is going to be quite an undertaking,”
explains Benedict. “Clemson University recently released
proposed plans for the development of the riverfront —
all of the properties on the river through downtown and beyond.
The approximately 19-mile stretch will ultimately connect to
Furman University to the north of the city.”
Multifamily
 |
| Easlan Capital recently completed The Vinings at
Roper Mountain, a 208-unit apartment complex on Roper Mountain Road
Extension. |
|
“There has been a tremendous amount of restaurant and
entertainment focus on the downtown area,” says Bill Misiaveg,
vice president of Carolina Holdings. “With that, there
have been residential in-fill projects in and around the downtown
area. We recently completed development of 15 upscale townhomes
adjacent to the Hampton-Pinckney historic district.”
Easlan Capital has been busy with two projects in Greenville,
as well. The Vinings at Roper Mountain, a 208-unit apartment
complex located on Roper Mountain Road Extension, was completed
in October and is 66 percent leased. The company also started
on The Vinings at Duncan Chapel in December. This 196-unit project,
expected to be complete by April 2003, is located next to Furman
University. Product will be available in August of this year,
according to Marcus McCall, president of Easlan Communities
and development partner.
According to Carolinas Real Data’s December 2001 report,
vacancy rates continued to rise in the Greenville/ Spartanburg
(“the Upstate”) multifamily market. The vacancy
rate as of November was 10.5 percent, up from 9.3 percent in
May and 8.1 percent in November 2000.
“The Upstate is experiencing the consequences of decreased
demand,” according to Michelle Westbrook, multifamily
analyst for Carolinas Real Data. “The annual absorption
for this past year, 78 units, is well below the 614 units that
were absorbed in 2000. The low demand, combined with the 340
new apartment units that were added to the market in the past
year, has caused the vacancy rate to increase.” There
are currently 248 units under construction and an additional
672 units proposed in the area.
Office
 |
| Highwoods Properties recently completed a 192,935-square-foot
facility in Brookfield Corporate Center in Greenville. The building
serves as a call center and Carolinas regional headquarters for Verizon
Wireless. |
|
Local developer Johnson Development recently announced it is
nearing completion of a 75,000-square-foot office building occupied
by Advance America. Foster Chapman, president of Johnson Development,
estimates the project will cost $8 million.
Along with Chapman, George Dean Johnson, chairman of Johnson
Development, has also recently announced plans for a 115,000-square-foot
office building to be constructed across from the Advance America
building. Extended Stay America is constructing this building,
which will serve as its new corporate headquarters. Johnson
is also the CEO of Extended Stay, where he has developed a very
successful chain of extended stay hotels with 415 locations.
Johnson and Chapman partnered with the city to enable Spartanburg
to lure 220 jobs and an additional $10 million investment to
the city limits.
Additionally, Johnson has announced plans for a third office
building that will accommodate 21,000 square feet in three floors.
This building is currently designed as a speculative project.
“The city has been a very cooperative partner in the relocation
of Extended Stay and the locating of Advance America headquarters,”
says Chapman. “With these two projects and others now
underway or in the planning stages, Spartanburg is gaining momentum
that is encouraging more investment and attracting more attention.”
Verizon Wireless has also relocated to a new three-story, 192,935-square-foot
brick and glass building located in Brookfield Corporate Center
in Greenville. Highwoods Properties owns and developed the building,
which will serve as call center and regional headquarters for
Verizon Wireless. The company has signed a 10-year lease and
began occupying the building in late January. Grubb & Ellis/The
Furman Co. brokered the deal.
Flex
Corporate Center is a true flex project underway in Spartanburg.
Currently, six buildings totaling 250,000 square feet are complete.
According to Dan Dunn, president of Orion Properties, the company
handling marketing for the project, there are 100 acres left
on which to develop — with the potential of building more
than 1 million square feet of additional space.
A 49,600-square-foot speculative building was recently completed
in Corporate Center, which is located on Interstate 85 (business).
The building, as with all of the spec buildings in this project,
can be cut into 3,000-square-foot bays or larger to accommodate
different tenants.
Dunn emphasizes that Corporate Center is truly a flex space
development that plays to a broad market. “We have the
capability to build office, distribution, warehouse, assembly,
light manufacturing — that’s what makes us unique
in this market,” he states. To demonstrate the flexibility
of the development, one of Corporate Center’s tenants,
Armstrong Compressed Air, occupies space that includes office,
assembly and distribution. Marzoli International Inc., another
tenant, occupies office, warehouse and distribution space. Other
tenants include Progress Lighting, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and Lubrizol.
Another unique feature of Corporate Center is that the owner
and developer, Peter Weisman, is on-site and owns space in the
park. The fact that he is an architect also has its advantages.
Industrial
 |
| At The Matrix, a business and technology park that
fronts U.S. 25/Augusta Road and The Southern Connector, Takenaka USA
recently completed a 70,000-square-foot building for Toyoda-Koki Automotive. |
|
Located in Greenville County is The Matrix, a business and technology
park that fronts U.S. 25/Augusta Road and The Southern Connector,
a new roadway that connects interstates 85 and 385 through the
southern part the county. The Furman Co. Development LLC is
developing the 1,400-acre park on a consulting basis for Greenville
County.
“The orientation [of the park] is more industrial than
it is office,” according to Charlie Whitmire, managing
partner of The Furman Co. Development LLC, which is based in
city of Greenville. “Certainly, our zoning and covenants
allow us to put office space in it. But it is more for research/development/
manufacturing and some distribution, we hope.”
This is the only property in Greenville County zoned I-2, which
bars heavy industry and allows for light industry, warehouse/distributuion
and research and development operations. The zoning ordinance
was rewritten for this property, notes Whitmire.
“We have roadways through the majority of the park,”
he says. “There were actually some roads through the park
and we are upgrading the existing roads and have just completed
a new roadway through the center of the park that is about a
mile long. We are working on completing a loop of widened and
improved roadways and doing the same with all of the utilities.
Realistically, the whole park is available now. It is all accessible
now. We are gradually improving the infrastructure as we move
along.”
There are two buildings currently at the park. Toyoda-Koki Automotive
bought a 70-acre site and built a 70,000-square-foot building.
The company recently moved into the building. Takenaka USA,
a Japanese company, designed and built the facilty. The Furman
Co. Development is developing an 82,000-square-foot spec building.
This facility, which will be completed in Feburary, is designed
for a high-quality single-tenant user and is expandable to 165,000
square feet. Harper Corp. was the general contractor for the
project and H2L Engineers designed the building. Grubb &
Ellis/The Furman Company is marketing the building.
More spec buildings are planned for the park. “We hope
to continue to have available product in the park,” Whitmire
says.
Retail
 |
| Lincoln Harris plans a third quarter construction
start on The Shops at The Point, a 20-acre retail development at The
Point, which is a 270-acre business park in Greenville. The project
is slated for completion at the end of 2003. |
|
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Lincoln Harris LLC, an affiliate
of Lincoln Property Co., is developing The Shops at The Point,
a 20-acre retail component at The Point, a master-planned business
park consisting of 270 acres. The project is located at Interstate
85 and Woodruff Road in Greenville.
“The [retail]
project itself will probably be in the neighborhood of 257,000
square feet. Some of that comprises some restaurant outparcels.
We will probably have 60,000 to 70,000 square feet that will
be shop space. The rest of it will be junior box tenants,”
according to Flint McNaughton, senior vice president of Lincoln
Harris.
Lincoln Harris, also the owner of the project, expects to begin
construction in the third quarter of this year. Completion is
slated for the fourth quarter of 2003. The company has not yet
selected a contractor. LS3P is the project architect.
The city of Spartanburg has also been highly involved with several
new retail projects. The city partnered with local developer
John Floyd to redevelop Hillcrest Mall, a former mall on Spartanburg’s
eastside, into a power center anchored by Publix, Super K-Mart,
Marshalls, Stein Mart and Ruby Tuesday’s. The city created
an “enterprise zone” in which the developer was
reimbursed infrastructure funds in the form of tax credits.
This redevelopment was completed last year.
Cleveland-White Realty recently completed a 75,000-square-foot
Bi-Lo-anchored neighborhood center. This $9 million development
was built on a site formerly occupied by an elementary school,
and Cleveland-White partnered with the city to create a new
tax base with more than 100 new jobs.
On the retail front, AIG Baker has completed Cherrydale Point.
“The tenants in Cherrydale Point include Ingles, Ross
Dress for Less, Old Navy, Goody’s Family Clothing, Pier
1 Imports, a 16-screen movie theater and restaurants,”
Misiaveg says. “This has had a huge impact on the Greenville
retail market.” AIG Baker developed and owns Cherrydale
Point.
Brad Thomas is senior vice president of development services
with Cleveland-White & Associates in Spartanburg, South
Carolina.
©2002 France Publications, Inc. Duplication
or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization
from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of
this article contact Barbara
Sherer at (630) 554-6054.
|
|
|
