Unfortunately, it won't be downtown. McChesney proposes to cover about 75 acres at The Point development at the intersection of Woodruff Road and I-85 with 500,000 square feet of new shopping, 600,000 square feet of new office space, a 420-room hotel, 1,225 condos and 1,125 apartments.

WYFF showed renderings on their newscast earlier and it looked awesome. Very similiar to Virginia Beach Town Center or Atlantic Station, just on a smaller scale. Hopefully, they'll be on their website later: http://www.wyff4.com/news/13414795/detail.html

Greenville News article: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070530/BUSINESS/705300373/1004/NEWS01

Original story from March: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070321/BUSINESS/70321019/0/NEWS06
-Shay Eskew, McChesney's development director, said the project would be akin to downtown Greenville in character, but without the larger office towers. On the side of the site that runs along I-85, McChesney envisions an entertainment complex with a fitness center, a condominium tower with shops on the ground floor, two or more eight- to 12-story office towers, and the hotel, Eskew said. In the center of the development, the company plans a linear park between one-eighth and one-fourth of a mile long. On both sides of the park would be three- to four-story buildings with shopping on the ground floors and housing on higher stories. On the area of the site closest to the Sticky Fingers restaurant that is at The Point, McChesney plans housing in buildings three to four stories tall, Eskew said. He said the company plans to develop housing units available for rent or purchase.

Just imagine how many towers and how tall they would be if he did build downtown. But its a great development. Hopefuly the entertainment complex part of it wont take too much away from downtown.

I totally agree with cityboi. Great investments must be made all over the city, not just downtown. The latter should outshine the rest of the city, but the entire city must be a great place for investments. Good news, regtardless of location.

There are still many developements that are going on in the city. Im working on the one called mcbee station right now. When it is done it will be a gem for greenville downtown. We are also going to start the 9 story building soon along with the scaled down peacock. The salvation army kroc center. The pinnacle hopefully. That is just a few things going on.

Ditto to the other comments. Downtown or not, this is "huge" news for Greenville. Very exciting.

Ditto to the other comments. Downtown or not, this is "huge" news for Greenville. Very exciting.

Definitely and it will provide some great exposure for the city along a major interstate. No more looking at trees when you ride through Greenville on I-85. :cheers:

^^^Yeah....it will be interesting to see if they just keep building once this thing starts up. There is going to be so much growth in this area i see it as a catalyst for even more and bigger/taller growth. Hopefully thats what will happen.

Excellent story on this development: http://carolinanewswire.com/news/News.cgi?database=1news.db&command=viewone&id=4895&op=t

Expect a website regarding this development to be up and running within the next month. The project will consist of 4.5 million square feet of retail, office, residential and hotel space when complete. Also, there are no absolutes on the number of hotel rooms to be built at one time even though the articles state a 420-room one. As the project unfolds, the market will determine the timing and needs for the hospitality. It could easily unfold in phases over a period of years. All of this information is directly from an email a person at McChesney Investment Advisors sent me.

There will be approximately 9,720 parking spaces primarily in parking structures such as garages. The massing of the property will range from eight to twelve story office and condo buildings fronting Carolina Point Parkway stepping down to townhouses fronting Market Point Drive.

Look at page 11 especially: http://councilagendas.greatergreenville.com/minutes/2007/June/Formal/6-11-2007/Item13b.pdf

That is a HUGE plan. I really like it. You didn't mention anything about the later pages, where examples of what the developers want to see are included. Granted the photos are not clear in that document, you can tell that they think big and mixed-use. Can't wait for the official website ;)

yep and if the rumor that was let out today about a new state tallest building is true then Greenville really will be on fire.

New story on this development: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070611/BUSINESS/70611044

This is the site that this development will go on at the Point. The large office building you see will be torn down. It is scheduled to be demolished this December:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture058-2.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture057-2.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture059-2.jpg

Make way for BIGGER and BETTER things! I'm surprised we haven't seen or been able to get our hands on any of those renderings. They looked spectacular. :banana:

Make way for BIGGER and BETTER things! I'm surprised we haven't seen or been able to get our hands on any of those renderings. They looked spectacular. :banana:

By July 4th, you should be able to see those renderings and site plans for this development if what I received in my email is true. ;)

That's a perfectly good building. Wasn't there any way for at least a portion of it to be incorporated into the development?

That's a perfectly good building. Wasn't there any way for at least a portion of it to be incorporated into the development?

Nope. Sorry. Make way for the highrises. :banana:

That's a perfectly good building. Wasn't there any way for at least a portion of it to be incorporated into the development?

Not for the kind of density they desire. The building looks great from this side, but the back side of it is still open to the outdoors and the steel is rusting. It's exactly what we don't want more of-- the sprawling lowrises in the suburbs. One down more to go... :cheers:

Well, I guess it isn't worth saving then. Was it part of an abandoned development or something? You typically don't see newer buildings in that sort of condition.

Well, I guess it isn't worth saving then. Was it part of an abandoned development or something? You typically don't see newer buildings in that sort of condition.

It was an old factory of some sort that was renovated to make way for office space. The problem is that at least 90% of the building is currently empty and has been since the building was renovated several years ago. It's a perfectly good building, but it doesn't have any tenants and is not producing the tax-base the city and development group wanted.

I gotcha. The form of the building does look a bit industrial, so that makes sense.

It was a terrible investment for someone. :ohno:

Nope. Sorry. Make way for the highrises. :banana:YES!!! High-rises!!! No room for low-rise crap :lol:

Final development plan for the Hilton Garden Inn at the Point has been submitted to the Greenville City Planning Commission for their July 12th meeting. :)

The website for this development is scheduled to be launched the week of July 10th.

Where is the Hilton going to be located?

^^Carolina Point Parkway. That's the same road Drury Inn and Suites & Thomasville furniture is located on.

^^Carolina Point Parkway. That's the same road Drury Inn and Suites & Thomasville furniture is located on.

Will it be between Drury and Homewood? And how tall are these typically? Homewood has more of a presence than I thought it would.

It is probably going between Drury Inn and Suites and Thomasville if I were to guess. That is the only plot of land left available on Carolina Point Parkway for something like this, even though the same site has a sign up saying "restaurant parcel available." Usually, Hilton Garden Inn's are 4-6 stories tall.

It is probably going between Drury Inn and Suites and Thomasville if I were to guess. That is the only plot of land left available on Carolina Point Parkway for something like this, even though the same site has a sign up saying "restaurant parcel available." Usually, Hilton Garden Inn's are 4-6 stories tall.

thanks

:banana: http://thepointgreenville.com/

:D Check out the video: http://thepointgreenville.com/location.html

Notice when you highlight "Zone B," it says "theater 60,000 square feet.": http://thepointgreenville.com/mixeduse.html Could that be our IMAX?

I count nine parking garages and somewhere in the neighborhood of eleven ponds/pools. :eek2:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture069-2.jpg

4.5 million square feet in all:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture068-1.jpg

Back of old factory that will be demolished:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture097-2.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture098-2.jpg

Can I get an amen? I see you lurking GvilleSC. :lol:

You got it! haha. I love what I'm seeing.

This deserves a dancing banana: :banana:

^^Post it on UP. :D

Wow!!! That is a HUGE project, indeed :okay: G-man has delivered the goods... as always :)

I count nine parking garages and somewhere in the neighborhood of eleven ponds/pools. :eek2:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture069-2.jpg

4.5 million square feet in all:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture068-1.jpg

Back of old factory that will be demolished:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture097-2.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture098-2.jpg

Fantastic!!!! :banana: :banana: :banana:

Permission granted to anybody who wants to put my photos I took on UP. :)

A few interesting facts you might know or not know about this project:

-This development will be 200,000 square feet larger than Virginia Beach Town Center. That development is 4.3 million square feet, while this one will be 4.5 million square feet.

-The City of Greenville made the developers scale back this project. It was originally supposed to create 51,000 vehicle trips for Woodruff Road, but was reduced in size, so it would only create 31,268 vehicle trips. Imagine how big the original development must have been. :eek:

-When first announced, the development was set to cover only about 60 acres, but since has been increased to cover 75.

Greenberg-Farrow now has this development up on their website. Woodruff Point: http://www.greenbergfarrow.com/Experience/ExperienceSubCategory.aspx?id=5&open=Mixed-Use&sub=Retail/Residential/Commercial

Gsupstate, here are the verified numbers for proof that this is larger than Virginia Beach Town Center. Look at the amount of square footage for VBTC here in the first bulleted fact: http://www.vabeachtowncenter.com/Town_Center_of_Virginia_Beach.php then look at the amount of square footage for this project here (Woodruff Point): http://www.greenbergfarrow.com/Experience/ExperienceSubCategory.aspx?id=5&open=Mixed-Use&sub=Retail/Residential/Commercial

Gsupstate, here are the verified numbers for proof that this is larger than Virginia Beach Town Center. Look at the amount of square footage for VBTC here in the first bulleted fact: http://www.vabeachtowncenter.com/Town_Center_of_Virginia_Beach.php then look at the amount of square footage for this project here (Woodruff Point): http://www.greenbergfarrow.com/Experience/ExperienceSubCategory.aspx?id=5&open=Mixed-Use&sub=Retail/Residential/Commercial


Cool! Thanks! :okay:

This is for the people on UP:

-2,350 residential units (100 units-townhomes, 1,125 units-condos, 1,125 units-apartments)
-Completion of project will take a decade after demolition of former factory begins
-Demolition of factory to begin sometime between late 2007-early 2008
-BRT transit will run to this development when the city gets funding to implement it
-Theater will either be movie or IMAX
-Make some noise if you give a sh*t. :lol:

That's a buttload of residential units. Ten years sounds about right though, given the scale of this development. I'm sure the project will be broken up into phases, is that correct?

^^Yes. Here are the details for phase 1:

Shaw Eskew, development director for McChesney Investment Advisors, says his company hopes to begin demolition of a former factory building at The Point in the first quarter of 2008. McChesney would build roads, sidewalks and a park during the rest of 2008 and build a shopping center, apartments, condominiums and a hotel during 2009, Eskew said. It may also build an office building during 2009 if it lands a major tenant, he said. The first phase calls for a quarter-mile linear park surrounded by 150,000 square feet of shopping. McChesney would also build between 550 and 650 apartments and condominiums in phase one, most of it on floors above the shopping according to Mr. Eskew.

OK, thanks for that info.

^^You're welcome. :)

Great job, g-man, but I got a question for you: During the entire evening you post. During the day you take photos AND post. Do you ever sleep? :lol:

^^How did I forget to respond to this? Yes, I do sleep somewhat. :lol:

Another news story on this development: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070726/NEWS01/707260319/1003/BUSINESS

Future home of Fleming's Steakhouse:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture447.jpg

Indigo Joe's restaurant:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture446.jpg

Homewood Suites:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture445.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture434.jpg

Another news story on this development: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070726/NEWS01/707260319/1003/BUSINESS

Somehow I posted this article in the wrong thread. Just ignore it unless you want to read about the proposed BPS. :poke:

I guess this belongs here too. Hilton Garden Inn: http://councilagendas.greatergreenville.com/minutes/2007/August/Formal/8-6-2007/Item13d.pdf

Is this new? Why yes, yes it is. :bash: Now if only I was able to read it:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/191Woodruff-2.jpg

anyone else get the feeling that this makes all the other projects around town seem kinda... minor?

^^Yes, but in a good way. This thing takes the cake. :D

looks like a big shops at Friendly Center in Greensboro

^^Is that a good or bad thing?

^^Is that a good or bad thing?

Its a good thing. Its well designed and planned

Date: 9/28/2007
Time: 12:00 PM TO 1:30 PM
Presenting sponsor: Schumacher Homes of South Carolina, Inc.

Event location:
Greenville Chamber of Commerce
24 Cleveland St.
Greenville, SC 29601

Event Description:
Shay Eskew, director of development with McChesney Investment Advisors, will present an overview of The Point, the exciting mixed-use development at Woodruff Road and Interstate 85. The development will incorporate major retail, residential, office and hospitality components at the 75 acre site.

Registration & networking begins at 11:30 a.m. Program begins promptly at Noon.

There is no cost to attend for Real Estate Group Members. Guests may attend at a cost of $20 per person (pay at the door).

This looks interesting and good: http://www.greatergreenville.com/city_government/PlanningApplications/applications/2007/November/PlanningCommission/11-08-2007/AX-09-2007-MarketPointDr.pdf

FYI...the development I posted above is actually in addition to the Point development by McChesney. It is not part of it.

In all, there will be 3,046 residential units at the Point when complete within 10 years from now. This includes the new apartment complex announced today for the development.

100 units-townhomes
1,125 units-condos
1,821 units-apartments

That is a lot of residences in that small space. Good though if they can manage to upgrade the interchanges to accomodate more traffic. Whats up with the peacock hotel crane? I didnt see it up today when i passed through there.

That is a lot of residences in that small space. Good though if they can manage to upgrade the interchanges to accomodate more traffic. Whats up with the peacock hotel crane? I didnt see it up today when i passed through there.

Remember I said it was scheduled to go up Wednesday. Scheduled is not a guarantee and can change without notice due to several factors. I am out of town right now, so thanks for telling me it was not up yet. Hopefully, it will be by the end of next week though. :)

In all, there will be 3,046 residential units at the Point when complete within 10 years from now. This includes the new apartment complex announced today for the development.

100 units-townhomes
1,125 units-condos
1,821 units-apartments
That is definitely a massive project :okay:

^^Yes indeed. :) The website is currently being updated as you can tell by looking here: http://thepointgreenville.com/index.html Hopefully they'll add more renderings and stuff.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture068-1.jpg


Just a little FYI. The sign seen in the picture above has been taken down. However, the stakes to hold up the sign are still in place, so it will be replaced soon. This comes at the same time the website is getting a major update. I'm guessing this means the project is moving forward.

Just a little FYI. The sign seen in the picture above has been taken down. However, the stakes to hold up the sign are still in place, so it will be replaced soon. This comes at the same time the website is getting a major update. I'm guessing this means the project is moving forward.

One would have to think that it must be a pretty significant change to actually remove the original sign completely. Typically it is easy to simply "re-letter" the changes without going to all that trouble. I wonder how dramatic the changes will be now that this is happening in combination with the official website being closed for updates.:?

^^If any changes are made to the site plan, would they have to go back to the Planning Commission for re-approval?

they went all out on that sign.

they went all out on that sign.

Yeah, I know right. :lol:

This is the site that this development will go on at the Point. The large office building you see will be torn down. It is scheduled to be demolished this December:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture058-2.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture057-2.jpg

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r263/peacockdude/Picture059-2.jpg

Is this located directly next to I-85? If so, isn't this building brand new? If it is indeed the building I'm thinking of, I could have sworn I saw this building being constructed last year.

^^It's next to I-85 at the Woodruff Road/I-85 interchange. It's not new, but they did redo the exterior of it just a few years ago. You might be thinking of one of the many new hotels going up in the same area that were constructed last year???

Could be a mix of both....maybe I saw the finishing of the facade redevelopment along with the addition of a couple other buildings surrounding it and assumed that it too was a new development.

Well, it looks like it's moving forward:

Developer wants to build nearly 700 apartments at The Point
Company awaits approval from city of Greenville

Published: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 5:55 pm

By Rudolph Bell
STAFF WRITER

A Georgia developer wants to build nearly 700 apartments at The Point in the latest sign of growth at the burgeoning intersection of Interstate 85 and Woodruff Road.

Flournoy Development Co. of Columbus plans to develop the apartments in two phases on more than 37 acres. The site is between where The South Financial Group of Greenville is building a corporate campus and where Atlanta developer McChesney Investment Advisors has announced plans for a massive, mixed-use development.

Ryan Foster, a Flournoy development project manager, said his company hopes to break ground on the first 348 apartments as soon as it obtains approvals from the city of Greenville. Flournoy has applied to have part of the property annexed into the city and for Planned Development zoning.

The company would build the second phase, another 348 apartments, sometime in the future, if market conditions are favorable, but not before the summer of 2010, Foster said.

Another development company, RSC LLC, plans offices and/or storage facilities on more than eight acres next to the apartments, but doesn’t have a firm schedule, according to an application on file at City Hall.

Foster said he thinks The Point has become a good apartment market because of all the jobs being created at big developments nearby -- the South Financial campus, the Hubbell Lighting headquarters and the International Center for Automotive Research.

New shopping and restaurants also contribute to the area’s attractiveness as an apartment market, he said.

“There really isn’t a better place in Greenville for apartments,” said Foster, who grew up in Greenville and has a landscape architecture degree from Clemson University.

Flournoy has developed more than 26,000 apartments over the past 40 years, including the Paddock Club complex on Woodruff Road, according to a company brochure.

An analysis commissioned by Flournoy shows a lot of the new traffic that would be generated by the planned apartments wouldn’t end up on Woodruff Road, said Wil Ravenhorst, an assistant traffic engineer with the city. That’s because a lot of the residents wouldn’t need to leave the immediate area to work or shop, he said.

Vehicles initially would access the planned apartments via Carolina Point Parkway, which is being extended from The Point across the South Financial site to the Hubbell Lighting headquarters.

McChesney has announced plans to build 1,225 condos and 1,125 apartments at The Point, on top of other retail and office development.

Scott Drake, a McChesney spokesman, said today his company was aware of and “excited” about Flournoy’s plans. It “just shows how attractive that area is for all sorts of projects,” he said.

:bash: :bash: I want to cry. You have seriously got to be shitting me: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071024/NEWS01/71024058

I had hunch this might have hit a snag after the signs were removed from the site. Hopefully they will be able to work out a deal soon and then get rolling on the development.

^^I hope so too. It would be such a huge loss. :( I'm hoping a new sales contract comes up and they try to buy it again. I don't think the debate was over money, but cleaning up the site because of the pollution problem it has.

Perhaps, though not as potentially large as Project Skyline sounded. Fortunately we aren't actually losing anything though, since these were never started.:)

^^True, but I would much rather have this than that office building still sitting there 95% empty. How can you possibly not come to terms on something that isn't even making any money?

Probably because of the site's extreme potential? I don't know how much McChesney was hoping to invest in the property, but they may have jumped the gun in anticipation of an agreement with their initial offer. Hopefully this will be solved and no side effects will result.

^^I hope you're right. The good news is that McChesney said they are still very hopeful they will be able to get the site under contract. I'm sure they'll be able too, because no investment company is that stupid not to sell a site like this that is costing them more money to run the electricity, gas, etc. than they're making. I would like to know how much money McChesney offered the group for the site. Maybe they thought they could get more? :dunno:

How come every large project proposed for here either goes on hold indefinitely or stalls out? This is bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. :rant: :rant: Greenville is progressive huh?

Greenville is an emerging smaller city with more than its fair share of major growth in recent years. We have seen at least a few large developments that have started and more will come in the future. We will likely see an acceleration in development soon, as Verdae, ICAR, Millennium Campus, Magnolia Park Town Center, RiverPlace, and McBee Station move along. It takes patience on our part not to lose heart when some of these stall. Fortunately we have plenty of new projects around town to keep us happy.:)

^^You're right. I'm just upset that they would go to all of this trouble with the website, sign, news releases, etc. where it looked like they had already bought the site and in fact they hadn't. Out of every single project going on or proposed in Greenville right now including the skyscrapers, this was the one I was looking forward to the most and now we don't even know if it will happen or not. It reminds me of that project downtown proposed by Bob the no-builder. :lol:

Updated story: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071024/NEWS01/71024058

:cry: I think this is a really bad sign, especially since the signs themselves were taken down. Sounds to me like the owners want a lot more money than Mcchesney was wanting to pay. The article says they are looking for other investors and believe they have a gold mine. What a shame it will be if this project is not able to proceed. This and skyline were two opportunities to really take GVille to the next level. I guess it may all depend on how dedicated Mcchesney is to the project. I hate this, and it was supposed to start very soon, no?

^^It was supposed to start early next year. I think it will go through actually. McChesney seems really committed. I don't think money was the issue but who was going to clean up the site instead.

Are you still in contact with the people at McChesney, Gman? See if you can get the inside scoop. :okay:

^^Yes. I will definitely try to. I sent him the info on county square.

Cool. I think their group would be an excellent one to make a proposal on cty square.

^^Most definitely. By the way he sounded, they are really committed to this Point project. If it doesn't go through, it won't be because they didn't try hard enough. He says there are still a lot of moving parts and are trying to make it work. Time will tell.

Why is everybody so petrified? The Greenville Snooze is making it seem worse than it really is. It is far from dead.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc56/lilj4425/BS896881025.gif

It will get built. McChesney will make it happen.

Guess we will see....

It's good to see they're going to regroup and try to move forward with the original project rather than a reduced one:

Developer planning to buy Point property misses another deadline
Group's proposal includes purchasing about 75 acres for a $600 million development

Published: Monday, November 26, 2007 - 8:29 pm

By Rudolph Bell
STAFF WRITER

An Atlanta developer for the second time has missed a deadline to buy property near the intersection of Interstate 85 and Woodruff Road, where it had announced plans for one of the biggest mixed-use projects in Greenville history.

McChesney Investment Advisors had contracted to buy about 75 acres at The Point owned by two separate investor groups for a $600 million development.

The developer in March announced plans to put a dense mix of shopping, housing, offices and a hotel at the site.

City planners had said Greenville has never seen a true, mixed-use project of the same scale and density. But in October, McChesney's contract to buy part of the property -- a polluted former fibers factory -- expired after it wasn't able to come to final terms with the property owner, a group of investors called St. James Capital.

Then, earlier this month, McChesney let expire a second contract to buy about 37 acres around the plant, the developer confirmed today.

Still, McChesney hopes to buy both properties and complete its plans, said Scott Drake, a spokesman for the company. He said McChesney let the contract to buy the 37 acres expire so it could regroup and strike new deals to buy both pieces of property.

"We spent just about a year pursuing this site. We have a great plan for it. We're not abandoning anything," he said.

Drake has declined to say exactly why McChesney couldn't reach agreement to buy the former Hoeschst Celanese factory, which the state government lists as a Superfund site because of pollution.

He said Monday the reason had to do with certain "business terms" and not because of any new concern over pollution.

"There was nothing environmentally that we were made aware of that made us hesitant to develop on that site," Drake said.

He also said an investment group that McChesney has been working with to finance the proposed development "is still on board with us. The financing is still there."

After negotiations to buy the former factory failed, McChesney studied whether to go ahead and buy the 37 acres around the plant and proceed with development, Drake said. But the company has now decided it needs both properties before breaking ground, he said.

"We studied the pieces individually and collectively, and really felt like the collective project was the best, and that's what we were approved to do," Drake said.

Greenville City Council in June gave its blessing to McChesney's plans for 575,000 square feet of retail space, 600,000 square feet of office space, about 2,500 apartments and townhomes and a 420-room hotel.

State environmental regulators have said that elements of a chemical mixture that Hoechst Celanese used as a heat-transfer agent remain in groundwater at the former plant site, which has been used for office space in recent years. They have said the massive building is approved for its current use, but that they may require additional environmental assessment if McChesney razes the building as planned.

Greenville businessman Jon Wilken, one of the owners of the 37 acres, said McChesney didn't give him a reason for not closing on the purchase of the property on Nov. 15 as scheduled. Wilken, former chief executive of the Mauldin-based Bi-Lo grocery chain, owns the 37 acres with partners Gilles Helou and Donna Lowrey.

I saw this too, and was at first very disappointed by the headline, made it sound like they were throwing in the towel. Lets all keep our fingers crossed.:wink2:

03/14/08 http://www.rebusinessonline.com/article_archive/03-14-08.shtml

WOODRUFF POINT
Greenville, S.C.

A $600 million, 75-acre, mixed-use development is getting organized on the site of the former Hoechst Celanese fiber plant in Greenville. GreenbergFarrow, an Atlanta-based architecture, planning and development consulting firm, is handling the planning and design of the town center and is working with McChesney Investment Advisors on this ambitious project.

Woodruff Point will feature 500,000 square feet of retail, 600,000 square feet of office space, a 420-room hotel, restaurant space, 1,225 condominiums and 1,125 apartments. Walkways, bike trails and recreational green spaces will be incorporated.

“This is one of the largest brownfield redevelopment projects in the country that will transform a 2 million-square-foot factory, on a site that has become a virtual wasteland, into a vibrant urban center,” said John Clifford, principal of planning at GreenbergFarrow.

“Taking on a redevelopment project of this scale is no small task and we eagerly accept the challenge. The initial stages of site development will play an essential role in ensuring its long-term success.” he said.

Shay Eskew, director of development at McChesney Investment Advisors, said getting the project approved for things like zoning and road structure has required perseverance.

“It was a pretty extensive start. The main road, Carolina Point Parkway, had been designed based on the previous (industrial) zoning and we met with the city and neighboring property owner to explain to them our vision for the (mixed-use) property. They were agreeable along with our sellers to do a land swap to put in a new road design. It was something that took three land owners to make happen,” Eskew explained.

“The plant was operational in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s and was part of a larger assemblage that was once over 200 acres,” Eskew said.

“Getting into a true brownfield requires a lot of extensive testing to really understand what all the potential issues might be,” Eskew concluded.

The first phase will be the demolition of the factory, which is expected to begin early this year, with the entire project scheduled to roll out within a decade.

Awesome project!!

It was a terrible investment for someone. :ohno:

Still is apparently. :nuts: :rant: :ohno:

Awesome project!!

What project? Exactly. :bash:

What project? Exactly. :bash:

Woodruff Point, of course. :)

What's woodruff point?

Oh, never mind your talking about the point... :lol:

This project is impressive. What's even more impressive that I saw as I skimmed this thread was this:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc56/lilj4425/BS896881025.gif

I know it's all sprawl at it's worst (or best), but even the staunchest urbanite cannot deny that it's working for the I-85 corridor through Greenville. This is a very economically impressive area..and isn't BMW also in the corridor? I just know their North American division is also called Millennium, I believe. If that's the case then it would seem like the major story underneath this is how BMW has pumped so much vitality into that area.

^^ Yes, BMW is a very powerful force for the area, no doubt.

Just look at all of the development BMW has probably spurred.