Step inside the side entrance of Greenville Summit, the historic building at 201 W. Washington St., and you might be tricked into thinking you’ve walked back in time.
The age is showing, of course. Built in 1912, the former site of the Imperial Hotel and later Hotel Greenville lacks the polish one would expect of a glamorous retreat, but that’s to be expected considering the building was condemned in 1978.
After sitting empty for a decade, the building was later repaired and transformed in the late 1980s into Greenville Summit, a senior housing facility, which it remains to this day.
But the remnants of its glory days can be found in the lobby area to the right of the residence’s main entrance, which developers now plan to refurbish and put to use for one or two tenants.
On a recent tour, Mayor Knox White described the space as “fitting the exact definition of a hidden jewel.”
With its historic Terrazzo floors, an elegant marble staircase up to a mezzanine area, original entryway and light fixtures, the 2,300 square-foot space is separate from the senior living area both literally and figuratively.
“It’s really extraordinary,” White said. “People have no idea this has been here all this time, hidden and still intact.”
DP3 Architects is handling the design, and NAI Earle Furman is helming leasing, both of whom have said they are waiting for the right tenant or tenants before moving forward with specific design and buildout plans.
