Welcome to our first quarterly real estate issue. Four times a year, UBJ will focus on the past quarter and the topics related to the physical growth of the Upstate. This has been one of our top editorial priorities since Day One, and we hope that these four special issues give you an inside look into this growth and the conversations surrounding these opportunities.
This week’s cover story on the future of County Square is such an opportunity – just one of the many BIG chances for us to decide as a community what we are missing and what is truly a property’s highest and best use. Many thanks are due to Clemson’s Real Estate & Development program for helping us look at the outcome of their County Square project.
I understand that the county and the city have begun “high-level” conversations regarding the site’s potential use. High-level? Why can’t they be intense public conversations? These BIG opportunities are the highest priority for all of us as we define and develop the next centers of influence in the Upstate.
Call me naive, but I wish there could be some sort of brain trust composed of city and community stakeholders, developers and planners that could sit down and discuss the significance of this property and its highest and best use. Let’s throw out BIG hairy ideas, ask the hard questions and really push the envelope. Because I will tell you one thing: This city did not get where it is today by voting status quo.
If I were at that table, I would argue that taking what is one of the city’s best geographical assets (with central access, an uninhibited skyline view and proximity to Falls Park, the future Cancer Survivor Park, the Drive stadium, Augusta Road and downtown Greenville) and putting county offices and parking facilities there is not the highest and best use. I understand why the county enjoys that location – it is all about access and transportation for county residents. I am not saying these offices do not deserve to sit on a convenient location. There are plenty of large accessible blocks of land, central to downtown Greenville, to build something special like this. I just do not believe it needs to be located on such precious soil.
Here’s a BIG idea: If access and transportation are so critical, why not take this opportunity and relocate these offices above a new Multimodal Transportation Hub?
That’s just one crazy idea. I would love to hear more, and not after the decisions have been made behind closed doors, away from the experts and the neighbors. I fear that if there is not a larger public/private conversation around these assets that they will end up falling short.
Before decisions are made and the headlines are written, why can’t we have a more serious discussion? You can’t recreate these large geographical locations that are in transition. It’s time to get really creative, think really big and realize that these type of opportunities allow us to continue to make Greenville one of the best cities to live, work and play in the country.
