Bob Hughes, a key player in downtown Greenville’s renaissance, has been selected as the honoree for the Greenville Drive’s 12th annual Green Day event.
Hughes launched Hughes Development in 1991 and has been a part of several transformative projects, such as the RiverPlace development in the West End; ONE, the $100 million development at Main and Washington streets; and the NEXT Innovation Center. Hughes was also one of the three principals of Institutional Resources, the company that came up with an alternative financing plan that allowed the Greenville County School District to complete a $1.06 billion capital improvement plan that renovated, built, or added to 70 schools.
The announcement was made Tuesday at a luncheon at the Champions Club at Fluor Field presented by Hubbell Lighting.
This is the 12th year the Greenville Drive has saluted someone who has been instrumental in positively transforming Greenville at the team’s Green Day event celebrating the city’s birthday. The Green Day celebration to mark the city’s 186th birthday is set for Aug. 1 when the Drive plays the Asheville Tourists at Fluor Field.
The Greenville Drive began the Green Day celebration in 2006 when it first moved into its downtown home at Fluor Field at the West End.
Hughes joins previous Green Day honorees, including former Greenville Mayor Max Heller and his wife, Trudy (2006); Greenville City Councilwoman Lillian Brock Flemming and Greenville County Councilwoman Xanthene Norris (2007); former Greenville Technical College President Dr. Tom Barton (2008); businessman and philanthropist C. Dan Joyner (2009); civic leader, judge, and attorney Merl Code (2010); former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Dick Riley (2011); South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities Founder Dr. Virginia Uldrick (2012); environmentalist and attorney Tommy Wyche (2013); philanthropists Hayne and Anna Kate Hipp (2014); David Glenn, CEO and founder of Centennial American Properties (2015); and Joe Erwin, co-founder and former president of national advertising agency Erwin Penland and founder of Endeavor, a co-working space for the creative.
