Population: 38,584
Population in 2010: 37,013
Median income: $45,228
Mayor: Jerome Rice
City Council:
Meghan Smith, District 1
Rob Rain, District 2
Ruth Littlejohn, District 3
Jamie Fulmer, District 4
Janie Salley, District 5
Erica Brown, District 6
Big number: $800 million in downtown development projects, the biggest being a $425 million project centered on a new minor league baseball stadium.
Fast fact: Since 1991 Spartanburg has been home to the global headquarters of Denny’s, the iconic diner-style restaurant chain. The company’s headquarters is Spartanburg’s tallest building in downtown and occupies the block bounded by East Main, East Broad and Liberty streets.
Business history: Known as the Hub City for its concentration of railroad lines, Spartanburg was one of South Carolina’s principal textile-manufacturing centers throughout much of the 20th century.
At its peak as a textile manufacturer, Spartanburg was home to as many as 40 mills, of which Drayton, Beaumont, Glendale and Converse were notable examples. While most textile companies have long since folded, Spartanburg is still home to the global headquarters of Milliken & Co. The company operates a sizable chemical and materials research facility near downtown.
Due to its central location at the juncture of interstates 85 and 26, the city is at the epicenter of a growing web of national and global manufacturers, the most prominent of those being BMW Manufacturing, which built a sprawling automotive plant in the county in 1993.
BMW’s plant and the roughly $11 billion the company has invested in the area have helped define Spartanburg’s modern role as a manufacturing and logistics powerhouse. That reputation has underpinned the city’s resurgence, and the strong economy and high quality of life are drawing a record influx of new residents.
What’s next: The next few years will see the Hub City’s downtown completely transformed as nearly $1 billion in development projects take shape.
The lynchpin of that transformation is a $425 million mixed-use development centered on a new Minor League baseball stadium. Being developed by Spartanburg’s own The Johnson Group, the project will bring new retail, food and beverage, hotel, and Class-A office space to the heart of downtown.
Adjoining that project scarcely a block away will be a new joint city-county administrative complex — the first such joint complex in South Carolina. The 180,000-square-foot, multistory building will sit on the West Broad Street site of the current City Hall.
In keeping with the city’s vision as a new urban destination, Spartanburg’s Morgan Square is in the process of being fully developed as the city’s “front porch.” Plans call for a pedestrian zone centered on a handsome green space anchored by a visitors kiosk and stage. The square will serve as the city’s central gathering space and include an expanded outdoor dining zone for adjacent restaurants.
