Here’s a recap of the city of Greenville’s Design Review Board meeting held June 18.
Approved: Greenville City Hall renovation
Design plans for the exterior renovation and expansion of Greenville City Hall at 206 S. Main St. received unanimous approval from the Design Review Board. The city worked with DP3 Architects and Perkins&Will to redesign the 10-story municipal building, originally built in 1973.
According to the city, the project will transform the 54-year-old building into a more transparent and welcoming environment that encourages community engagement.
The dark-tinted glass facade on City Hall will be replaced with a new transparent wall system featuring champagne color tones. The existing travertine stone exterior on the building’s elevator shaft will be preserved.
The city plans to build a new ground-floor addition on the rear of the building to house Greenville City Council chambers. Visitors will be able to access the chambers from a new entry courtyard with a drop-off lane on West Court Street.
Read more about Greenville City Hall renovation
The renovation project will also extend City Hall out towards Main Street to create a larger front lobby with a coffee shop. Upgrades will be made to the building’s front outdoor plaza to improve the ADA accessibility. Other site improvements include installing more trees and landscaping around the building.
Marco Nicotera, design director at Perkins&Will, said multiple social spaces will be created outside of City Hall, including an enhanced seating area next to the building’s front entrance. New outdoor seating would also be added onto the terrace overlooking the Courtyard by Marriott’s green space.
A unique design element of the project is the new metal canopy over the building’s front entrance. The project’s design team drew inspiration from Greenville’s tree-lined Main Street to create this new feature. During the day, the shadows made by the metal canopy will mimic those created by trees.
Final construction costs for the project have yet to be determined. Greenville City Manager Shannon Lavrin said renovations to City Hall are expected to begin in early 2027.
Approved: Bon Secours Wellness Arena renovation
The Design Review Board unanimously approved the external renovation and expansion of the Bon Secours Wellness Arena at 650 N. Academy St. The Greenville Arena District, the arena’s owner and operator, worked with LS3P and Gensler to develop the project’s design plans.
A new primary entrance will be created on the west side of the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. This entrance will face an outdoor promenade area and lead into a new indoor lobby. Exterior designs also show a new second-story deck created on the northwest side of the building.
The arena’s existing southeast entrance facing East North Street will be enhanced to be more prominent along the gateway into downtown Greenville. Improvements will also be made to the existing southwest entrance to the arena and the outdoor northeast terrace.
Mike Martinez, senior project manager with LS3P, explained that the new exterior design for the arena was inspired by Upstate South Carolina’s natural environment, specifically the trees and the Reedy River. For example, the V-shaped timber columns at the arena’s entrances were created to represent Greenville’s tree canopy.
Read more about the Bon Secours Wellness Arena renovation
In total, the project will expand the arena’s concourse level by 27,898 square feet and the event level by 18,621 square feet. The arena’s loading dock and marshaling area will also be built out to enhance back-of-house operations.
As a condition for approval, the project’s design team was advised to create alternative designs for the proposed blank exterior walls of the arena, specifically the south elevation facing Beattie Street. City staff suggested using art, vegetation or another solution to activate these building facades.
Renovations to the Bon Secours Wellness Arena will be part of a larger multi-million-dollar transformation of the entire 12-acre campus. A 6,500- to 7,000-seat outdoor amphitheater is proposed to be built on the campus. Other site-wide improvements will also be completed as part of the project. The preliminary cost estimate for the total project equaled $282 million.
Design plans for these other elements on the project will need to be reviewed and approved by the Design Review Board. Beth Paul, the arena’s general manager, said the additional application is expected to be submitted to the board by the end of the year.
Approved: New mixed-use building on South Main Street
The Design Review Board conditionally approved revised designs for a new mixed-use shell building at 127 S. Main St. in downtown Greenville. The project was deferred during the board’s April meeting.
The planned five-story building will be constructed on the existing parking lot at the corner of South Main and Court streets. It will contain ground-floor office space, five residential units and basement parking.
Crescent Greenville LLC is the owner of the 0.13-acre property within Court Square. The project’s development team consists of McMillan Pazdan Smith, Caldwell Constructors and SeamonWhiteside.
Rob Couch with McMillan Pazdan Smith said they worked closely with city staff and board members to address the comments and concerns discussed at the April meeting.
As a result, modifications were made to the project’s architectural, massing and site plan. For example, the building’s front commercial entrance was reconfigured to face McBee Plaza and Main Street. Other changes include adding more brick, redesigning the residential balconies, adding taller windows and more.
As conditions for approval, the development team was asked to review the building’s window recess, brick detailing, exterior lighting and the height of the garden-style gate for the private courtyard.
