Laurens Road in Greenville has become a popular location for redevelopment.
The commercial corridor serves as a key gateway into the city’s downtown from Interstate 85 and the surrounding area. Various shopping centers, car dealerships, fast food chains, office buildings and other retail spaces currently sit along Laurens Road.
Greenville Mayor Knox White said the corridor has struggled with vacancies and underdeveloped sites since the 1960s and 1970s. However, the extension of the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail Green Line, along with the continued vitality of downtown Greenville, has created opportunities for revitalization on Laurens Road.
Many developers are now targeting Laurens Road for their next development. Several projects have been announced in recent months, each one bringing new commercial and residential offerings to the revitalized corridor.
Large-scale redevelopment
The largest redevelopment project recently unveiled was the Bolden Street District. Verdae Development and Hollingsworth Fund plan to transform 90 acres along Laurens Road into a mixed-use community hub.
Bolden Street District will consist of approximately 2,900 new residences, 500,000 square feet of new office space and 750,000 square feet of new retail space. Dan Klausner, CEO of Verdae Development, said the project will create a destination along Laurens Road that is accessible from the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
“It’s really created an opportunity for us to kind of recreate what Laurens Road is, and what is in this area, in a way that we think really can create a regional or national model,” Klausner said.
The project, unveiled in April, would redevelop the strip malls and vacant lots on the east side of the corridor from Haywood Road past Verdae Commons Drive. The city of Greenville established a tax increment financing district along this portion of the corridor in 2024 to support future development.
Over the past few months, the development team has focused on creating design guidelines for the project and preparing for the first phase of infrastructure installation in 2026. Phase 1 will consist of the concrete pads around Verdae Commons Drive, extending to the trail.
“We really are trying to be very intentional about laying the groundwork,” Klaunser said. “A project like this, you know, can take on a life of its own if you aren’t very careful about laying out kind of governance and design guidelines.”
A similar redevelopment project, called Enclave Laurens, is planned for an approximately 13-acre site at the intersection of Laurens Road, North Pleasantburg Drive and Airport Road. Greenville-based McCall Capital plans to build a mix of multifamily residential, small-scale retail, office space and potentially a hotel on the site, which connects to the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
Final development plans for the first phase of the project were recently approved by the city of Greenville’s Planning Commission. Phase 1 will be a four-story building with 4,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space and 244 residential units. The building will be constructed on the eastern portion of the property near the development’s entrance along Airport Road.
Commercial upfit
Developers such as Brett Swanson are also choosing to revamp existing shopping centers along Laurens Road. Swanson, who owns the Chick-fil-A on Laurens Road, previously renovated the Shoppes at Gower in 2018.
His next project will be to redevelop the McAlister Marketplace, a shopping center located at 62 E. Antrim Drive off Laurens Road. Swanson said he was motivated to buy the property in December to expand the Chick-fil-A drive-thru.
Facade improvements are planned for the northern end of the strip mall, along with extensive parking lot upgrades. Swanson said he will enclose the sidewalk surrounding the building to add more square feet of leasable space. The $4 million exterior-renovation project recently started and should be completed by late October or early November.
Carolina Spine & Pain Centers has leased 20,000 square feet of the roughly 30,000 square feet of leasable space available on the left side of Camelot Cinemas. A new church tenant wants to take over the space currently occupied by Thrive Church. Swanson said the existing nail salon, hair salon and movie theater will remain as tenants.
“We hope to — at some point in the future — continue the development to the right side of the theater,” Swanson said. “I don’t know what that looks like, but we’re looking at a few different options.”
Renovations are underway to transform the former Kimbrell’s Furniture location into a vibrant mixed-use development. Point Place Holdings, a Greenville-based commercial real estate investor, is developing the $10 million project located at 20 Liberty Lane off Laurens Road.
Nathan Long, a principal at Point Place Holdings, said the plan is to be done with the structural and exterior renovations to the 55,000-square-foot building by the end of the year or early 2026.
Leases for four of the nine tenant spaces have been signed. The main tenant will be Launchpad Greenville, a new incubator for local technology startups. Barista Alley Cafe & Roastery will also open its third location in the building. Long said the other confirmed and potential tenants include a laser tag company, a children’s play place and a restaurant concept with golf simulators.
“Probably one tenant will try to open as soon as possible, and a lot of tenants will probably open mid-spring of next year,” Long said.
Neighborhood hubs
The former McKinney Hardware and Lumber property at 2046 Laurens Road is also planned for redevelopment into a new mixed-use community hub.
The 1.21-acre site was purchased by three limited liability companies for $980,000 in April, according to the Greenville County Register of Deeds. Josh Tew, a broker with Pintail, a Greenville-based commercial real estate company, said the new owners are residents of the Gower community who desire to create a new amenity for the neighborhood.
Pintail is working to find potential food and beverage, fitness, and retail tenants for the development. Tew said the goal is for the site to be active all day.
Conceptual renderings for the project show adaptive reuse of the property’s existing buildings, new structures, a large green-space area and an outdoor pavilion. Tew said the project’s design plans will be finalized once tenants are secured for the development, hopefully by the end of the year.
The Alliance, a mixed-use affordable housing development in the Nicholtown neighborhood, will soon be under construction further down Laurens Road. The $38 million project will be developed by NHE, a Greenville real estate management company, at 1200 Laurens Road.
The development’s 100 residential units will be affordable for households earning 70% or below of the area median income. Joseph Kass, development manager at NHE, said The Alliance will provide affordable housing options for those in the Nicholtown community.
Approximately 4,200 square feet of commercial space and 5,000 square feet of amenities will also be featured within the project’s two four-story buildings.
Kass said he expects to close on the project’s financing in October and start construction in late October or early November. The project is targeted to be completed by late spring 2027.
“We’re excited to bring affordable housing in a really high-end, Class A product to a corridor with a lot of economic opportunities near downtown and still do it all while working with the neighborhood and hopefully delivering for them something that they are proud of,” Kass said.
