Leadership looks at strategies to enhance downtown Greenville
Downtown Greenville is no stranger to change.
A decades-long urban revitalization has shaped the city into what it is today. Millions of people visit downtown each year to explore its many attractions. The city’s urban center consists of various food and beverage options, retail stores, entertainment venues, museums, art galleries, hotels, a baseball stadium, and Falls Park with the iconic Reedy River Falls.
Greenville City Council and the city’s leadership team are looking at ways to further elevate downtown in 2025. Several ideas were discussed at Council’s annual retreat, held Feb. 14.
“I think it’s always smart not to rest on your laurels and that just because you think something’s great that there’s not an opportunity for improvement,” Greenville City Manager Shannon Lavrin said.
Streetscape enhancements
Greenville Mayor Knox White said there are several holes in the fabric of downtown that the city wants to address including areas in need of stronger tree cover and pedestrian safety.
One idea presented was to improve Spring and Falls streets to bring the Main Street feel off Main Street. This would be accomplished with lateral connections, new storefronts, added landscaping and widened sidewalks. White said other streets that could be improved include Coffee Street and around the edges of Academy Street.
“All of these are important not just for walkability and maintaining the look of our city, but also these are prime future-development sites,” White said.
The city is also considering taking over several downtown streets owned by the South Carolina Department of Transportation. Some of the streets include Washington Street, McDaniel Avenue, Cleveland Street and River Street. Lavrin explained that by taking ownership of these streets, the city would control their design and be able to make them more pedestrian-oriented.
Additional streetscape opportunities include adding more street lighting, redesigning Main Street’s landscaping and improving downtown’s connectivity to County Square and the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Space activation
Undeveloped real estate in downtown is limited, but Lavrin noted there are several vacant, privately owned parking lots with no current development plans. The city intends to look at addressing each of these lots to figure out how they can be activated or redeveloped.
The city also unveiled an idea to create an open-air market structure on Court Street to further activate the space behind the historic Chamber of Commerce building. Designs for the structure drew inspiration from Greenville’s Southern Rail train depot previously on West Washington Street. Lavrin said the space would be a great place for events, including the TD Saturday Market.
“I think what’s great about that is it gives us as a city an opportunity to really be creative at how we want to build our community and look at some new things that we can implement in our community,” she said.
New retail additions in the city’s central business district were also highlighted at the meeting. Some examples include adding affordable lunch spots, men’s retail and family entertainment options including a movie theater or bowling alley.
Facade improvements
The city also wants to revamp its facade-improvement program, which provides business and property owners financial assistance for qualified exterior renovations and site improvements. A current project receiving funding from this program is the facade makeover of City Tavern on Main Street.
Lavrin feels the program is an underutilized tool. She said in several instances the city has awarded a facade-improvement-project grant, and the business owner has not moved forward with development plans.
“It keeps us from being able to move forward with development plans on other projects,” Lavrin said. “One of the main things you’ll see out of the budget this year is a request for additional funds for facade improvements and a new policy about how we want to revamp that project.”
Greenville’s downtown design guidelines will also be updated in 2025. The design guidelines are used to preserve the unique character of the city’s central business district. The city’s Design Review Board uses the guidelines when evaluating projects located downtown. Lavrin said it has been almost 10 years since the guidelines were updated.
Additional ideas for further amplifying downtown Greenville include upgrading the Amtrak Station at Washington Street, improving the Greenlink Station on McBee Avenue and enhancing property-maintenance enforcement downtown. The city also is looking to complete a pedestrian master plan for downtown in the future.
“Downtown is our crown jewel, but it’s aging some and we have to really invest in it,” Lavrin said.
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