Greenville Business Magazine 2010 February issue : Page 19
››special business report A Blank Slate BY RICHARD BREEN PHOTOGRAPH BY NILL SILVER PHOTOGRAPHY Harper Construction at the Washington Street site “ ” The two things we need are tenants and financing. W hen a piece of commercial real estate is slated for demolition, the buildings usually don’t come down until the developer has locked in financing and/or signed deals for new tenants. That is not the case for the former Woolworth site in downtown Greenville, where a brick-by-brick deconstruction has taken place over several weeks with hopes to ignite interest in a long-awaited redevelopment project. “When something as unsightly as what the Woolworth building had become is sitting there, it’s hard to visualize that it can be transformed into something else,” says Nancy Whitworth, economic development director for the city of Greenville. The city, which owns some of the land around the site, is putting $180,000 toward the demolition, which is estimated to cost upwards of $600,000. A group led by John Boyd, chief executive of Greenville-based real estate investment firm TIC Properties LLC, plans to redevelop the property. Boyd says the city had gotten feedback about the appearance of the Woolworth building, which had been vacant since the 1990s. “They saw a desire and we saw a desire to go ahead and take it down,” Boyd says.Now, he says, “you start with a blank slate.” Demolition began in November and is expected to continue until the end of February. The work includes several structures on a block bounded by West Washington, North Main, Coffee and North Laurens Streets: the FEBRUARY 2010 | GREENVILLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE 19
>>special business report - A Blank Slate
Richard Breen
When a piece of commercial real estate is slated for demolition, the buildings usually don’t come down until the developer has locked in financing and/or signed deals for new tenants. That is not the case for the former Woolworth site in downtown Greenville, where a brick-by-brick deconstruction has taken place over several weeks with hopes to ignite interest in a long-awaited redevelopment project.
“When something as unsightly as what the Woolworth building had become is sitting there, it’s hard to visualize that it can be transformed into something else,” says Nancy Whitworth, economic development director for the city of Greenville.
The city, which owns some of the land around the site, is putting $180,000 toward the demolition, which is estimated to cost upwards of $600,000. A group led by John Boyd, chief executive of Greenville-based real estate investment firm TIC Properties LLC, plans to redevelop the property. Boyd says the city had gotten feedback about the appearance of the Woolworth building, which had been vacant since the 1990s.
“They saw a desire and we saw a desire to go ahead and take it down,” Boyd says. Now, he says, “you start with a blank slate.”
Demolition began in November and is expected to continue until the end of February. The work includes several structures on a block bounded by West Washington, North Main, Coffee and North Laurens Streets: the four-parcel Woolworth at the corner of West Washington and North Main, two former clothing stores on North Main, and the bridge, offices and staircase in Piazza Bergamo at Coffee Street and North Main.
“We’re trying to make it move as quickly as possible,” Whitworth says. “Everything on the block will go.”
Everything, that is, except for two parcels totaling 0.095 acres near the corner of North Laurens and West Washington. The property, owned by local architects Parks McLeod and Bill Pelham, shared a wall with Woolworth and had to be braced as its neighbor was chipped away.
“We’re glad to have survived the demolition,” McLeod says.
Boyd had considered purchasing that property too, but an agreement could not be reached.
“It just was not feasible,” McLeod says. “We wanted to remain downtown.”
That has been the least of the hurdles to getting the Woolworth site redeveloped. The aforementioned four-parcel property was divided among dozens of owners. Many were absentees earning rental income from a long-gone tenant that was still paying off a 10-year lease. The city worked to consolidate ownership but other redevelopment attempts could not get off the ground before Boyd bought the site.
“After a while, I think people forget about the effort just to get the property under one owner,” Whitworth says. “It’s not an easy demolition, but I think it’s going well.”
Matt Johnson, project manager with general contractor Harper Corp., describes some of the work as “delicate.” “You have to know the structure,” he says.
As well as what lies beneath. An old utility tunnel was found under one building. Woolworth sat on some of the rubble of its predecessors. And there is a 24-inch water main running under Piazza Bergamo.
Johnson says some of the brick is being reclaimed and the metal is going to scrapyards. The process can be followed via Webcam at www.clearsiteindustrial.com/projects.html. It is operated by the project’s Charlotte-based demolition contractor, Clear Site Industrial LLC.
“It’s got a time-lapse video,” Johnson says. “You can see the whole history of the demolition.”
Boyd says demolition is not a signal that his redevelopment project is imminent.
“Not in this environment,” he says.
Boyd almost landed a high-profile tenant in the Clemson University MBA program. The college instead opted for the former Bowater headquarters building on Camperdown Way.
“They had a more pressing need,” Boyd says.
The project is still being planned as mixed-use, with a street-level retailer as an anchor tenant.
“The two things we need are tenants and financing,” Boyd says. “I’m not jazzed about putting up a spec building right now.”
That doesn’t mean he has lost enthusiasm about the long-simmering project.
“I’m pretty stoked about it, to be honest with you,” Boyd says. “I want to see it built. I’m impatient in that regard.”
In the meantime, the site will be grassed over and usable by the public once demolition is completed.
“We’re glad that the owners were willing to bite the bullet and clear the site,” Whitworth says.
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