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There will probably not be any high level games of any sort in soccer and LaX in Greenville anytime soon and it doesn't have anything to do with a lack of facilities. Despite Greenville's size, it still thinks like a small conservative town. Greenville has had a hard time doing anything ever since Mayor Thomas left. They can't even come to a decision on parking meters, let alone anything bigger. Whatever happened to all of those high dollar hotels and residences that were supposed to be built downtown? All of that money left town with Mayor Thomas.
While I think the pandemic and now economic climate have had a hand in some of the slowing. The drop off is undeniable under the current leadership, not solely speaking about the mayor either. Greenville seems to be treading water.
E.R. Lewis construction tore down their office building at the intersection of Evans & Arlington. No clue what's happening next. I drove by at noon and they had backhoes parked around the building, then when I drove by at 6 they had it demolished.
This whole corner has been cleared and graded into one property. The old real estate office that faced Arlington is gone now too.
OPIS and some googling leads me to believe it will be yet another car wash
While I think the pandemic and now economic climate have had a hand in some of the slowing. The drop off is undeniable under the current leadership, not solely speaking about the mayor either. Greenville seems to be treading water.
Overall, I will agree with this. The pandemic really put the brakes on some projects. In many developers eyes, doing something in Greenville carries a certain amount of risk. Right now many developers aren't taking that extra risk that they might take in Raleigh or Durham or Wilmington.
But there's still the large Taft apartment (market rate) complex/parking deck that's going to be built on Dickinson. The science museum is moving to a larger space. Taft is also now involved with the Ficklen project that will include the Marriott hotel. The millennial campus is still being worked on. Native restaurant just opened. The downtown Hilton is being worked on. There are projects still going on. I wouldn't say it's completely plateaued, but it's in another phase of "what's next?" that we still don't know the answer to.
I think the city needs to just go back to the drawing board on the Imperial development. Go ahead and start work on a public park / event space along Atlantic Avenue. I'd try to work with a developer again on trying to get a 3rd hotel at the corner of Atlantic & Dickinson. Maybe break the complete project into smaller chunks & phases so that there's less of a risk of a developer taking on too much.
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As far as the sports tournament stuff goes. the city council has already highlighted a need for an upgraded /new sports facility. I didn't pull this talking point out of the air each time I've mentioned it. The 75 team tournament in Wilson all happened at one complex and not spread out between several different facilities. Regardless of the reason the tournament happened in Wilson, one of a similar size could not happen in Greenville at a single facility. That is the opportunity we've missed out on. I wasn't saying we were missing out on that exact tournament. I hope that we can get a new facility together soon so that we can attract large sports tournaments of all types. They are big boosts to economies.
Overall, I will agree with this. The pandemic really put the brakes on some projects. In many developers eyes, doing something in Greenville carries a certain amount of risk. Right now many developers aren't taking that extra risk that they might take in Raleigh or Durham or Wilmington.
But there's still the large Taft apartment (market rate) complex/parking deck that's going to be built on Dickinson. The science museum is moving to a larger space. Taft is also now involved with the Ficklen project that will include the Marriott hotel. The millennial campus is still being worked on. Native restaurant just opened. The downtown Hilton is being worked on. There are projects still going on. I wouldn't say it's completely plateaued, but it's in another phase of "what's next?" that we still don't know the answer to.
I think the city needs to just go back to the drawing board on the Imperial development. Go ahead and start work on a public park / event space along Atlantic Avenue. I'd try to work with a developer again on trying to get a 3rd hotel at the corner of Atlantic & Dickinson. Maybe break the complete project into smaller chunks & phases so that there's less of a risk of a developer taking on too much.
You are on point with this. While renovations of old warehouses isn't as transformative as new construction, it is filling the void that was there. The Millennial Campus and Ficklen projects are massive projects for downtown. And a 10 story hotel? That's definitely transformative. Those 3 projects are some of the biggest Greenville HAS EVER HAD. And they are within blocks of each other.
I like to think of Greenville in college students eyes. Does it change very 4 years? Right now, there is no doubt there are big changes within 4 year periods. That just needs to continue. What will it be 3 years from now for the current ECU freshman when they graduate?
2 Hotels downtown? Another apartment project on Dickinson? The Millennial campus opening?
You are on point with this. While renovations of old warehouses isn't as transformative as new construction, it is filling the void that was there. The Millennial Campus and Ficklen projects are massive projects for downtown. And a 10 story hotel? That's definitely transformative. Those 3 projects are some of the biggest Greenville HAS EVER HAD. And they are within blocks of each other.
I like to think of Greenville in college students eyes. Does it change very 4 years? Right now, there is no doubt there are big changes within 4 year periods. That just needs to continue. What will it be 3 years from now for the current ECU freshman when they graduate?
2 Hotels downtown? Another apartment project on Dickinson? The Millennial campus opening?
All very true. I'm guilty of "what have you done for me lately" and at least some of my angst comes from ongoing lulls on things like Town Common, the aforementioned sports facility, and what did we ever decide to do with the Pandemic monies? I do feel like the city could make some larger development moves in terms of entertainment that would make the area more attractive to corporations. I would love to see some traction on jobs. I see a lot of effort from the development/recruiting folks on linkedin I hope their efforts are rewarded. Everything from Raleigh to Charlotte keeps piling on.
The city of Greenville is dividing up the Elm Street tennis courts to convert half of it to pickleball courts. People, including former Mayor Allen Thomas, are upset with the act of not only taking away from one activity to provide for another, but also in how the situation was handled. Basically the public was not given any real opportunity to provide input before the decision was made. This development just further proves the need for a full-scale complex for the city of Greenville's sports and recreation.
I will say that I think the tennis facilities in the city are probably the most underutilized athletic facilities across the city, even in warmer months. Pickleball has exploded in popularity over the last few years. I don't think it's a huge issue that they made the call to reduce 3 tennis courts while adding pickleball courts, even without public input. But maybe they have seen the activity for both sports and gotten feedback from people on putting more pickleball courts in the city.
I currently live in the triangle, and have visited many parks in the area with both pickleball and tennis courts. Completely anecdotal, but for about every 2 people I see at a tennis court, there are at least 10 people waiting to play at a pickleball court. It's really a night and day difference. I do think it's like that across most of the country. It's just hugely popular and probably will be for several more years.
Pickleball is so popular that one of Raleigh's huge developers (Kane) is creating a huge 70 million dollar pickleball complex similar to Top Golf / Drive Shack. It would be nice for Greenville to offer a nice pickleball facility whenever a new complex is built.
The city of Greenville is dividing up the Elm Street tennis courts to convert half of it to pickleball courts. People, including former Mayor Allen Thomas, are upset with the act of not only taking away from one activity to provide for another, but also in how the situation was handled. Basically the public was not given any real opportunity to provide input before the decision was made. This development just further proves the need for a full-scale complex for the city of Greenville's sports and recreation.
The City also has the River Burch tennis center on Arlington across from JH Rose...
There is likely room to add courts there and its focused on tennis. Has public restrooms, etc...
They are leaving tennis courts at Elm St for neighborhood use. I think this is a non issue where the City is trying to add something in a park and focus the tennis activities to the actual tennis center.
A few days ago I reached out to whoever controls The Ficklen Instagram account regarding the status of the project and they told me it is currently on hold.
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