Transformation of Graniteville will continue in 2017 and beyond (Atlanta, Garden City: apartments, loft)

[Airforceguy]

It has really been amazing to see the changes that have occurred in Graniteville. It will be nice to see what this area looks like 10 years from now.

Atlanta-area entrepreneurs Pete Davis and Steve Bush are the movers and shakers behind Graniteville Restoration Partners.

“We are working on some serious master planning stuff that is premature for me to talk about right now because everything is in flux,” Simkins said.

But he did reveal some details about the next steps that will be taken to turn Graniteville into what he described as “as new gateway to Aiken and a destination that everybody in the state of South Carolina will be proud of.”

The overall project involves approximately 2,000 acres of property, some if which is located in neighboring Vaucluse.

“It is all of the old Avondale Corporation’s assets that included the Hickman Mill, the Gregg Mill, the Granite Mill and the Vaucluse Mill, along with a number of ancillary buildings,” Simkins said.

More work is planned at Hickman Mill, part of which was repurposed to serve as the site for the appliance-recycling company Recleim.

“Recleim is sort of in the newer section of Hickman Mill, and this will be in the more historic section,” Simkins said. “We are hoping to have a technology incubator there that will study how we reuse the recyclable materials that we are obtaining through Recleim such as copper and aluminum. And then we also will be studying the environmental sciences as related to Horse Creek itself and the watershed. We want to make sure we keep that water source as pure as possible for the future, so we can use it to for the benefit of the county and for our own project, for that matter.”

The further renovation of Hickman Mill could begin as soon as the third quarter of 2017.

“We have just hired a planning team, and we have an architect on board,” Simkins said. “We also will be developing the campus around that, where it abuts Horse Creek.”

In addition, Simkins mentioned the proposals that are being considered for the other parts of the project’s property.

“We are discussing everything from an educational center, where people could come in and continue to learn, to mixed-use buildings where there will be shopping and restaurants,” he said. “At the Vaucluse Mill up at the northern end of the property, we could see having a little residential hamlet there that would be linked to central Graniteville through a path system.”

Transformation of Graniteville will continue in 2017 and beyond | News | aikenstandard.com

[Airforceguy]

Napier says the availability of land is a big reason new industries are looking at Aiken’s gateway and with easy access to Interstate 20, it’s a prime location for people needing to get Augusta or Columbia quickly.

It’s also one of the reasons why Radney Williams says his son moved out of the congested Garden City.

“What do you think of the traffic? Have you run into any out here?” Asked WJBF NewsChannel 6’s Stefany Bornman.

“No traffic around here. They go to church right up here on the right. There’s just no traffic over here,” Williams said. “Now there’s traffic in Augusta, because it’s a bigger city, but it’s easier for him. He jumps on 5-20 and swings around to Peach Orchard Rd and he’s at work in 20 to 25 minutes.”

While Williams hasn’t encountered much traffic since he’s been in town visiting for the holidays, locals say all the new businesses on Bettis Academy Rd are going to require more than 2 lanes to accommodate the extra the drivers on the road.

“I would like to see road improvements for sure. Maybe widen some of the road,” said longtime Graniteville resident Jeff Petersen. “If it’s going to be a lot busier and with a lot more traffic coming down through here.”

Graniteville growth apparent, nearly 12 years after deadly train crash that left community struggling | WJBF-TV

[Airforceguy]

The streets in Graniteville are starting to come alive again and soon these buildings will too.

"We owe it to the people who have hung in here for so long to do something good with this," President of Horse Creek Trust Turner Simpkins said.

Horse Creek Trust and Turner Simpkins are making it their goal to rebuild Graniteville, right now focusing on re-purposing mills and creating a new community with the old.

"This is a community where the guy that owns the restaurant can live here, but the guy who works in the kitchen can also live here," he said.

The next construction step is developing Hickman Mill, which Simpkins says will be a business incubator for technology and jobs. But the other mills will help bring the work and play environment.


"The other ones can be converted to loft apartments, the Granite Mill here which is along Horse Creek there's a beautiful plaza there, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see the tables and the umbrellas and the shops," Simpkins said.

Another aspect of Graniteville they want to take advantage of Horse Creek.

"Have not used the biggest asset that we have like our fore fathers did and that's the water," Boyd said.

Horse Creek runs more than 3 miles to Vacluse, Simpkins sees it as another opportunity for the area.

Group looks to bring Graniteville into 21st century