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There is nothing "cheesy" about an ever-expanding and thriving pedestrian-oriented city center after thirty years of intensely focused urban revitalization. The result of hard work and collaboration among numerous supporting entities (local citizens, public and private organizations, various levels of government) is worthy of positive publicity. This is true regardless of the city name and geographic location.
So it's okay for Columbia to sell itself but "cheesy" when Greenville does? Did I miss a memo somewhere? Oh and Brooks Brothers along with Anthropologie did not receive any tax incentives.
There is nothing "cheesy" about an ever-expanding and thriving pedestrian-oriented city center after thirty years of intensely focused urban revitalization. The result of hard work and collaboration among numerous supporting entities (local citizens, public and private organizations, various levels of government) is worthy of positive publicity. This is true regardless of the city name and geographic location.
You obviously did not read my lost but instead wanted to promote a city where you once lived. I said that a business running a narrative on why they love Greenville is cheesy. And, it is. If I am looking for a chamber moment, I will go to their website. If I want to know about a particular business, I want to see that on a website. It is an extreme way to self promote a city. I don't see Duke Energy running band about Charlotte on the front page of their site, same goes for BofA. Greenville is very aggressive with self promotion, almost to an extreme. Columbia is on the other end of the spectrum. Both cities are similar in size, growth....Columbia is better educated and a little wealthier...but for the most part, the cities are similar. The difference is the intense marketing/PR campaign in Greenville to not only saypositive things about the city but, for business owners to take shots at Columbia and even worse, the News prints it....along with new hotels decades down the road.
Gman, we have been over this, Hughes said that One would not happen without tax credits. They use tax credits to offer lower rent in attracting tenants. It is not an unusual concept. Greenville has used many federal tax programs in developing downtown, that is well documented. Nothing wrong with it, but, that is a reason Anthropologie is there. When Southpark expanded, many cited downtown as a place for retail. In all cases, retailers said they were not interested without a subsidy. If retailers are saying that about Charlotte, not sure why you think Greenville is a better market.
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with Greenville being very aggressive with self promotion. It's just like running a company with commercials and reasons on why you're better than the competition. For example, Greenville giving reasons on why they are better than Columbia or vise versa isn't any different than Target giving reasons on why they are better than Walmart or vise versa.
ONE did receive $18.5 million in tax credits from Greenville New Markets Opportunity but that was only for building the complex. To my knowledge, none of the money went to lease rates for the retailers. Anthropologie and Brooks Brothers came downtown due to demographics and lack of space at other shopping centers like Haywood Mall and Shops at Greenridge.
I just wish there was a haven thread for Columbia in which its assets, successes and needed improvements could be discussed by only people who love and care about the city, without regard to anywhere else and without any comparisons.
I just wish there was a haven thread for Columbia in which its assets, successes and needed improvements could be discussed by only people who love and care about the city, without regard to anywhere else and without any comparisons.
It doesn't work like that though. We live in a society where comparisons and differences reign among competition. You will always see Greenville mentioned with Columbia because they have the same size metro area, are located in the same state, and are only two hours apart. It's like McDonald's versus Burger King. Whichever is better really depends on who you ask.
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with Greenville being very aggressive with self promotion. It's just like running a company with commercials and reasons on why you're better than the competition. For example, Greenville giving reasons on why they are better than Columbia or vise versa isn't any different than Target giving reasons on why they are better than Walmart or vise versa.
ONE did receive $18.5 million in tax credits from Greenville New Markets Opportunity but that was only for building the complex. To my knowledge, none of the money went to lease rates for the retailers. Anthropologie and Brooks Brothers came downtown due to demographics and lack of space at other shopping centers like Haywood Mall and Shops at Greenridge.
I don't disagree that cities should promote themselves as a business would do. However, I also think there are limits in what is considered self promotion and what us over the top. I think we see the extremes in Greenvile and Columbia. Greenville seems to have a coordinated marketing plan to the point where retailers and downtown businesses are asked to say why they love Greenville. I think that is a little overkill and comes across to those outside the area as "hey, look at us, we are important". Do you see Charleston folks constantly claiming to love their city on every company website. When I was in Alaska, a lady found out where I was from and now lived. 10k miles from Charlotte her second sentence to me was "I am from Greenville, have you seen our downtown?". I was polite but, it reminded me of Aunt Bee talking up Mayberry to the folks in from the big city, Raleigh. THe same could be said for announcing a new hotel years down the road. As for bashing Columbia or cities giving reason why they are better than another city, I don't buy that. You won't see a Charlotte publication saying move Certus to Charlotte, our workforce is better educated, our airport is larger and Greenville's growth is close to 0. You may see our metrics and mention of the airport but, not in comparison with Greenville.
Columbia needs to sell itself better and become more inserted into business groups. The chamber should work with Charlotte more to sell NE Columbia to groups.
Well, that doesn't really explain why some posters are so consumed with Greenville that they cannot resist posting baited comments in another city's threads. People have recognized that Columbia and Greenville have developed differently and have had different focuses for their futures. So then, what's the intention of bringing up Greenville's downtown hotel market, a developers' willingness to get creative with financing new developments, or how one's marketing dollars are spent?
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with Greenville being very aggressive with self promotion. It's just like running a company with commercials and reasons on why you're better than the competition. For example, Greenville giving reasons on why they are better than Columbia or vise versa isn't any different than Target giving reasons on why they are better than Walmart or vise versa.
ONE did receive $18.5 million in tax credits from Greenville New Markets Opportunity but that was only for building the complex. To my knowledge, none of the money went to lease rates for the retailers. Anthropologie and Brooks Brothers came downtown due to demographics and lack of space at other shopping centers like Haywood Mall and Shops at Greenridge.
So, you are saying the demographics are better in Green ills then they are in Charlotte? With tax credits, Hughes is easily able to offer subsidized rent to retailers and still have a strong NOI. The purpose fo these credits is to encourage development in distressed areas. That is stretching it a bit to use these for an office building but, they are for the purpose of making numbers work in real estate where market forces otherwise won't.
Simon does this with Haywood. They will offer space at Southpark to a retailer if they also to take some space at Haywood. If the rent is low enough, you don't require a large gross profit to make a lot of money and have positive contribution for the company.
Well, that doesn't really explain why some posters are so consumed with Greenville that they cannot resist posting baited comments in another city's threads. People have recognized that Columbia and Greenville have developed differently and have had different focuses for their futures. So then, what's the intention of bringing up Greenville's downtown hotel market, a developers' willingness to get creative with financing new developments, or how one's marketing dollars are spent?
If you read the thread and points raised, you will see that it is relative. The entire reason for the thread started with a comment attributed to a Greenville beer shop owner. Marketing a city is important, I think it is important to see what would work well for Columbia and what may not, do you not agree? Or, are you just attacking posters so you don't have to share an opinion? There is no "baiting", just observations.
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Did I miss a memo somewhere? Oh and Brooks Brothers along with Anthropologie did not receive any tax incentives.
