North Main lot could serve as gateway

By April M. Silvaggio  

SEPTEMBER 18, 2009 4:13 a.m. (0)

City leaders envision the empty corner of North Main Street and Stone Avenue as a gateway to six neighborhoods on Greenville’s north end.

A development there could hold a bookstore, a coffee shop, pizza parlor, anything that would spur foot traffic and revitalization.

But for the family of the late Fred Collins, a longtime Greenville businessman, multi-millionaire and philanthropist who became one of the most colorful and controversial personalities in the national amusement gaming industry, the plot is much more.

“Fred Collins is part of Greenville’s heritage and history, and his family wants to make sure whatever goes on the site leaves a legacy for the Collins name,” said Dave Watrous, a partner with Croxton Gray Commercial Properties, the real estate brokerage and development firm that oversees all properties owned by Town Gate LLC, a subsidiary of Collins Entertainment Inc.

Town Gate is asking $6.95 million for the 4.7-acre lot that has been empty since a long-closed gas station and day labor office were torn down in 2007.

The city recently sent out requests for proposals to various firms for a master plan for Stone Avenue from Rutherford to Laurens roads. Sitting in the middle is the Collins property.

“Privately owned property is just that, privately owned property, but we’ve been very clear about the fact that we want it to be a planned, mixed use development with retail and condos and something with some good height that looks into downtown, and something with an opportunity for public art and green space,” said Greenville City Councilwoman Amy Ryberg Doyle, who represents the area.

Doyle said Collins’ daughter, Felicia Collins Robbins, who took over as president and chief executive officer of Colllins Entertainment after her father’s death, has told city officials she supports the master plan.

That is something of a relief to residents of the nearby historic Earle Street and North Main neighborhoods, many of whom spent the summer battling plans for a 24-hour Waffle House to be built at 11 E. Stone Ave., which is next to the Rite Aid pharmacy and across the street from the Collins lot.

Doyle said residents are already subjected to problems such as peddling by homeless people, car break-ins and petty thefts – crimes they believe drift down Stone Avenue from Triune Mercy Center, a mission church to the homeless, and Talecris Plasma Resources Inc., where individuals needing money are paid for the time it takes to donate plasma.

The Waffle House would have to seek a special exception from the city’s Board of Zoning appeals to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, under a change to Greenville’s C2 Zoning law passed last month by City Council that will affect businesses in C2 city-wide, but was promulgated specifically with the Waffle House in mind.

She said she would like to see traffic calming measures like bike lanes and landscaped medians used to slow vehicles down on what is now a bustling four-lane thoroughfare.

“It is in desperate need of a road diet,” she said.

Watrous said the Collins family has three offers for the property. He declined to discuss who the offers were made by or elaborate on the details.

“I’ll just say there has been a lot of interest from national developers,” he said.

Company officials think the best use would be a mixed-use, mid-rise structure with a number of retail and destination tenants. Development could happen in one of two ways, he said.

Croxton Gray could secure commitments from widely recognized tenants and develop the site. Or, a national developer could purchase the property.

“If the economy had not gone sour, I would suspect construction would be under way now,” Watrous said. “We’d love to be involved with something that has landmark impact for local residents.”

In the meantime, Croxton Gray, along with the Collins family, has partnered with Clemson University’s graduate school, offering the site as a case study for first-year students seeking a master’s degree in real estate development.

“Our goal is to tap into that college creativity and come up with something new and innovative,” Watrous said. “We had 42 students on the site last week.”

The ideas from those case studies will be submitted sometime in December.