A City’s Tools for Downtown Development: Much More Than Money

by Nancy Whitworth, Economic Development Director, City of Greenville, S.C.

Cities must constantly reinvent themselves in order to continue to grow and prosper. Focusing on unique attributes can help differentiate one community from another, and in the marketplace, the differentiated product can command a premium.

Cities use many tools in their quest to encourage and facilitate private development. Greenville, South Carolina, has taken a very proactive role in making strategic investments and working collaboratively with the private sector to ensure quality development that is consistent with the community’s plan for downtown. This article covers the evolution of Greenville’s downtown from a run-down business district to the vibrant area it is today, and the gamut of tools and partnerships that made that change possible.

Greenville’s transformation

The historic Poinsett Hotel was renovated in conjunction with several other projects, resulting in a 204-room hotel, a new 220,000-square-foot office building with residential penthouses, a parking garage, and the renovation of a vacant educational wing of a church into 44 condo units.

Walking down Main Street in the heart of Greenville, one would never believe that this tree-lined street, bustling with activity, was once mostly vacant. Today, downtown Greenville is home to over 80 unique restaurants, specialty retail, a residential neighborhood and hundreds of thousands of visitors attending concerts, museums, theaters, festivals, sporting events and more.

Thirty years ago, Main Street looked quite different. As was the case throughout the country, suburban retail centers had eroded Main Street’s role as the major retail hub in the region. Even though Greenville, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains midway between Atlanta and Charlotte, was thriving, its downtown was not participating in that growth.

To meet the challenge, Greenville embraced the new industry of downtown redevelopment, making the city one of the early pioneers in reclaiming downtown’s prominence. Greenville set out to remake Main Street and create an atmosphere that would be conducive to office, residential, specialty retail, entertainment and the arts. Downtown’s renaissance has been an evolutionary process marked with significant achievements over the past 30 years.

The approach

After Greenville’s Main Street was reduced from four lanes to two, widened sidewalks provided encroachments for outdoor dining.

In 1977, Greenville assessed what it had and realized that something dramatic needed to happen. Downtown had to be repositioned to provide a distinctive environment. In fact, it was the focus on differentiating Greenville that led to a very systematic and deliberate approach. The master plan initially focused on the design elements of downtown, later detailing specific actions. But the major components of downtown Greenville's revitalization focused on changing downtown's image and creating mixed-use anchors through public-private partnerships.

The Main Street streetscape design, completed in 1979, marked the first physical improvement in downtown and began the transformation.Main Street was reduced from four lanes to two and sidewalks were widened for easier walking and outdoor dining. Street trees were planted to further enhance the pedestrian experience. Parallel parking was replaced with diagonal parking, interspersed with seasonal plantings.

What then moved Greenville ahead was its successful alliance of public and private investment. Thinking of the city as the spark plug and the private sector as the engine, Greenville stepped forward to provide the impetus for private investment to occur and the environment for it to continue.

Public-private partnerships made possible the development of strong anchors, which signal rallying points for the community and serve as catalysts for future development. These partnerships were, and still are, critical to the success of downtown – not just for the financial participation, but also for validation by the private sector.

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