Greenville potentially to see more downtown redevelopment
GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) – The Greenville Municipal Court was built in Downtown Greenville in the 1940's. It now sits vacant but Greenville City leaders said it's for sale.
Overgrown grass and a dilapidated building is what currently occupies the lot at 426 North Main Street.
'We were holding court in the midst of COVID-19 and a sewer line ruptured feeding this building, which made this building uninhabitable which shifted municipal court to this front law under tents,' Greenville City Council Member At-large, Dorothy Dowe, said.
Greenville's former municipal court sits next to the historic American Legion building, which is also being sold; located on a quiet part of Downtown Greenville, leading to Interstate 385.
Both properties have been rezoned to mixed-use development and City Council member, Dorothy Dowe, said the city hopes to see a developer turn the properties into something the public will enjoy.
'We want activated space on the ground floor you know we want it to engage people from Main Street,' Dowe said.
In September 2024, the city gave initial approval to sell the lot for around $4 million. Leaders said the sale will help fund the new Public Safety Campus on Halton Road.
'The city has not received an application for permitting,' Dowe said. 'The project preview meeting is really the first step for the public to see a developers concept of what they would like to do.'
One proposal features three buildings and could entail over 600 apartments and several thousand square feet of commercial space. The preliminary plans do include more than 600 parking spots.
Dowe said private companies have to build adequate parking to sustain their development.
One resident said he supports the idea, but believes prices will be too high. Seth Miller said he has to bike to work from outside of downtown, as he is not able to afford the living prices now.
'It would be lovely if it was low income but in general, if it's high income like it should be, it is not going to be beneficial,' Miller said. 'They are going to push a lot of people out of this area.'
Dowe said she hopes the public will eventually benefit from the project once approved, but she is aware keeping its history intact and honoring those who have already cemented their spots in the area.
While preliminary details for the project have been presented, the next step is for those details to be presented to the Design Review Board for approval in May.
Dowe said the developer who purchases the site will be expected to do a traffic study to understand the busy corridor. The hope is that it will help alleviate traffic headaches, although that may be inevitable.
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