Anyone who was here when the Poinsett Project kicked off this time last year may be wondering what happened to all those grand plans.
The old Piedmont Shirt Factory, the old building that has “Life Without Television?” spray painted on the wall, is set for demolition to make way for a new building. Greenville County determined that this location was central and could become a link for different parts of the city.
The plans to revitalize the Poinsett Corridor have always mentioned a desire to encourage economic development, with a focus on the success of local businesses. Once the old building is demolished, a new building will be put in its place. This building is thus far being called a mixed-use development building, and the members of the coalition hope that this will create an opportunity for new jobs.
Alongside this little piece of redevelopment, the coalition has formed the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority (GCRA), a non-profit meant to follow up with new business and education opportunities. This group hopes that the newly-cleared site will provide potential educational uses for the city. The GCRA suggests that Greenville Technical College may be able to utilize the future building.
The idea behind cleaning up the Poinsett District is to entice more local businesses to move their operations to the location. In fact, there has been recent talk suggesting GOAT (Great Outdoor Adventure Trips), which might be looking to move to a bigger space somewhere in the Poinsett District. Officials hope that encouraging the growth of local businesses in this central location would create more job opportunities and cause the Poinsett area of Greenville to flourish.
The demolition of the old factory has already begun, and the project is projected to be completed in June. Then the building process will begin, though it will be some time before the coalition’s vision for this particular area of the Poinsett Project becomes clear. It’s hard to say what will come from the mixed-use building, but those involved certainly seems to have high hopes for it.
More information about the project and about volunteering opportunities is available at the official website: http://thepoinsettdistrict.org. Bob Mihalic, the Governmental Affairs Coordinator of Greenville County also expressed a willingness to answer any questions the website does not clearly address. His email is BMihalic@greenvillecounty.org.