CertusBank, Anthropologie coming downtown
By Liz Segrist
lsegrist@scbiznews.com
Published May 25, 2011
CertusBank will establish its corporate headquarters and Anthropologie will open a retail store in the new development planned at the site of the demolished Woolworth building at Main and Washington streets in downtown Greenville.
They join Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd as the confirmed tenants for the $100 million project by Hughes Development Corp., business officials and community leaders announced Wednesday.
Anthropologie offers women’s clothing, shoes, accessories and home decor.
“We knew this spot and the size of this space might be our last, best chance to get a serious retail footprint in downtown Greenville and to make downtown Greenville once again a destination retail for the whole region,” Greenville Mayor Knox White said, emphasizing the desire to develop the end of North Main Street when the development began to take shape five years ago.
CertusBank plans to employ 350 people in downtown Greenville. It is a subsidiary of the Charlotte, N.C. investment group Blue Ridge Holdings Inc. The company acquired the failed CommunitySouth Bank and Trust of Easley in January in a transaction assisted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Bank executives have said CertusBank aims to become a $5 billion institution in two years. The bank acquired two failed banks in Georgia this month.
“This is really exciting thing for Greenville to have another headquarters right in the heart of downtown,” Developer Bob Hughes said.
Previous coverage
CertusBank aims to be $5 billion bank in two years
Easley bank buys two in Georgia
The new project by Hughes Development Corp., coined “Project One,” will happen in two phases. Phase one will include 40,000 to 50,000 square feet of retail and 135,000 square feet of office space. Construction is set to begin in July.
Phase two will involve up to 11 stories and an additional 200,000-square-feet space for more offices or potentially a hotel, Hughes said.
Public and private entities came together for this project, Hughes said. The development is set to open in the third quarter or early fourth quarter of 2012, with the retailer opening in 2013.
Land planner Civitas Inc. and 4240 Architecture, both based out of Denver, will work on the development. Hughes, who was recruited by the city two years ago for this project, said the building design will incorporate downtown, creating a feeling of transparency and connectedness.
“This is a pretty central spot for Greenville. It’s the business center, and it’s very distinctive,” Hughes said, including the potential space for other retailers in the development as well.
Anne Ellefson, managing director of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, said 100 people will move from their current law office on Beattie Place into the new development. “We are ready for a change. We used to have to be near the courthouse, but law is different now,” Ellefson said. “This way we’ll be closer to the financial center of town.”
The building will include a green roof with living plants.
On Monday, Greenville City Council set aside $4 million to redesign the plaza and surrounding areas in relationship with this development.
“The goal remains the same. We want a highly energetic, beautiful space,” White said at the time.
This article came from GSA Business
