The Greenville, Simpsonville, Mauldin area experienced about 5-6″ of rain today. Most of it fell very quickly this morning from about 9am to noon with a little let up at lunchtime. The rains then came back. There were lots of news stories about damage and flooded out roads throughout the Upstate. We saw images all over Facebook of various creeks that had risen significantly. The images below are from the River Walk neighborhood where Gilder Creek runs through it.
I had a chance to chat with a neighbor who said he’s lived here 20 years and never seen it quite like this. As I understand it, there have been a couple of rain events over the past 20 years where they have had an overflowing creek that has taken out a walking bridge or two. I’m not aware of any flooding that has happened to anyone’s home in the neighborhood. The good news is the water has finally started to recede.
This is an exciting development coming to Greenville’s Historic West End District. It was just announced that Kimpton Hotels will be building a 170 room hotel at the corner of Markley and Rhett Streets. I’ve stayed in Kimpton Hotels before. They have always been gorgeous with great service.
The new project is Greenville is is just one block off of Main Street. It’s on the other side of Main opposite Flour Field. It’s a great sign that development is moving off of Main Street. That’s a big deal and should lead to additional development.
The Upstate Business Journal has an excellent article about the new to-be-built Greenville Kimpton Hotel along with HospitalityNet has an article as well.
This week I had a chance to attend an event at the Greenville Convention Center for the Home Builders Association of Greenville. It’s located in a warehouse district area close to the downtown airport in Greenville. The building itself is fine, however, the location is not particularly appealing for the kinds of bigtime events that I think could be attracted to Greenville. There are no other venues near by such as bars or restaurants. Greenville is evaluating building a new convention center in downtown Greenville along the Reedy River. This is something that we need to do. We need to work with the state and find the money.
What to do then about the existing space? I’m not sure. Maybe it becomes a big warehouse. I don’t know. But when you think about how cool downtown Greenville is and how beautiful Greenville-Spartanburg International (GSP) is, I think it’s time they build a gorgeous new convention center.
