The city of Greenville has unveiled new details for the long-awaited downtown conference center next to Falls Park.
The 100,000-square-foot conference center will anchor the Falls Park Conference District, a major development planned on the east side of the Reedy River. More than $500 million in public and private investment will be be used to redevelop six-acres of prime real estate along Falls Street and East Camperdown Way into the new mixed-use district.
Community members will have the opportunity to review the site plan and massing for the new conference center at the city’s project preview meeting on Sept. 22. The drop-in-style meeting will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Greenville Civic Design Center at 15 S. Main St.
The project is set to go before the city’s Design Review Board in October.
Project details
Local officials have been discussing the need for a conference center in downtown Greenville for several years. According to VisitGreenvilleSC, nearly 70,000 hotel room nights tied to meetings and events were lost in the last three years because Greenville lacked a conference center.
Plans to create a new mixed-use district with a conference center in downtown Greenville were announced in March. The Furman Co. was selected as the project’s master developer. The city plans to use visitor-supported revenue sources to build the conference center and a new parking garage within the Falls Park Conference District.
The downtown conference center will feature a 30,000-square-foot grand ballroom, a 12,000-square-foot junior ballroom, multiple breakout spaces and flexible pre-function areas. Mid-sized conferences, business meetings, corporate retreats, professional gatherings and other events are envisioned to be hosted within the conference center.
Greenville Mayor Knox White said this first glimpse of the conference center’s massing establishes the building’s footprint. He said the design will come next and reflect the look and feel of the Reedy River Falls and extend the garden of the park to the doorstep of the conference center.
The project’s site plan depicts the conference center connecting to the future JW Marriott Greenville by a pedestrian sky bridge over Falls Street. Auro Hotels announced plans in August to turn the Bowater Building at 55 E. Camperdown Way into the 335-room luxury hotel. The Greenville-based hospitality management firm will also operate the city-owned conference center once built.
A new multi-family residential building developed by Hines, a global real estate investment firm, will be located north of the conference center along Vivian Street. The site plan shows two office buildings – one for United Community – on top of a 1,250 space parking garage on the east side of the district. New retail and public green space will also be located south of the conference center.
“Unlike most such centers, ours will be active year round with shops and restaurants, reflecting the vibe and personality of Greenville’s Main Street,” White said.
For more information on the Falls Park Conference District, visit greenvillesc.gov/falls-park-conference-district.
