/Greenville’s $91 million gamble

Greenville’s $91 million gamble

Sometimes cars cruise down the four lanes as if they have nowhere else to go. Maybe they do. Some storefronts are vacant for over 20 years. This is not the best location for a $9.1million hotel. However, the downtown area will soon have one by next year. Bill Boykin, a Greenville entrepreneur, opened The Lofts at 517 in January. It is a historic renovation of the downtown Sears building. The plans include 16 hotel suites and 12 condominiums as well as a retail space, craft brewery, restaurant, and retail space. This is in addition to the $46 million grant for a federal courthouse. Residents are optimistic about the future of downtown. Will Coppage, Washington County Economic Alliance project manager, said, “Right now more than ever people are seeing both the opportunity and the possibility, which was not possible five, ten years ago.” That’s the key. It’s about seeing the potential and not being afraid of taking a chance on Greenville. This is true for everyone, regardless of whether they live downtown or elsewhere in Greenville. But, Greenville, like many other parts of the Delta, can’t rely on optimism. It is dependent on money. Some economists wonder if the town has the resources to support such a large project like the The Lofts at 517. “In Greenville you have to look at the income base that will support this,” said Pete Walley, director for long-range economic development planning. It’s admirable they’re doing this, but the bottom line of our economy is looking for businesses that make a profit. They shut down the doors if they don’t make a profit, and they move on.”… Greenville’s former mayor Chuck Jordan was the one who planted the seeds for Boykin’s project. He believed that a strong downtown core was essential to the success of the community. Greenwood and Water Valley, two nearby Mississippi communities, had invested money in their downtowns and real estate prices rose. Walley stated that revitalizing a city’s downtown can have an immeasurable effect. “If you can get the project moving, you will see a lot of positive outcomes.” Boykin spent three-and-a-half years gathering the funds to renovate the Sears building. He used a combination his own investment as well as historic and new market tax credit. Boykin acknowledged the risks involved in putting so much money at risk in an unproven area, but he said that he believes Greenville will support the project. “I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t. To a certain extent, I am a gambler. Boykin stated that he is a very calculated gambler. It’s going to work. It’s going to work, I’m sure. It’s going to bring something to the community that we haven’t had, or aren’t used to having. We just need to believe in it once it’s done. The whole building is high-end and has space for a boutique, an upscale restaurant, and a craft beer brewery. There are 28 suites on the second and third floors. Twelve of them will be available for rent as condos. The remainder will go towards hotel rooms. It’s easy to picture yourself in Soho, or downtown Los Angeles, standing in one of the units with their exposed brick walls and loft ceilings. Until you see out of a window. The Sears building is getting a facelift with original marble from its 1940s exterior. However, Washington Avenue’s once-grand neighbors are slowly falling apart. Rotting boards have covered the Elk Lodge’s windows, and vines grow up its columns. Although it hasn’t sold a single car in decades, the sign for Greenville Buick-Pontiac Co. is still displayed on the brick building next to it. Greenville’s mayor dispels fears that the surrounding blight might scare away potential customers. Main Street Greenville, which is a local non-profit, started cleaning up downtown storefronts several years ago. Since then, the area has been a popular destination for those who enjoy jogging or walking in the evening. How do businesses make money? Traffic is essential. Coppage stated that we are seeing more of that traffic. The Lofts at 517 were designed to serve as an “anchor” that would draw people to the city and eventually other businesses. This plan worked to a certain extent. Mal Kretchmar (a Greenville commercial real estate agent for 51 years), says seven buildings have been sold in downtown Greenville since Boykin’s groundbreaking in January. “It has been years and years since nothing has sold. Now, buildings are starting to sell at a soft price. The important thing is that they are being sold. Kretchmar stated that old buildings are being restored and recycled. According to Cary Karlson (executive director of Washington County Economic Alliance), no one can expect dramatic changes overnight. He said that people are now optimistic about the possibility of change for the first time since a while. Karlson stated, “With the direction that we are going now… and all the activity downtown, I just don’t see how this’s going down.” “I am very confident. It won’t all happen during my tenure. But I believe we are headed in the right direction.”… Even though the new federal courthouse was announced in December, every discussion about downtown revitalization always returns to the project and its $46million price tag. Benjy Nelken of the Greenville History Museum, Washington Avenue said that the announcement of the new courthouse had “generated interest in the neighborhood” and that Simmons predicted that the state-of the-art technology would make it a “draw” for judges and lawyers. However, the real draw is likely to be the improved security. The United States Marshall Service gave Greenville’s federal courthouse, which was built in 1958, a score of 14 out 100. This makes it one of the most secure in the country. Nearly all Greenville’s criminal cases have been rerouted from Greenville to Oxford’s federal courtshouse. These cases, as well as the lawyers, judges and witnesses attached to them, will be returned when the new courthouse is completed. However, this is still a ways away. Officials have not yet announced the location of the building in downtown. The earliest estimates point to an opening date in 2019, which would leave Boykin with two years before the hotel receives more business benefits. Boykin stated that while the hotel’s two-bedroom suites have kitchenettes and are ideal for long-term renters like lawyers working together in a trial, his business model does not depend on the opening of the new courthouse. Boykin stated that people think I’m brilliant, and he would like to claim I’m genius. But none of us knew anything about it. “I have been working on this project since 2005. In the meantime, symbolism is powerful. A $46 million project is a welcome sign of progress in a neighborhood that has seen half a dozen businesses close in one year. Boykin stated that Greenville residents don’t realize how lucky they are to have a project like this in Greenvillle. A $46 million building to be built in your downtown area. No one else in Mississippi has anything like it. It’s a lot of capital. It’s enormous.”… It has been quite some time since Greenville received something that no other city in Mississippi has. It was once the biggest city in the Delta. But its prime location along the river and well educated population made it an economic and cultural hub. Greenville’s newspaper won a Pulitzer under the direction of Hodding Carter II for its editorials advocating racial tolerance. While the rest of the state fought back, Greenville’s school district became the first to integrate. Nelken said that Greenville’s school district was an “oasis of tolerance” when compared to other cities in the Delta, Mississippi, and the Southeast. He also manages the Nelken Solomon Cent of History Museum, which is dedicated to Greenville’s Jewish history. Greenville did not have Jim Crow, or any other form of bigotry, but it didn’t reach the heights of other cities in terms. But, as people and industries moved on, the torch passed. Cleveland, which is now home to the Grammy Museum Mississippi and Delta State University, was an intellectual hub. Clarksdale became the largest stop on the Blues Trail. Greenwood, who was long considered a “tamer sister” by Greenvillians, transformed itself into the largest stop on the Blues Trail. “But I doubt they do so in that regard because Greenville is now a place where crime is high, and schools are poor. “We’ve got a negative reputation, and that’s why we’re trying on that, our image.” Despite the fact that more than $50 million will be spent downtown in the next five years, many Greenville economic leaders believe that convincing the residents that this can be done is the most difficult and important part of improving the city. Coppage stated that when Coppage was growing up, he and his parents might have concluded that there wasn’t much for them. Coppage said that they told their children, “Oh, you don’t have a need to return after you graduate college.” That’s part of our decline. To make an area grow, it’s necessary to attract the youth. That was a huge problem for us. How do we make it so that our children feel the exact opposite, that they want to return home and stay here? He said, “You have to see there are possibilities.” Coppage saw these possibilities. Coppage returned to Greenville in the last few years with his wife after a decade and half of living outside the state. He said that they are part of a growing trend of young couples moving back to Greenville to help improve the city’s image. However, the evidence is more subjective than concrete. Greenville is home to around 33,000 people. A town of this size should not have any problems keeping a boutique hotel and restaurant afloat. According to the 2013 American Community Survey, nearly a third Greenville’s population is below the poverty line. This means that the population who has the money to support these businesses are much smaller. Walley stated that the question is “Can a town like Greenville… bring traffic to it?” “If you are just rearranging money within the city limits, then you are probably not doing too much. You’re just redistributing money among the vendors down below. Simmons stated that if you bring money in from the outside, you are bringing more money into the town. He believes the people of the smaller towns around Greenville will be equally excited about new businesses. “If you look at Mississippi Delta places like Arcola Hollandale, Leland, and Greenville… Greenville are their big cities.”… This strategy worked well in Water Valley which is a charming town of 3500 people that has several restaurants and a small bed & breakfast. Water Valley, however, is only 20 miles away from Oxford which is one of the most prosperous areas in Mississippi. Greenville is smaller and less prosperous than the towns around it. Greenwood’s success model is more like what Greenville is doing. It has its flaws, however. Fred Carl founded the Viking Range Corp. downtown Greenwood. As the company exploded in 1990s, so did the presence of the Viking Range Corp. Once empty buildings were taken over by offices and manufacturing. As the workforce grew, so did other businesses and restaurants. In 2003, Carl built the Alluvian hotel and spa. In 2012, Carl sold Viking. Middleby, the parent company of the new company, cut the workforce and moved the corporate office out of the state. Today, downtown is home to fewer than 500 people. Some buildings are still empty. “The point is that it was viable as long as the owner had an income source to pay for it. It’s gone now, but you can still look at it and observe,” Walley, economist, said. There are still signs of improvement. After years of decline, the city purchased a park worth $2.6 million along the old railroad tracks. Main Street Greenwood plans to revitalize areas in the central business district that were not included in the initial wave of revitalization. These strategies may prove successful and Greenwood’s downtown will remain a vital area. The lesson is that you cannot rely on one project to transform an area. Even a small area of the town must be transformed. Boykin and other investors in downtown Greenville seem aware that it is not enough to make a profit. Calvin Nolden, who was born in Indianola, runs New Wave Investments from Memphis. He said that he purchased his building, 115 West Walker because he “loved” the Delta and wanted to revitalize it. Nolden stated that he believes it could be financially profitable. “But (downtown) still needs to develop,” Coppage said. Although Coppage insists on positive thinking more than Bill Boykin or Karlson, he is still pragmatic when discussing the best-case scenarios that Greenville might face in the future. Coppage stated, “It’s not going be this ideal thing again. Where you’ve got these adorable little shopfronts with this five-and-dime with everybody smiling and saying, ‘Hey neighbor,’ but that wholesome image was also due some obliviousness regarding this world.” It will never be the same downtown as it was. It can, however, be something different and fresh.”