SPARTANBURG — Nearly 100,000 square feet of warehouse space at Aden Street in Spartanburg's Northside neighborhood is planned for mixed-use redevelopment in late 2022.
The warehouses were once used to store cotton when farmers brought their goods to market. Built in the 1950s, the warehouses have been vacant for years as the textile industry declined and there was no longer any need for storage. With a resurgence of residential growth in the Northside neighborhood, developers are looking for opportunities to repurpose older structures for mixed-use development.
Northside Development Group and the city of Spartanburg recently identified the warehouses at Aden Street as a potential site for redevelopment. The proposed Aden Bonded Warehouse redevelopment project is scheduled to begin construction in late 2022 and be completed by early 2023.Â
"Our goal is to prelease this 20 to 30 percent so we can go to lenders and get this thing going," said Rakan Draz, Avison Young Retail Team Senior Associate. "Construction won't start until fall of 2022. The goal is to have something like Hampton Station in Greenville."
Hampton Station was the redevelopment in 2016 of cotton warehouses in Greenville's Water Tower District. Draz said the same development team will work to redevelop Aden Bonded Warehouse. Atlanta-based Urban Realty Partners will help develop the project in Spartanburg.
The new development will have flexible floor plans that can accommodate anything from 300-square-foot studios to 10,000 square feet for office space or retail. The project will include outdoor green space and is located near the Butterfly Branch Greenway.
Draz said the need for Northside mixed-use development will continue.
"Spartanburg is seeing a lot of interest," Draz said. "You are seeing more density as a whole on the Northside with growth. The Northside Development Group reached out to the team about this opportunity and wanted to partner with us on bringing new life into this area."
Rob Howell, Avison Young senior vice president, said the warehouses at 300 Aden St. are similar to the buildings repurposed at Hampton Station. Howell led the development at Hampton Station.
"We turned it into a mixed-use center of independent businesses in Greenville and it became a popular spot," Howell said.Â
Members of the Northside Development Group believed the site at Aden Street could offer new economic opportunities. Howell said his team toured the warehouse and agreed the site could be repurposed for mixed-use retail and office space. The total investment would be about $20 million, Howell said.
"We want Aden Bonded to provide economic opportunities for people already in the neighborhood," Howell said.Â
Howell said there would space for artist studios, a barber shop, a pet store, incubator space for entrepreneurs, multiple restaurants, a craft-beer tap room and opportunities for a job training center. Redeveloping the site will take up to 14 months.
City Manager Chris Story said the former warehouses at Aden Street have deteriorated over the years.
"The challenge is to repurpose that property (at Aden Street) that adds value to everyone," Story said.
