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Growth gives new look to Clemson's older areas
Anna Simon

By Anna Simon

CLEMSON BUREAU

CLEMSON -- New development is changing older neighborhoods in Clemson, a city with nearly nowhere to grow.

The college town is all but landlocked between Central, Pendleton, Clemson University and Lake Hartwell, but redevelopment projects are beginning to change the city from the inside out.

"We're seeing some nice reinvestment into an older neighborhood," said Rick Cotton, city administrator.
Currently, two residential projects, a commercial development and city renovation of an old school, all under way, will add more than $10 million to the city tax rolls, Cotton said.

But some residents have mixed feelings about the changes.

Anna Reid, who lives next to the old Morrison Annex and went to school there as a child, looks forward to hearing the laughter of children fill the schoolyard again when the Clemson Child Development Center takes up residence there.

But she has reservations that a new student-oriented development nearby will bring unwanted noise and increase traffic on narrow neighborhood streets.

But others, including Cotton and local law enforcement, are pleased to see the student complex go in. In its footprint, a blighted, high-crime area has disappeared.

And it's close enough to campus that students can walk or bike there, or take a bus that will stop at the complex, developers have said.

And while there is much change, some community landmarks will remain.

The large student-oriented development, Crawford Falls, will offer condos and town homes where mostly vacant trailers once stood, just east of the Clemson University campus, off State 93 near the intersection of U.S. 76.

The trailers are gone, but the old Crawford's Grocery and a huge eucalyptus tree that shades the front porch of the small clapboard store remains.

The store served the community for more than half a century, selling fresh locally grown produce and sundries, and now will continue to be a gathering place, said Scott Foster, marketing director for the developer, Tom Winkopp.

Completely renovated, the store currently is a sales and leasing office for the 104-unit three- and four-bedroom complex. It will become a game room and lounge area for residents, with a pool table, high-definition plasma televisions and other amenities.

"It was a beautiful piece of land when it was cleared," Foster said, adding that the mountains on the North Carolina line are visible on clear days.

Developers of the Oakledge on Calhoun, where land has been graded on State 93 on the east end of the city, are completely renovating some 1970s-era apartments and building new units as well.

The gated condominium complex will be marketed to young professionals, students and retirees, said Neil Monaghan, who is developing the property with partners Russ Hebert III and Tal Slann.

There will be 22 two- and three-bedroom units and the 3.1-acre development will have a "small intimate neighborhood feel," Monaghan said.

On the outside, gas lanterns above the gate at the front of the property will enhance the feel of the older neighborhood, but inside, the two-story townhouse-style condos will be state-of-the-art and wired for sound and technology geared to the way people live today, Monaghan said.

Gateway Plaza, a $1.5 million commercial development being built on State 93, not far from Morrison Annex and Crawford Falls, will include a standalone Jittery Joe's coffee shop and a 8,000-square-foot office and retail plaza, said Kent Guthrie, a Clemson resident and engineer who is building the project.

Graphic: SUZIE RIDDLE/Staff

CLEMSON changes

Four new developments in Clemson are expected to add more than $10 million in property value to the city.