Greenville Strip Mall Demolition Sparks Gentrification Fears

GREENVILLE — A dilapidated shopping center on Augusta Road has been demolished, pushing essential businesses out while renewing questions about the area’s future as home values rise in the surrounding Black, lower-income community.

The former Potomac Square Shopping Center housed vital businesses like a laundromat, dollar store, and barbershop at the intersection of Augusta and Mauldin roads just inside Greenville’s city limits. After most of the building was demolished, all that remained was a furniture store and a chain-link fence surrounding piles of rubble left behind. A Dollar General and nail salon that were part of the same complex also remain, but they have a different owner and sit in unincorporated Greenville County.

The property’s future remains murky with no public plans for redevelopment of the site, previously called the Terrace Shopping Center. The empty footprint of the Potomac Square Shopping Center represents the change that residents feel is spilling into District 25, a majority-Black area that has begun to see development pressure spread from the city center, stoking fears of racial displacement.

The demolition comes less than a year after a Starbucks drive-thru was approved nearby — the first sign of new development at the intersection after 20 years of no real estate activity. It was approved by the city’s zoning board over ardent disagreement between residents over what the high-end coffee shop would mean for the community.

Community Mixed Emotions

Community leaders and business patrons had mixed emotions about the demolition. The shopping center was a cornerstone of the area’s history. The demolition was necessary to remove an “eyesore” building that presented threats to human health.

In Pleasant Valley, new homes have begun to pop up for $350,000 next to existing homes valued at $150,000 that have been there for 50 years. The displacement of Black residents in Greenville has continued to grow, researchers from Furman University reported earlier this year.

Children won’t be able to walk over to the barbershop, which relocated to White Horse Road. The beauty supply store, which provided hair products for all types of people, and especially the laundromat were also important places for patrons.

The shopping center was a hub for the area. The concern with the demolition is that there was no public information about what’s happening to the shopping center. The owner could have at least had a community meeting.

As a kid growing up in the area, Donald Maxwell II used to hang out at the shopping center after school. He got his first haircut there. While looking at the rubble of the building, he said he felt a little depressed. It’s bittersweet because he understands why it could have been considered an eyesore. “It’s kind of sad to see it go away, but I know I can’t stop change,” Maxwell said.

Hope for the Future

To community leaders, despite the loss of important businesses, the empty lot represents the potential for what could happen in the future. That future hopefully means new construction that includes workforce housing and vital businesses like a grocery store. Still, they anxiously await to see what will happen with the property.

It’s unclear what immediately prompted the demolition, as the city code inspectors found many of the retail units’ poor condition posed a threat to human safety more than two years ago. These units had to be fixed if they were to be occupied. City spokeswoman Beth Brotherton said the units of concern were never repaired, so they were not occupied after they were condemned.

When contacted by the news outlet, George Conits, the listed property owner, said he could not comment because he only owns the land, not the buildings on it. He referred to a real estate broker tied with the building owner, but that broker declined to comment. A LinkedIn post from the commercial real estate brokerage group CBRE celebrated the sale of the shopping center about three months ago. It’s unclear who purchased the property.

Rhett Craig, one of the brokers who represented the seller of the ground lease, declined to provide the name of the buyer. He said he did not know about the future of the site.