Developer excited about plans for project near WestGate Mall Good Pointe Developer building a dream

CHRIS WINSTON
Published June 3, 2001

    Even a year behind schedule, businessman C.V. "Sam" Shanbhag remains optimistic about his development on Spartanburg's west side.

He thinks WestGate Pointe -- a 50-acre project behind WestGate Mall and Crossing on West Blackstock Road that could include a theater, two hotels, several restaurants and big retailers and tons of retail space -- will be a boost for his hometown. "I want to do something for Spartanburg," said Shanbhag, who has created several mixed-use developments in Spartanburg and Greenville as chairman of Roebuck-based Pinnacle Hospitality, which operates three hotels and has six additional hotels under development in the Upstate. Plans for the development have recently changed as Pinnacle and Shanbhag added the Spartan International headquarters to the project in April, paying $1.7 million for the 12-acre tract just weeks before GE Capital Corp. seized the textile company's assets and forced it to shut down. After some initial confusion over who owned the building, GE Capital plans to lease the building for a short period of time, but Shanbhag said work will continue around it. More grading is needed for the site, as Shanbhag has to level the site once again and decide whether he is going to keep the Spartan International building (possibly for a convention center) or tear it down for a large retailer to come in. "It might take a long time," Shanbhag said. "But I want to go and do it. And I want to do it right." It's already taken a good bit of time. WestGate Grande, a 16-screen megaplex by Charlotte-based Consolidated Theatres planned for the site, was scheduled to open last fall. But after the grading was finished on the site last summer, nothing has been done on the cinema that will feature wall-to-wall screens, surround sound and stadium seating along with food items including pizza, hot dogs and cappuccino. "We are committed to Mr. Shanbhag's vision for this development to be the entertainment center for Spartanburg and the surrounding areas," said Herman Stone, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated. "His plan will create synergy in the market for years to come." The only definite plans at this point are the two hotels: Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites and Hampton Inn & Suites. Construction is set to begin on the 78-room Holiday Inn, which will be on West Blackstock, in the next two months with an opening scheduled for next spring. The hotel will feature business and fitness centers, meeting rooms and an outdoor pool. Shanbhag said he hopes to begin construction on the 90-room Hampton Inn -- featuring fitness and business centers, high-speed Internet connections and meeting space -- later this year for a tentative opening in spring of 2003. Suresh Mathur, executive vice president for Pinnacle Hospitality, said both hotels have "a proven track record and we are extremely pleased with their performance and the high-level satisfaction provided to our customers." Most of his plans are still up in the air as he talks to other developers about the retailers and restaurants he wants to bring to WestGate Pointe. Shanbhag has taken ideas from similar sites in Greenville, Columbia, Richmond, Va., and elsewhere. Consolidated recently opened theatres at Cherrydale in Greenville and the Columbiana Mall area in Columbia. "I think people have been liking us, because they have really been packing us in and we've had a lot of sellouts," said Myra Brady, an employee with Cherrydale Cinemas 16 in Greenville. "People really seem to be enjoying the new digital sound." Shanbhag also has his eye on the "restaurant row" off Pelham Road in Greenville that includes California Dreaming, South of the Border, Tony Romas, Macaroni Grill and Chophouse '47 - none of which have locations in Spartanburg. He also likes the retail development on Woodruff Road in Greenville, but Target, Old Navy, Bed Bath & Beyond and Dick's Sporting Goods already have Spartanburg locations in place or planned. Along with WestGate Mall and WestGate Crossing, as well as the development coming in the next two years at the Dorman High School site across Highway 29, WestGate Pointe could mean a boom in the already crowded retail world of the west side. But Shanbhag thinks there is plenty to go around. "I think they are all going to complement each other. This is going to be part of the whole mall," said Shanbhag, who said the perimeter road around the mall, as well as entrances in front of WestGate Crossing and a new road being designed into the development, will make traffic flow run smoothly. "We're not trying to compete. We're trying to add what we have to the mall and everyone else."

Chris Winston can be reached at 582-4511, Ext. 7267 or chris.winston@shj.com.