NEWS

Q&Amy: Plans for vacant Ingles buildings?

Amy Clarke Burns
aburns@greenvillenews.com

Q: Why have the Ingles stores on Poinsett Highway and in Travelers Rest stood vacant for many years? Are there any plans for these buildings?

Amy in short: The buildings both remain under the ownership of Ingles Markets, which hasn't revealed any particular plans for development at the moment.

A bit more: Both Ingles stores were opened in the mid- to late-1970s, according to Ingles Markets chief financial officer Ron Freeman.

Both were closed in late 2000 when the stores moved to larger locations — the Travelers Rest store north to U.S. 276 near Marietta, the Poinsett Highway store about a mile away to Cherrydale Point.

The former locations have remained empty since.

"We are not actively marketing these properties but will entertain inquiries about either," Freeman said. "We have looked at a few different development options for those properties and will continue to do so as the economy improves."

As a public company, Ingles discloses a limited amount about individual properties, he said.

A former Ingles grocery store on Poinsett Highway in Greenville sits vacant.

At the Greenville store, the entire glass facade of the building has been boarded up, and weeds grow in cracks in the empty parking lot. In Travelers Rest, the doors are boarded over and the green-painted entryway has grown faded and chipped to bare concrete in most places.

Though the empty lots may be eyesores, there's little recourse government has to force owners to make a change.

"If it's owned, it meets code and they're paying their taxes, there doesn't have to be a use for a facility," said Bob Mihalic, Greenville County spokesman. "As long as the grass is cut and the building is secure, it can remain empty for as long as the owners choose."

The former Travelers Rest location, at 6505 State Park Road, is approximately 4.5 acres with an annual tax bill of more than $15,000. The Poinsett Highway site is 9.6 acres with taxes of $26,500, according to county property records.

Got a question? Send it to Q&Amy by emailing me at aburns@greenvillenews.com or calling 864-298-3822. You can find me on Twitter at @QandAmyNews.