Dine-in movie theater planned at Greenville News site

A dine-in movie theater is likely to be part of a major new development on the downtown property where The Greenville News now sits, developers involved with the project said Monday.

More than one company has expressed an interest in putting such a theater on the high-profile site, according to executives with Centennial American Properties, a Greenville developer that plans to redevelop the property in a joint venture with Dallas developer Trammell Crow Co.

The two development companies also plan a hotel with 120 to 150 rooms, an eight- or nine-story office building, more than 200 apartments and 100,000 square feet of shopping and restaurants, including an upscale fitness center, said David and Brody Glenn, the father-and-son team that runs Centennial American. They disclosed their role in the project during an exclusive interview with The Greenville News.

The Glenns also said they envision a public plaza at the corner of Main and Broad streets that could be bigger than the one directly across Main Street at the Peace Center.

"We want this to be the best-looking development in Greenville," said Brody Glenn, a former chairman of the Greenville Planning Commission who is president of Centennial American.

Megan Riegel, Peace Center president, said the plans sounded good to her. She mentioned the possibility of using both plazas simultaneously for events.

"I think those two spaces could really complement one another," Riegel said.

The Glenns said they would talk to the city of Greenville about helping to pay for planned public improvements, which would include a parking garage and pedestrian walkways in addition to public plazas.

"Everything's on the table," David Glenn said.

Greenville Mayor Knox White couldn't be reached on deadline.

David Glenn, Centennial American's founder and chief executive officer, said dine-in theaters are found in larger markets and typically have six to eight screens with more spacious and comfortable seating than conventional theaters.

"And you have the opportunity to go in and sit down and actually have a meal and you can have a glass of wine or a drink during the movie," he said.

Brody Glenn said the theater would "help attract people on a nightly basis to downtown Greenville."

The Glenns said it was too early to identify specific users of the new development.

They said they would try to honor the history of the site, which has been home to The Greenville News since 1937.

The newspaper's parent company, Gannett Co. Inc., is selling the property of nearly four acres in a deal the developers said is scheduled to close during the first or second quarter next year.

The Greenville News has said it plans to occupy other space downtown following the sale, though it has not yet said where.

"We'd love to see the newspaper come back and put offices here," David Glenn said during the interview with The Greenville News. "I don't know if we can make that happen, but that would be great."

The developers said they have no arrangement so far to buy two buildings not owned by Gannett near the southwest corner of the development site, but are ready to push forward with their plans with or without those properties.

Retailers at the development would include local merchants as well as national chains, the Glenns said.

They said the plans also include 15 to 25 high-end condominium residences.

The developers said they expect to break ground sometime in the second or third quarter of next year.

The project should take 18 months to two years to build, they said.

Centennial American Properties has developed extensively in Greenville and around the country.

Locally, its work includes the shopping center on Woodruff Road anchored by Whole Foods, the Field House development along Main Street next to Fluor Field and the former textile mill turned into condominium housing called The Lofts at Mills Mill on Mills Avenue.

Trammell Crow is one of the nation's biggest developers, with offices in 16 U.S. cities. It has developed or acquired nearly 2,600 buildings, according to its website.

Greenville real estate executive Jackson Hughes is handling retail leasing for the project, and the Greenville office of CBRE will broker deals for office space. The architect is Wakefield Beasley & Associates of Atlanta.