Empty Clemson lot may be home to Dockside development

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The shores of Lake Hartwell in Clemson have buzzed with activity in recent years with the development of a New Springs Church campus, Hartwell Village and Lakeside Lodge Clemson. Now there are plans for Dockside, a mixed-use development that will include 322 residential units and approximately 22,000 square feet of commercial space at the former site of a long-gone Holiday Inn, 894 Tiger Boulevard, along U.S. Highway 123.

Brent Little, president and CEO of Fountain Residential Properties in Dallas, is manager of Clemson Dockside LLC, which is the developer. He said the project cost is in excess of $70 million. He said the project is expected to get underway in the second quarter of 2020 with completion in 2022.

Todd Steadman, director of planning and codes for the city of Clemson, said the project is still in its early stages and that the next step in the process is for the developer to submit an updated plan that is more in-depth and addresses citizen concerns. The next meeting on the development is Aug. 22.

“Right now the proposed plan is in the conceptual stage, providing a general tone of the development,” he said.

The developer’s plans outline how Dockside “promotes, advances and implements” the city of Clemson’s Comprehensive Plan 2024 by “redevelopment of obsolete land uses with mixed-use, compact, vertical development along one of the main corridors and Lake Hartwell.”

“There are several parts of the comprehensive plan this addresses,” Steadman said. “It promotes development along an existing corridor, provides lakeside use and sits along an existing transit line.

“Any conflict is with the nearby neighborhood, but we’re trying to address that and minimize impact,” he added.

One of the concerns of the development has been traffic. The city retained Kimley Horn and Associates in Columbia to do a traffic impact analysis of the Dockside development. The firm made the following recommendations:

• Install a traffic signal at the intersection of Tiger Boulevard at Holiday Avenue
• Restripe the eastbound and westbound approach to provide 150-foot exclusive left-turn lanes at the intersection of Tiger Boulevard at Holiday Avenue
• Install one 150-foot storage northbound right-turn lane at the intersection of Tiger Boulevard at Holiday Avenue
• The new signal at the intersection of Tiger Boulevard at Holiday Avenue and the intersection of Tiger Boulevard at SunTrust Bank driveway should be placed into a coordinated traffic signal system. Based on coordination with S.C. Department of Transportation, it is our understanding that an adaptive signal system is planned for this corridor “in the near future.”

Dockside plans propose 12,000 gross square feet of landscaped public space along Tiger Boulevard. Plans also call for a public green, a mix of housing types, a public boardwalk, restaurants, boat slip access for boat owners and a parking garage with 651 spaces.