Richard Few was quoted in the Greenville Journal about how he provided legal counsel to a group that helped redevelop a decades-old mall into an academic center.
McAlister Square opened in Greenville in 1968 as the largest and first entirely enclosed, air-conditioned mall in South Carolina. Another mall called Haywood began attracting tenants from McAlister in the 1980s.
“McAlister back then had kind of lost its luster simply because everything had moved to Haywood Mall,” Richard said.
Others, though, became interested in the McAlister Square space.
“Now we’ve got a mostly empty mall, what could we do? And what they found out was that the shopping center was being put up for sale,” Richard said, referring to leaders of Greenville Tech's University Center location across from McAlister, which was outgrowing its space.
Tom Barton, Greenville Tech's founding president, had an idea to purchase the McAlister Square property for the technical college. In 1999, the Greenville Tech Foundation made a $1 million down payment to buy the site, closing the $18 million deal in August of that year.
Today, the site is home to the University Center of Greenville. It's a hub of higher-education institutions, from Clemson University, University of South Carolina, South Carolina State University, Converse University, Greenville Tech, and others.
The building is also home to nonprofits, state agencies, a restaurant, a pediatric dental practice, and Greenville County's EMS center.
Richard advised the Greenville Tech Foundation during the building's rebirth and continues to today.
“I enjoy working with organizations and businesses that have visions for the future and take innovative approaches to make those visions become reality,” Richard said. “I think it’s our obligation, even as a businessperson, to help revitalize the community, keep it moving, growing.”
You can read the full article here: How Greenville Tech found new purpose for McAlister Square
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