Innovate Fund secures $11.5M for Poe West

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The Innovate Fund, a community development entity managed by Taxadvantagegroup and Greenville Local Development Corp., has allocated $11.5 million in New Markets Tax Credits to complete the $12.6 million Poe West redevelopment in the Village of West Greenville.

According to a news release, The Furman Co. Development LLC, in conjunction with real estate partnership Perry Avenue Investors LLC, is spearheading the renovation of 57,000 square feet into a mixed-use community in West Greenville.

The project is expected to create 156 direct jobs in a census tract with 54.3% poverty and 17.2% unemployment, according to the release.

Dating back to April 12, 1946, the property originally served as the office, yard, and warehouse for Poe Hardware & Supply Company, one of Greenville's first incorporated businesses, the release said.

"When we acquired the property, Poe West was imagined to offer unique and creative space to some of Greenville's innovative non-profit and locally owned businesses at affordable, below-market rental rates,” Steve Navarro, president of The Furman Co. and manager of Perry Avenue Investors, said in the release. “We also wanted to carefully plan for a healthy mix of user types, trying to be sensitive to the unique eco-system of the village and surrounding community. The New Markets Tax Credit program was instrumental in our ability to meet that goal.”

Poe West will be anchored by Greenville Technical College's Center for Culinary and Hospitality Innovation, according to an earlier report. That project is a collaborative approach that includes private sector, government, and education partners working together to bring inclusive economic mobility and workforce development to one of Greenville's most distressed neighborhoods, the release said. The center will provide a neighborhood-based venue at Poe West to deliver education, job training, and small business and start-up incubator space.