Wildcatters update Greenville 'Greenbelt' plan; conference center financing still uncertain

Wildcatters representatives updated the Greenville City Council on the firm’s multi‑phase Greenbelt development and said a proposed conference center and hotel are not financially feasible for private lenders at current interest‑rate levels without public participation.

The developers presented a site map and progress report on the Greenbelt — a 325‑acre master‑plan development along Interstate 30 and Wesley Street that includes retail pads, a 300‑unit apartment project, 168 built‑for‑rent units, single‑family lots, parks, trails and a planned disc‑golf park. They also described ongoing public‑infrastructure work, including Monty Stratton Parkway, Traders Road Phase 1 and off‑site water and sewer construction.

The update matters to residents and businesses because the project includes new roads and utilities that city staff and the developers say are necessary to attract retail, senior living and hotel/conference users. Developers said financing for a conference center that would host large events requires some form of public participation or risk‑sharing; lenders will not finance the full project on private terms, they told the council.

At the presentation, a Wildcatters representative described completed and in‑progress work on the Greenbelt. Achievements cited included facilitating the sale of a parcel to Tractor Supply, completion of Freestone Apartments (a 300‑unit, three‑story development the presenter described as a roughly $65,000,000 project), and construction of Monty Stratton Parkway and Traders Road Phase 1. The team said they have entitled 168 built‑for‑rent units near County Crossing and 100 platted 50‑foot lots near Wesley Street and I‑30, and have brought forward site plans for townhomes and retail.

“We have focused on all aspects of development, from acquisitions, entitlement, procurement, sales,” the presenter said while walking the council through the master plan. He noted the Freestone Apartments clubhouse was expected to open in mid‑March with units coming online in June.

Sherman, identified in the presentation as the CEO of Wildcatters, addressed the conference center specifically. Sherman said a 2020 MacAslan feasibility study estimated the market could support about 800 events a year, but added that the hotel/conference package originally proposed by a developer could not proceed when interest rates rose sharply after 2020. “In the current environment, unless you get city participation, it’s not gonna be built privately because no bank’s gonna take the risk if it doesn’t work,” Sherman said.

Sherman and the Wildcatters team told council members they remain willing to contribute land or other developer participation “at no cost” to make a deal work, but said banks and private developers are seeking shared risk or revenue guarantees. Sherman described prior deals elsewhere in which cities guaranteed portions of debt or used public‑private partnership structures to make convention and hotel projects viable.

Council members asked about alternatives and what forms of public participation might be needed. Sherman recommended exploring public‑private partnership consultants and observed that blended revenue uses — for example, adding office or municipal uses, or participation from economic development or hospital partners — could change the pro forma and attract lenders. He repeatedly emphasized that higher average daily room rates (ADR) and a stronger hotel product would be required to support a Marriott‑ or Hilton‑type facility.

Developer staff also discussed next infrastructure priorities. Traders Road Phase 2 and two proposed spine roads were described as important to channel traffic to the development and to activate planned retail pads along I‑30. The developers said they are finalizing engineering costs for Phase 2 and working with city attorneys on a proposed overlay or public‑improvement district that would allow upfront bond financing of the public infrastructure rather than waiting for reimbursements.

The presentation also described operational challenges at the disc‑golf park site, which the developers said sits in the flood plain and has been difficult to grade because of recent rains.

Council members pressed the developers about timelines and what the city could expect next. Developers said they would supply engineering cost estimates for Traders Road Phase 2 and that, if a public‑improvement district or a similar tool is implemented, road construction could begin in roughly three to four months from that agreement.

The presentation closed after council questions and the developers thanked the council for its support.

The council then recessed to executive session; no formal vote on the Greenbelt or public‑improvement district was recorded during this meeting.