Main Street South Carolina recognized Downtown Florence with its Excellence on Main Street Award for Florence's Pine Street Townhomes project during the Municipal Association of SC 2026 Annual Meeting in Greenville. This award recognizes the top project from among the winners in eight categories of the annual Main Street Inspiration Awards.
The City of Florence’s restoration of its historic core has seen the recruitment of valuable commercial tenants, but its aim of achieving 18 hours of daily foot traffic required greater focus on housing. The Downtown Florence 2030 Master Plan set a goal of 1,000 new housing units within a decade, including quality affordable, missing middle and market-rate housing at multiple price points and types. The Pine Street Townhomes, which contribute to this goal, help anchor the downtown’s eastern boundary, providing housing for working professionals, especially targeted to district healthcare employees; and serving as a bridge to neighborhoods in the east targeted for further revitalization.
The developer Urban Development Services led the project, spending $2 million with support from the SC Community Loan Fund. The City of Florence helped assemble the necessary land parcels over several years and provided a conditional grant of $200,000, reimbursed upon completion of construction. The Downtown Florence Main Street program provided promotional support, and the City of Florence provided down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers through its Community Services program.
The units have a scale and appearance appropriate for its location among surrounding historic neighborhoods. The project will be the first phase of a master-planned development of townhomes and duplex properties, including owner-occupied units and rental units. When completed, the overall development will have 35 new housing units and a value of more than $10 million. Because the project serves as a proof of concept, it has helped attract other small-scale developers to the market.
Main Street SC is a program of the Municipal Association of South Carolina. It empowers residents, business owners and local officials with the knowledge, skills, tools and organizational structure necessary to revitalize their downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts into vibrant centers of commerce and community.
Main Street SC follows the National Main Street’s Four Point Approach — economic vitality, design, promotion and organization. Each year, Main Street South Carolina recognizes members’ achievements and successes in downtown revitalization. For more information, visit the Municipal Association’s website at www.masc.sc (keyword: Main Street).
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