Former Pizza Hut on Whiskey Road in Aiken could become retail store

Nov. 12—More redevelopment could be coming to Whiskey Road in Aiken.

The Aiken Planning Commission is set to consider requests to rezone the property located at 1905 Whiskey Road and to approve the concept plan for an as-yet-unknown retail store to be constructed on the site.

The property was previously the location of a Pizza Hut restaurant that closed in early 2021 after the franchisor, NPC International, declared bankruptcy in July 2020.

The applicant is Zachary Grogan of Greenville-based Magnolia Property Group on behalf of owner Realty Income Corp., a San Diego-based commercial real estate investment trust. They want the property to be rezoned from general business to planned commercial.

The concept plan calls for the removal of the existing restaurant building and its replacement by a one-story framed building that's around 18 feet, 6 inches tall and 70 feet long and 43 feet wide.

The plan also calls for the development of 23 parking spaces — the city's zoning ordinance mandates a minimum of 15 for 3,000-square-feet buildings — and the use of 49.6% of the land for open space.

Grogan also proposes to continue using the existing entrances from Whiskey Road and the parking lot of the Village at Whiskey Shopping Center and the utility connections and drainage.

The potential retail store is the latest in a series of developments on Whiskey Road.

Previous developments include an Olive Garden to be built at the former Golden Corral, a new Zaxby's in place of the Ruby Tuesday, a remodeled Chick-fil-A, the development of the Powderhouse Connector, redevelopment of the Aiken Mall, a coffeehouse to replace the former Checkers and a grocery store and other commercial development near the intersection of Powderhouse and Whiskey.

Rental townhomes on Aiken's northside

The Aiken Planning Commission is also set to consider a request to rezone three properties near the intersection of Laurens Street and Rutland Drive and a request to approve a concept plan that would allow for the construction of a 330-unit market-rate rental town house community.

The applicant is VP Riverside LLC.

VP Riverside is a South Carolina corporation. Its registered agent is Aiken attorney and real estate investor Ray Massey.

VP Riverside purchased the property located between the Dollar Tree and the SRP Federal Credit Union branch on Rutland Drive for $2.5 million on Sept. 16.

A portion of the property behind the SRP branch and a property owned by the Aiken Standard and located behind the newspaper building would also likely be sold to VP Riverside.

The terms of those potential transactions are as yet unknown.

Two of the properties are currently zoned office/institutional and industrial. The remaining property is zoned residential single family (RS-10). All three would be rezoned to planned residential.

The development would be called Aiken Village and operated by Stark Enterprises.

Stark Enterprises is a real estate development company headquartered in Cleveland. The company's project portfolio includes retail developments in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona, residential multifamily developments in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, office space in Ohio, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania and mixed-use developments (a combination of all types) in Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.

The concept plan calls for the construction of 68 buildings including 39 buildings of four connected townhomes and 29 buildings of six connected townhomes. There would be 78 one-bedroom townhomes and 252 two-bedroom townhomes. Each unit would have a two-car garage and driveway space for two more vehicles.

Access to the development would be from access points to be constructed on Laurens Street north of the Sprint gas station and a divided plant entrance on Rutland Drive.

The plans also call for the construction of a clubhouse with a leasing offices, co-working space and an outdoor grilling area. The development would also have a dog park, a multisport court and a children's park.

The rental town house community comes after plans to construct new housing development near USC Aiken were announced and approved. Last month, the city council approved a change in franchise agreements to allow Dominion Energy to serve the whole development.

Carwash on Silver Bluff Road

Also on the agenda for the Aiken Planning Commission meeting is a request for the annexation and zoning of properties located at 404 and 408 Silver Bluff Road between Hitchcock Parkway and Silver Bluff Road.

The properties are owned by Alfred W. and Beverly L. Hunter.

The application for annexation and zoning is being made by TWAS Properties LLC. The company is a Delaware corporation formed on Aug. 26, 2021. It was registered in South Carolina on Feb. 9.

The application asks for the properties to be zoned general business.

Renderings indicate that the existing buildings on the site would be torn down to make way for a Tidal Wave Auto Spa.

Tidal Wave Auto Spa was founded in 1999 by a Thomaston, Ga. couple. It began expanding into the southeast and midwest in 2004. The company is known for its membership club.

The Aiken Planning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Aiken City Council chambers on the third floor of the municipal building, 111 Chesterfield St.