The “Golden Strip,” stretching southward along I-385 from Greenville, has become a symbol of the fast-paced economic growth of the Upstate. At Exit 33, one of the most unmistakable pieces of that has risen out of the City of Mauldin: Bridgeway Station, a mixed-use, pedestrian-focused town center development with Italian architectural inspirations.
BridgeWay Station, developed by Hughes Investments, Inc., has seen the development of office space, apartments, a variety of restaurants, greenspaces, a brewery and a gym, among other businesses. Soon after its grand opening in April 2024, BridgeWay Station and the City of Mauldin hosted a tour of the urban village for participants of the Municipal Association of SC 2024 Annual Meeting.
The Mauldin Gateway Bridge, a pedestrian bridge passing above Interstate 385,
was part of the BridgeWay Station development.
During the tour, a panel discussing the project included Phil Hughes, president of Hughes Investments. He described Bridgeway Station as the result of much work, patience, and passion, but also because of the business environment and the resources of both Mauldin and in South Carolina.
“We’re a good state — climate, people, work ethic, government — we have infrastructure powering things that we need,” he said.
Developers want to bring projects to places where the local government wants to partner with them, Hughes said.
“When you get a town where they like [development,] they understand it, they react, they help — we don’t want to leave! We want to keep on going,” he said.
Development trends that influenced the project included the redevelopment of downtown Greenville, showing that many people were hungry for pedestrian-focused experiences and well-built outdoor spaces. With BridgeWay Station, Hughes aimed to connect those ideas for a city center with businesses and recreation opportunities with easy highway access.
Perhaps the most eye-catching aspect, however, is the unique architecture of the project, with Italian and other European inspirations. Some inspirations were more local, too: a common area known as the “Train Station” recreates the tower found on Greenville’s historic, now-demolished Southern Railway Depot.
Italianate architecture is seen throughout the plaza at the BridgeWay Station development.
Hughes noted that he sought a handmade quality to the construction. He sought for the brickwork not to appear “machine perfect,” but instead include details like the occasional mismatched brick or messy joints.
“Guess what? It’s fun!” he said. “I enjoy it. It’s wonderful to put something together that others haven’t.”
Mauldin Mayor Terry Merritt described the city as having a strong sense of community that its residents love, but as it faced growth, they wanted to find ways to get its residents the amenities they were looking for at home. BridgeWay Station is one answer to this, and the Maudlin Cultural Center is another.
“Mauldin was a stopover place that you passed through,” he said. “Our citizens wanted more. They wanted places to go out and eat, they wanted entertainment, and we didn’t have it … We were leaking dollars where people had to go to Greenville and other places to be dined, to be entertained.”
Mauldin Director of Business and Development Services David Dyrhaug described the city’s use of form-based zoning to help overcome obstacles with the visionary project, much of it focused on walkability.
The effort, he said, “designed the development in a way that would be attractive for people to come. It was focused on architectural standards, it was focused on tightening things up so that it was easier and better for the pedestrian experience as opposed to the driver. I think we hit a home run with that.”
During the tour, the entire panel emphasized the importance of partnerships to BridgeWay Station. The development used a multi-county business park, requiring county government and school district support. But it also needed simple accessibility and responsiveness from the government officials, said Ryan Peiffer, Hughes Investments’ vice president of leasing and property management. It’s often the case for developers that when they submit building permits, they don’t know if they will receive approval or not, he said.
“I think what Mauldin did so well, we’re all grateful for it, is how to get to ‘yes.’ We’ll have this problem — we have a zoning problem, we have a building permit problem, we have a code issue — they welcome the conversation,” Peiffer said. “They have the same objective we do and that is to get open, to get finished, to make the best project we possibly can.”
BridgeWay Station combines residential and office development with restaurants,
shopping and public spaces.
Rivers Hughes, an executive with Hughes Investments, also spoke of the good communication with the municipality.
Mauldin, he said, is “driven and focused on growing their community, and not just for the sake of growth, but growing in a smart way that’s beneficial for all the residents that sets them up well for the future.”
The group also drew attention to the Mauldin Gateway Bridge, a pedestrian bridge spanning Interstate 385, built as part of the development. The bridge aimed to improve walkability in the Mauldin area and eventually connect to the popular Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail.
Mauldin formed a development agreement with Hughes Investments where the city would fund the bridge and the company would manage the project. Dyrhaug described an early meeting with the SC Department of Transportation, where the list of regulatory issues identified by SCDOT left them feeling discouraged. However, partnerships helped here as well. The design/build team they assembled included those experienced with working with SCDOT and even some former SCDOT staffers who could effectively communicate with the agency, Dyrhaug said.
“That made all the difference in the world,” he said.
Having numerous activities going on around the development provides a benefit to everyone involved, Phil Hughes said, adding that residents and office workers enjoy stepping outside to be surrounded by events.
“What happens outside of the building is more important, probably, than what happens on the inside,” he said. “Last night, you would have seen this plaza full of people doing yoga. If you come back at 5 o’clock today, it will be a farmer’s market. Thousands of people.”