Kim BrattainFounder/ CEO, Kim Brattain Media · Award-winning Corporate and Documentary Film Producer

CREATIVE THINKER: Bob Hughes | Kim Brattain Media

20 Feb 2014 · 3 min

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2:31

In this interview, Bob Hughes discusses his vision for improving quality of life through mixed‑use real estate development. He defines quality of life as avoiding wasted time and argues that mixed‑use projects, like the One Project at 1 North Main in Greenville, South Carolina, provide residents with convenient access to work, retail, and dining, thereby enhancing daily efficiency. Hughes highlights the One Project’s modern architectural design, its status as the largest LEED Gold‑certified building in the state, and its role in revitalizing Greenville’s downtown core. He details the strategic tenant mix—including Certus Bank, Anthropologie, Brooks Brothers, Tupelo Honey Café, and Clemson’s Graduate School of Business—to illustrate how the development creates a vibrant, convenient urban environment. Finally, Hughes states that his firm now deliberately selects only projects that have meaningful impact, emphasizing sustainability, community benefit, and innovative design.

Chapters

There are 2 measures of life. There's quality of life and quantity of life, and we're all starting to talk about quality of life. And quality of life really, I think, is defined as not wasting a moment of your time. We believe that mixed-use is the way in real estate we can contribute to a higher quality of life for people because we have more opportunities for you not to waste your time. It's really the center of Greenville. I mean, it's called the One Project because it's 1 North Main. But I think Greenville has really grown up and is ready to not build things that look like textile mills all the time. You know, we brought modern architecture back to Greenville. I'm excited about doing that. It's the largest LEED Gold building in South Carolina. I'm really proud of that. So the city had done something on the north end, the city had done big things on the south end, and the city was just kind of decaying a little bit. So we went to work to try to come up with something unique and weighty and meaty to try to bring the center of gravity back to the center of town. Certus Bank is one of the coolest banks in the United States, and they said, you know, we like the way this is going, we'd like to occupy a lot of your building. We decided it's the coolest office space I have ever seen, and I said, yeah, we might as well just move on up there. And then in the retail, we've got Anthropologie, which is great. We've got Brooks Brothers. We've got Tupelo Honey Cafe. which is like a cult restaurant from Asheville that has a line out the door all the time. We've got Clemson's Graduate School of Business on Main Street in Greenville. You know, business schools need to be in business centers. We have decided as a firm we only want to do projects now that matter.