August 20, 2023 – Greenville, SC – Greenville-based Jordon Development Co. has purchased two historic properties with an eye on preserving the legacy of two influential Black-owned businesses. Both are located near the almost 40-acre County Square redevelopment and other projects that promise to reconfigure the entirety of University Ridge.
Company founder and CEO James Jordon said the properties — the former Chef Manigault’s La Vieille Maison at the corner of Howe and Bradshaw streets, and the former law offices of Theo Mitchell at 9 Bradshaw St. — represent an important part of Greenville’s history.
Jordon said the men behind the two properties had a profound impact on Greenville and were both pioneers in building businesses in a part of town that has since become one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in the city for development.
Theo Mitchell is a Greenville native and an attorney who served for decades in both the South Carolina House and Senate. Jordon said Mitchell deserves recognition for his lifetime of service and many achievements, among them his role in bringing the Urban League to Greenville.
Kenneth Manigault’s La Vieille Maison restaurant and event venue was a downtown icon from its founding in 2005 until Manigault’s death from a heart attack in 2018. His food and outgoing personality engendered in his patrons and the many wedding parties who gathered there a deep emotional connection to the man and his business, Jordon said.
“(Mitchell and Manigault) touched so many people through their lives,” Jordon said. “We have an opportunity to pay homage to their legacy through a thoughtful development.”
Although the buildings themselves will be torn down to make way for as-yet-undecided projects, preserving the legacy they represent for future generations will be at the core of shaping the projects to come, Jordon said.
He added this commitment to continuity and community connection was something he found in abundance when he moved to Greenville in 2012.
As founder and president of the certified minority-owned Jordon Cos. — Jordon Development Co. and Jordon Construction Co. — Jordon said he feels an obligation to carry the baton forward on behalf of the Black entrepreneurs and leaders like Mitchell and Manigault, who helped make Greenville what it is today.
Jordon is also striving to live up to an impressive family legacy of community building. His mother introduced him to the world of real estate and his father’s craft as a homebuilder imbued him with a passion for construction and redevelopment.
Since coming to Greenville and launching his companies, Jordon said he and his team have benefited from an outpouring of support and expert assistance from a number of individuals and organizations. He singled out the Greenville Chamber of Commerce as an instrumental partner in helping his companies achieve exponential growth.
That growth has seen the companies undertake a variety of government and private contracts across seven states and become an important player in Greenville’s development sector.
This experience will help guide the decisions on how to develop the former Mitchell and Manigault properties, particularly as they will form an important part of the fabric of the massive redevelopment of University Ridge with its centerpiece County Square project being redeveloped by RocaPoint Partners.
Given the magnitude of development near the two properties, Jordon said he wants to balance the need to honor legacy with the need to offer a meaningful addition to the city’s future.
“What we look for are projects that can be catalytic, projects that can make a difference, and projects that really have meaning to this community,” Jordon said. “What’s going on in County Square is so big for the city and it’s going to transform it in such an exciting way that us being in such close proximity to that gives us an opportunity to really do something special here.”