What The McDaniel's Stalled Construction Teaches Downtown Greenville Buyers About Pre-Sale Risk
September 10, 2026
September 10, 2026
"The good news is that we are at the end of the road here with this pause. We've got to have a project that is economically in line, and that's what we're accomplishing now."
That's Kyle Keene, founder of Keene Development Group, describing The McDaniel to the Post and Courier in May 2026. The project sits at East McBee and McDaniel avenues, a few blocks from Cleveland Park, and it was supposed to be finished last summer. Instead, the wood-frame shells that were meant to become 30 limestone-faced condos are still framed in particle board, three contractors say they're owed a combined $274,367, and two of them have filed mechanics liens against the property.
If you're shopping for a condo or townhome in downtown Greenville right now, you've almost certainly seen a rendering that looks a lot like The McDaniel: pre-construction pricing, a glossy sales page, a countdown to a delivery date that feels close enough to plan around. The McDaniel's story doesn't mean every pre-sale project downtown is in trouble. It means the gap between "sold out in six weeks" and "keys in hand" is where the real risk of buying pre-construction actually lives, and that gap rarely shows up in the marketing.
The McDaniel launched its Phase 1 pre-sale in July 2023, before construction had even started. Keene Development and its sales partner told the press that half of the planned 20 townhomes had sold within six weeks, at prices between $1.4 million and $2.2 million. By the time Phase 2 launched in early 2025, the pricing had climbed to $1.95 million to $2.5 million for the final 10 units.
That speed is the point. A fast pre-sale lets a developer lock in buyer commitments, and often buyer deposits, before a single foundation is poured. According to reporting on the project, buyers who put down refundable deposits during Phase 1 had a 30-day window to make final design selections before those deposits converted to non-refundable. That's a normal structure in new construction. It's also the moment a buyer's leverage disappears. Once your money is non-refundable, you're financially tied to the builder's timeline, the builder's subcontractor payments, and the builder's cash flow, whether or not you ever hear about any of it.
Construction on The McDaniel started in October 2023. Work stalled in 2024, and the unfinished wood shells sat exposed through Hurricane Helene that September, with no protective envelope in place. At some point the project changed general contractors, bringing on Prescott & Foushee Construction to take over from the original builder. None of that is unusual on its own. Builder swaps happen. Storms happen. What matters to a buyer is whether anyone tells you when it does, and whether your contract gives you a way to respond.
By May 2026, three contractors were pursuing Keene Development and the project entity, McBee Townhomes, in Greenville County court: H&H Concrete, PK Legacy Builders, and Yoder's Building Supply, collectively claiming $274,367 in unpaid work. H&H and PK Legacy went a step further and filed mechanics liens.
A mechanics lien isn't just an accounting dispute. Under South Carolina law, a contractor or supplier who isn't paid can file a lien that attaches to the property itself, and that lien has to be resolved before the property can be sold or refinanced free and clear. The statute gives lien claimants a defined window to act (a lien generally has to be filed within 90 days of the last labor or materials furnished, and a suit to enforce it within six months after that), which means a project can go quiet for months before a lien shows up in the county's records. If you're a pre-sale buyer waiting on your unit, a lien filed against the building you're buying into is not something your builder is required to volunteer. You have to know to look.
Keene Development has more than one project in the Greenville pipeline, and the trouble at The McDaniel isn't isolated. In February 2026, Fidelity Bank filed a foreclosure action against Keene, other investors, and the holding company tied to 100 N. Markley Street in the West End, the site once planned for The Kimpton, a hotel and condo project. Fidelity's suit claims $4.39 million in unpaid mortgage debt. Keene told the Post and Courier he's no longer involved with that project.
At the same time, Keene said a third project, Biltmore Walk, a similarly priced luxury townhome community, began vertical construction in July 2026 without the same public turmoil. The lesson isn't that one developer is universally reliable or unreliable. It's that a developer's overall financial position, not just the glossy page for the specific building you're eyeing, is something worth understanding before you sign.
Downtown Greenville buyers today are choosing between two fundamentally different risk profiles, and it's worth being honest about what each one actually is.
| Buying pre-construction | Buying an established building | |
|---|---|---|
| What you're inspecting | A rendering and a contract | An actual, occupied building |
| Deposit exposure | Often converts to non-refundable during the design phase | Not applicable, you're paying for something that exists |
| HOA reserve history | None yet, the association hasn't collected a full year of dues | Visible in the building's financials and reserve study |
| Lien exposure | Tied to every subcontractor on the job getting paid | Limited to liens on that specific unit, not the whole building |
| Examples downtown | Projects still under construction or in pre-sale | The Davenport (built 1915), Broadview (completed 2024), 400 N. Main, Parkstone |
Buildings like The Davenport, downtown's oldest large-scale multifamily building, or Broadview, which finished construction in 2024, have already survived the part of the process where things go wrong. Their HOA has a track record. Their reserve fund has a real balance, not a projection. You can ask for financials that reflect actual years of operation instead of a pro forma. That doesn't make an established building risk-free, but it does mean the risks are visible and documented rather than sitting somewhere in a contractor's unpaid invoice.
None of this means pre-construction is a mistake. It means the due diligence looks different, and most buyers don't know to ask for it.
Before signing anything with a deposit attached, ask the developer or their sales team when the deposit converts from refundable to non-refundable, and get that date in writing. Ask whether a Notice of Project Commencement has been filed with the Greenville County Register of Deeds, since that filing affects how lien claims can attach to the property. Ask directly whether the general contractor has changed since the project launched, and if so, why. And before closing, have your attorney or agent pull a lien search on the property itself, not just a title search on the unit, since a lien on the overall project can complicate a sale even if your individual unit's paperwork looks clean.
If the developer has other active projects in the market, it's fair to ask how those are going. A developer juggling multiple luxury projects at once is managing multiple sets of subcontractor payments, multiple construction loans, and multiple points where a cash crunch on one site can bleed into another.
Does a mechanics lien mean I'll lose my deposit if I'm under contract on that project? Not automatically, but it does mean the property can't transfer clean title until the lien is resolved. Talk to a real estate attorney about how your specific purchase contract handles delays tied to lien disputes.
How do I check if a downtown Greenville project has liens filed against it? Liens are recorded with the Greenville County Register of Deeds and are public record. An agent or attorney can pull this for you before you sign anything.
Is buying pre-construction always riskier than buying something already built? Not always, but the risks are different in kind. Pre-construction risk is financial and procedural, tied to the builder's execution. An established building's risks are more visible, since you can review actual HOA financials, maintenance history, and reserve levels rather than projections.
If I already put a deposit down on a stalled project, what should I do? Review your contract's language on delivery timelines and default remedies, and consult a real estate attorney familiar with South Carolina construction contracts before making any decisions.
Downtown Greenville's condo market is genuinely active, and plenty of pre-sale projects deliver exactly what they promise. The point of The McDaniel's story isn't to scare you off new construction. It's to show you where to look before you commit money you can't get back. If you're weighing a pre-sale unit against something already built and occupied, Amanda Holmes can walk through the specific building's history, the developer's track record, and what your contract actually protects before you sign. Schedule a consultation before you put down a deposit, not after.
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Amanda takes pleasure in building relationships with her clients and their families, delving into their needs, and assisting them in discovering the ideal home that suits their distinctive lifestyles.
