Greenville redevelopment leader joins Verdae Development board

Verdae Development Inc. has appointed a new board member who was a key player in assembling the private-public partnerships widely considered responsible for the transformation of downtown Greenville.

The master developer for the 1,100-acre planned community known as Verdae has appointed Nancy Whitworth to its board of directors.

“Each member of our board is actively engaged in furthering the mission and growth of this unique project,” Bogue Wallin, chairman of the board for VDI, said in a news release. “After an extensive search, Nancy was selected based on her proven leadership, broad management experience and extensive economic development expertise. We are honored to have Nancy join us.”

Whitworth received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science from Clemson University.  She retired after a long tenure with the city of Greenville, serving as the director of economic development, deputy city manager and interim city manager and brought an entrepreneurial approach to public private partnerships resulting in Greenville’s successful downtown and city-wide development.

She was a partner in establishing NEXT, a Greenville Chamber program to develop the city’s entrepreneurship ecosystem housed at the NEXT Innovation Center. Whitworth was one of the founding board members. She has served on advisory services panels for the Urban Land Institute and International Economic Development Council and has been an expert panelist and presenter throughout the country advising communities on entrepreneurial and collaborative approaches to economic and community development.

Whitworth has also served on numerous boards in the Greenville community and Clemson University and is a former South Carolina Department of Transportation commissioner.

The Verdae Development Board of Directors, in addition to Wallin and Whitworth, includes Russ Davis , vice chair; Hunter Gibson, secretary/treasurer; Anne Ellefson; and John Cothran, chair emeritus.

Verdae Development Inc. serves as the master developer for the 1,100-acre planned development. The real estate subsidiary of Hollingsworth Funds has assembled a team of professionals to create and maintain the Verdae community.  Verdae Development Inc. and Hollingsworth Funds have a plan to transform a utilitarian stretch of Laurens Road into what they call a “next generation destination.”

The organizations in 2022 unveiled a new vision for approximately 90 acres of Laurens Road property with a vision that aims to create a vibrant and inclusive mixed-use district “that reflects Greenville’s cultural and social diversity while acting as a platform for economic innovation with commercial office, residential, recreation and retail in a new urban setting,” according to an announcement at the time.

Verdae is the 1,100-acre master planned community that started in 2005 on one of the largest tracts of land in the Greenville area that was owned by the late textile machinery magnate John D. Hollingsworth Jr. He left the bulk of his estate to Hollingsworth Funds, a charitable foundation established to use his holdings to support Furman University, the YMCA, and nonprofits benefitting the greater Greenville community.  The creation of Verdae and its continued development helps fund a wide range of community initiatives annually supported by Hollingsworth Funds.