carolinagarnet

North Carolina WAS doing a lot of HQ recruiting under Bev Purdue, then it redirected all of its energy to manufacturing under McCrory, before finally returning the original strategy under Roy Cooper. SC will have no appetite for corporate recruiting as long as the governor's base is in suburban and rural areas. This really is a party line issue.

Bear in mind that TIFs come at the expense of contributions to the school system and support for broader city services. I think we can reasonably say that people living in the apartments will likely be younger and not heavily use the former, but taking that land out of the city's general tax base is unnecessary. The parking would really only benefit the Kline development (the museum has its own parking and nothing else that's very walkable from that site) and the city would still likely lose money off of the proposition. Again, that land does not need any help to get developed- it is already economically feasible.

I'm glad the city didn't acquiesce to the developer's demands. TIFs should really only be used to transform an area that cannot generate adequate investment. This is the Vista, there's built-in demand.

Yeah, it's impossible to get a photo from that side since it's so close to the street. I think they have planted trees, but I don't recall exactly.

I think it was meant to mirror the SC Supreme Court as the facades appeal to be similar, at least in terms of building material. The scales are obviously different.

Updates from CanalSide

For those of you who haven't been to Bull Street in a while, this is what the rest of the campus looks like at this point. Soon-to-be BBQ joint The Ensor building (I believe)- amazing detail but as yet unleased Buildings that have not yet been touched New townhouses starting construction The Bakery/SOCO shared space flanked by unrenovated buildings The power plant/new church, which did not appear to have broken ground at all Looooots of untouched land

I thought I would revive this thread with some photos of the new law school.

I know they patched it, but they still haven't fixed the gash in the canal on the other side of the bridge from CanalSide, have they? Until they do that, CanalSide will have to be the entry point for the 3 Rivers Greenway.

Sadly the link didn't hold. Are you talking about the senior living project? http://bullstreetsc.com/unique-senior-living-opportunity-coming-bullstreet-neighborhood-merrill-gardens/ If so, I would say it helps increase foot traffic in the core of the site and old people love minor league baseball.

I hate to be a pessimist, but I can't imagine that a building that requires some degree of retrofitting, not to mention much higher architectural/engineering costs, would make financial sense given the market rate in Columbia and the high saturation of student apartments. We have seen a number of announced apartment buildings stall recently (Kline, Bull Street student apartments, The Edge) and building atop a parking garage is not an easy shovel-ready project. I suspect developers are holding off to give the market some time to absorb all of the new units (including the UofSC Tower that's under construction).

The Columbia Riverwalk is about to be extended past the zoo (construction is imminent/already started), but the riverfront park is at least a few years off. The city could certainly build it, but all funding is being directed to Bull Street at the moment and there really isn't any need to push momentum in that area yet. First they need to extend Greene and Williams Streets to establish a grid for future development, then get buy off on design. Of course this all hinges on SCANA capping the black tar area within the next couple years. Basically don't hold your breath. The park will eventually come, but not for many years.

So excited to see these projects finally get funded/get close to starting! http://www.columbiabusinessreport.com/news/government/72152/

Finally found the answer to your question: http://www.sc.edu/uofsc/posts/2017/03/foundation_square.php#.WNbFFxiZPVp The slabs are part of a small amphitheater meant to host outdoor performances by students at the (nearly adjacent) music school. The corner across the intersection is going to display outdoor sculptures, which doesn't surprise me given USC's relatively new interest in outdoor art. While I've of course known about the Sasaki Plan since its inception, it never occurred to me that extending Greene Street to the river would be a huge selling point for USC. Of course it's too far for the campus tour, but who wouldn't want to ride a bike or walk from Russell House to a riverfront park? Such a cool feature when it's eventually built.

Some updates from the November Board Meeting regarding Sasaki's work in Columbia, specifically Main Street: "The South Main Street Area Plan and the Bull Street School of Medicine site planning studies were on-going. Mr. Gruner said that a comprehensive update of the University’s 2010 Master Plan was underway by Sasaki. The update will include an implementation report on what had been accomplished since 2010; implications of enrollment growth on space needs; priorities for the next 10 years; new planning initiatives; and the national trends in Higher Education that have application at USC. When asked, Mr. Gruner responded that he did not expect the report to be ready until Summer 2017." http://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/board_of_trustees/documents/minutes_archive/2016/b-g_111816.pdf