Village at Sandhills blows (Columbia, Clemson: transplants, rent, condos)

[Rift]

I remember before they broke ground on this place how excited I was about it. In my opinion, the place is disappointing for the most part and there isn't anything good there except the movie theatre.

They could put some better stores and restaurants out there, ya know.

What does everyone think of Village at Sandhills?

And I also wondered. Do those condo's above the stores really sell? I can't imagine that many people live there. Those things are expensive too.

[Seattleite61]

I enjoy shopping at the Village at Sandhills. There are tons of restaurants in the area as well.

[Ceezer]

Blows? The novelty of Sandhills may have worn off, but I would definitely not say it 'blows'. There's quite a selection of both, restaurants *and* retail, with constant improvements and additions (like the more recent Academy Sports). What do you feel is missing (other than a Hardees...)?

I think Sandhills should stand as a shopping district on its own merit, not as a duplicate of Harbison.

[Rift]

Originally Posted by Ceezer

Blows? The novelty of Sandhills may have worn off, but I would definitely not say it 'blows'. There's quite a selection of both, restaurants *and* retail, with constant improvements and additions (like the more recent Academy Sports). What do you feel is missing (other than a Hardees...)?

I think Sandhills should stand as a shopping district on its own merit, not as a duplicate of Harbison.

First off, I wasn't saying put a Hardee's at Sandhills. I said somewhere in Northeast Columbia. Two Notch maybe...Clemson Road. Somewhere close to the interstate. Plenty of land around Clemson Road or Blythewood at least.

I mean it's OK. Has some decent restaurants. The retail sucks in my opinion. They have a bunch of random stores, baby stores, jewelry stores, some peanut store (WTF) ect. They could bring in an Apple store possibly. They could add a high end grocery store like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. They could put an Outback Steakhouse there. Maybe a Jason's Deli location. I think the new Best Buy on Two Notch would have been better at Sandills but it's probably more expensive, I guess.

I don't know what else, but it could be a lot better. They have some land that they could build on behind the Movie Theatre. There are a good many vacant store fronts that could fill up.

[gsupstate]

Originally Posted by Rift

I remember before they broke ground on this place how excited I was about it. In my opinion, the place is disappointing for the most part and there isn't anything good there except the movie theatre.

They could put some better stores and restaurants out there, ya know.

What does everyone think of Village at Sandhills?

I thought it would have better stores like Apple, J.Crew, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, etc. Instead, it is just a bunch of middle of the road, "also ran" stores. I went once, that was enough.

[Cosmogonal]

While I wasnt overly impressed with it, it wasnt a bad mall. It has potential, which I cant say about any other mall in the area (other than Columbiana, obviously). Give it time.

As far as the condos, I actually know someone who stays there and loves it. The military pays for his rent though. I dont think he would have chose to stay there otherwise. The places are gorgeous, but way out of my price range. That kind of rent I could put towards a house.

[Brandon Hoffman]

I think it's a fine mall. Give it time and when the economy picks up I think you'll see some new stores come in at that point.

I have a client that is renting one of those condos and likes it quite a bit.

[Chi2Midlands]

I think part of the reason the Village at Sandhill hasn't quite taken off as much as originally expected is that it was built during the height of the economic and housing boom and the outer Northeast was booming with new residents, especially middle-to-upper-middle class, out-of-state transplants in certain surrounding neighborhoods who potentially could bring their higher-spending habits with them. After 2007-2008 or so, that (potential) gravy train never gained full traction, so the development is unfortunately stuck with some empty storefronts and not quite as many upscale retail/restaurant offerings.

That being said, at worst you could say Sandhill is muddling along and is a pretty decent retail mall operation. I personally find it reasonably enjoyable and takes care of many of our normal shopping tasks and occasionally provides a good place to spend some discretionary dollars, whether at Learning Express for our boys, a nice dinner at Miyo's, or (for my wife), buying some silver jewelery at Handpicked. Of course, YMMV, but that's been my experience. Moving from DC/Northern Virginia to what we knew was a much smaller, slower-paced town, we were prepared not to have upscale retail offerings in every suburban sector. Being two working parents with two young kids, it's not always easy to find time and money for that anyways, and when we want to, we can always make a weekend day trip up to SouthPark in Charlotte for that.

As for the OP saying he would like Apple Store, Trader Joe's, etc. here - well, I would love those things, too, but unfortunately we in the Northeast just do not have the economic density and demographics to support those. Columbia tends to lag in attracting those types of stores compared to similar-sized nearby cities, and when the region does get them they tend to go either the urban or near-urban core (e.g., downtown, the Vista, Devine Street, SE Columbia, Forest Acres), or Harbison. If you look at where Chipotle and Whole Foods are going or will be going, I'm going to guess that's where a Trader Joe's or Apple Store would be looking as well.

[Ceezer]

Originally Posted by Rift

They could bring in an Apple store possibly. They could add a high end grocery store like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.

1) There is neither an Apple Store nor a Whole Foods/Trader Joe's located elsewhere in the city of Columbia (or immediate area), so it's not like Sandhills is losing retail to other parts of the city because it "blows".
2) If, and when, Columbia *does* get an Apple Store (if) and Whole Foods/Trader Joe's (when), I'm fairly certain that the Sandhills area will definitely be in contention.
3) There are already a Publix, Kroger & Super Bi-Lo in that area (the Super Bi-Lo at the end of the north end of the village; Publix & Kroger just 0.5 mile away on Two Notch), which are all nice stores in themselves, so that's a lot of money to spend just to give the hipsters someplace to come in and feel like they're getting "better" free-range eggs than are available next door (Disclaimer: I shop at both, Whole Foods & Trader Joe's, on occasion, but there is no denying who their target demographic is).
4) Outback? Gag. I defended your desire for a Hardees in NE Cola (though, based on your quoting me in your response, it seems like you didn't catch on to that...), but this, Sir, I cannot. They are the Chipotle of steakhouses (lots of marketing, lots of hype, absolute worst in terms of taste, quality & value).

Originally Posted by gupstate

I thought it would have better stores like Apple, J.Crew, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, etc. Instead, it is just a bunch of middle of the road, "also ran" stores.

I've never heard of any of those stores (other than Apple, obviously), so I guess I'm not missing out on anything. They sound like they're probably clothing stores, but I'm a man, so those hold no interest for me.

Well, ok, that's not *entirely* true; I wouldn't mind having something like an Eddie Bauer or LL Bean around, where you could find some good quality outdoor apparel (it seems like 90% of the options you find at Sportsmans Warehouse, Clothing World, The Backpacker, etc are from Columbia & TNF, which have gotten away from function a little bit and focused too much on fashion).

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by Chi2Midlands

I think part of the reason the Village at Sandhill hasn't quite taken off as much as originally expected is that it was built during the height of the economic and housing boom and the outer Northeast was booming with new residents, especially middle-to-upper-middle class, out-of-state transplants in certain surrounding neighborhoods who potentially could bring their higher-spending habits with them. After 2007-2008 or so, that (potential) gravy train never gained full traction, so the development is unfortunately stuck with some empty storefronts and not quite as many upscale retail/restaurant offerings.

That being said, at worst you could say Sandhill is muddling along and is a pretty decent retail mall operation. I personally find it reasonably enjoyable and takes care of many of our normal shopping tasks and occasionally provides a good place to spend some discretionary dollars, whether at Learning Express for our boys, a nice dinner at Miyo's, or (for my wife), buying some silver jewelery at Handpicked. Of course, YMMV, but that's been my experience. Moving from DC/Northern Virginia to what we knew was a much smaller, slower-paced town, we were prepared not to have upscale retail offerings in every suburban sector. Being two working parents with two young kids, it's not always easy to find time and money for that anyways, and when we want to, we can always make a weekend day trip up to SouthPark in Charlotte for that.

As for the OP saying he would like Apple Store, Trader Joe's, etc. here - well, I would love those things, too, but unfortunately we in the Northeast just do not have the economic density and demographics to support those. Columbia tends to lag in attracting those types of stores compared to similar-sized nearby cities, and when the region does get them they tend to go either the urban or near-urban core (e.g., downtown, the Vista, Devine Street, SE Columbia, Forest Acres), or Harbison. If you look at where Chipotle and Whole Foods are going or will be going, I'm going to guess that's where a Trader Joe's or Apple Store would be looking as well.

I would love to see the "data" that Apple and Trader Joes looks at when they make these types of decisions...I mean if the NE doesnt have the density or the demographics then no area in Columbia does..... I guess thats why there isnt one in Columbia period. I know we have had this debate before on how the Midlands is split between the NE and the NW.. Seems like the NE has more people especially when you factor in Blythewood and the Lugoff areas. However; the NW probably has more higher income folks given the Lake and Lexington County. I guess we cant win for losing