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It is a lot of acreage, but not that much in retail, commercial and residential square footage. It is hardly an inner-city development. The area is secluded, flat and easily accessed, not like Hudson Yards. From what I have read the project consists of 165 acres, is that correct? If so, I have seen similar sized properties go up in 12 months, just like i said. Certainly, it shouldn't take more than 24 months, unless you are only building one building at a time. But, hey, this is Columbia. I have learned to be underwhelmed by most of the projects.
I have been in real estate for a couple of decades in multiple cities......Charlotte, Atlanta, Asheville, Greenville.........
A multi use project with historical buildings to preserve developed in 12 months???????? you are dreaming. In most cases, historical properties are more challenging to develop because financing is tricky and construction is much more challenging that starting from scratch.
I am not surprised at the pace of this development. You have 1 chance to get this project right. Columbia is not a major market, financing is a little harder (much of downtown Greenville is being built with government assistance....which I assume may be part of this project relative to the historical structures).
Assembling retailers can be like herding cats.......one wants visibility from a certain vantage point and will not come otherwise......one wants to be near a complimentary store....etc...A good example is the re-development of Park Road Shopping Center in Charlotte.
I have been in real estate for a couple of decades in multiple cities......Charlotte, Atlanta, Asheville, Greenville.........
A multi use project with historical buildings to preserve developed in 12 months???????? you are dreaming. In most cases, historical properties are more challenging to develop because financing is tricky and construction is much more challenging that starting from scratch.
I am not surprised at the pace of this development. You have 1 chance to get this project right. Columbia is not a major market, financing is a little harder (much of downtown Greenville is being built with government assistance....which I assume may be part of this project relative to the historical structures).
Assembling retailers can be like herding cats.......one wants visibility from a certain vantage point and will not come otherwise......one wants to be near a complimentary store....etc...A good example is the re-development of Park Road Shopping Center in Charlotte.
My 12 month comment had nothing to do with restoring historic buildings. It simply meant developing that amount of acreage. I have no idea how many of the buildings they intend to save, but there is literally nothing being done on the site at this time. Aren't some of the historic buildings being converted into residential space? If so, why would that have any bearing on the commercial development. As you said, perhaps I am dreaming. I hope that dream does not turn out to be a nightmare for the people of Columbia.
My 12 month comment had nothing to do with restoring historic buildings. It simply meant developing that amount of acreage. I have no idea how many of the buildings they intend to save, but there is literally nothing being done on the site at this time. Aren't some of the historic buildings being converted into residential space? If so, why would that have any bearing on the commercial development. As you said, perhaps I am dreaming. I hope that dream does not turn out to be a nightmare for the people of Columbia.
I think people have to be realistic about Columbia Commons. Were this build in a much larger city like Charlotte or Atlanta, there would be greater potential demand for residential, retail, and office space. It is much easier to get a company to move to new office space within the same city. Columbia does not have that luxury- the commercial base is much smaller than in other cities, even Greenville. Columbia has only a handful of industries that demand Class A office space: insurance, law, banking, and real estate (maybe). When you consider that there are only a handful of companies headquartered in downtown and that most of these firms will likely be in the middle of long-term leases, the number of companies that could potentially occupy large contiguous spaces is very low.
If larger companies are not available, you have to move down to mid-market firms. Some of these companies may be scattered around town in Northeast, Irmo/St. Andrew's, and elsewhere near downtown. Many people still have a complex about downtown due to experiences they have had in the past with the homeless or jittery about safety, parking, etc. Getting even small firms to move offices can be a pretty tall order. Companies moving into the area may occupy new office space, but the state has guided almost all new development to rural or suburban counties that lean right (for obvious political reasons). Bobby Hitt has no real interest in trying to draw corporate relocations as Charlotte and Atlanta have done.
I think there is pent up demand for retail, some demand for young professional/young family houses, and very limited potential for commercial space at the moment. This will likely change in the next few years as Columbia retains more recent grads and starts to develop a reputation as a growing city, but I don't envy Hughes' position at the moment. Consider that apart from the Synovus-NBSC building at Main and Gervais and the AllSouth building at Elmowood and Gadsden, there has been almost no new commercial construction in the city in years. Given the availability of commercial space (First Base Building, Innovista, Main Street converted space), it is going to take time to generate demand for more Class A space.
i don't see the historical significance of former buildigns that served as an insane asylum, morgue, chapel, drug abuse center, laundry, bakery, overflow student dorm, etc. Using a former morgue seems creepy. The architecture of the morgue and the hospital is not all that interesting. Columbia has plenty of old building and ones with interesting architecture in other areas including the USC campus and the state house. cities are getting carried aaway with the historic preservation in my view.
it is my understanding they had to spend a small fortune to remove the asbestos and renovations. it probably would have been cheaper to tear them down and build new ones that will also be more energy efficient.
more retailers and restaurants would have moved into Columbia on their own over time and would have located in more convenient areas like near Gervais Street. they should have just let the free market work. if i owned a company i could not convince myself that Bull Street is a good location to maximize profits.
i saw an article that said people thought this project could have same kind of economic impact as Boeing and BMW did. i don't think jobs in retail are going to pay nearly as much as those companies.
Bobby Hitt has no real interest in trying to draw corporate relocations as Charlotte and Atlanta have done.
And that is one of Columbia's major challenges. The state's corporate relocation strategy almost entirely hinges on luring companies in Charlotte to York and Lancaster counties. I know it can be tough to get such companies to relocate entirely to a small market like Columbia, but at the least the state could focus more on getting back-office operations for FIRE industries and such.
It would actually be interesting to see how Columbia stacks up with Charleston, Greenville, and its out-of-state regional peers (e.g., Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Durham, Augusta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, etc.) in this regard.
I think people have to be realistic about Columbia Commons. Were this build in a much larger city like Charlotte or Atlanta, there would be greater potential demand for residential, retail, and office space. It is much easier to get a company to move to new office space within the same city. Columbia does not have that luxury- the commercial base is much smaller than in other cities, even Greenville. Columbia has only a handful of industries that demand Class A office space: insurance, law, banking, and real estate (maybe). When you consider that there are only a handful of companies headquartered in downtown and that most of these firms will likely be in the middle of long-term leases, the number of companies that could potentially occupy large contiguous spaces is very low.
If larger companies are not available, you have to move down to mid-market firms. Some of these companies may be scattered around town in Northeast, Irmo/St. Andrew's, and elsewhere near downtown. Many people still have a complex about downtown due to experiences they have had in the past with the homeless or jittery about safety, parking, etc. Getting even small firms to move offices can be a pretty tall order. Companies moving into the area may occupy new office space, but the state has guided almost all new development to rural or suburban counties that lean right (for obvious political reasons). Bobby Hitt has no real interest in trying to draw corporate relocations as Charlotte and Atlanta have done.
I think there is pent up demand for retail, some demand for young professional/young family houses, and very limited potential for commercial space at the moment. This will likely change in the next few years as Columbia retains more recent grads and starts to develop a reputation as a growing city, but I don't envy Hughes' position at the moment. Consider that apart from the Synovus-NBSC building at Main and Gervais and the AllSouth building at Elmowood and Gadsden, there has been almost no new commercial construction in the city in years. Given the availability of commercial space (First Base Building, Innovista, Main Street converted space), it is going to take time to generate demand for more Class A space.
I actually would not mind owning this property. Downtown rates are rising while class A space is vanishing.....that is a good spot. I think the development in time will be terrific. If it were in DT Charlotte, we would see a lot more activity but for a city in SC, it is different. All three cities are close in size in just about every aspect, no SC city has sufficient business activity to drive this faster. It is complex and I would assume that folks are applying for historical credits for some of the buildings.
Remember, this will be over 400k of retail space along with residential, hospitality, and some office.....the recently completed first base building (which was completed about the same time as the IBM building.....roughly 200k sq feet of commercial space completed this year....mostly taken) is not a tremendously large building.
I agree, Hitt and the state need to drive more professional jobs for SC. We seem to lose more professional and corporate jobs than we retain across all of SC....excluding York Co. For this site, you are an hour from Charlotte Douglas, close to a major research university and have a strong educated labor force. Personally, I would market this to some financial firms looking for cheaper locations to house risk, finance, HR and other support functions that don't need to be in One Bryant Park. Would love to see a Citi sign on the First Base building.
I've been waiting for this to become official! As far as a movie theatre is concerned, Cobb is a PERFECT fit for what we have been promised the Commons is to become. Very excited about this news. Hopefully this means other announcements will begin to trickle in soon....
This is excellent news and a fantastic addition to Columbia and Bullstreet Commons. Although this seems long overdue, it should help those of us who still believe in this project feel like our hopes aren't misplaced. I still see great things coming with this project, but I agree the pace has been excruciating and frustrating so far.
I can just about guarantee that I'll be making the trek to this theater instead of the Regal at Sandhills three miles from my house as soon as it opens. Even if it were a standard-issue Cobb and not a dine-in, it'd still be a much better experience than what you can otherwise find in Columbia.
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