Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
West Columbia has done several projects that mainly involve landscaping and or helping businesses do landscaping projects and the city has seen several new projects. When Trenholm Plaza attracted new high end businesses it happened after a major landscaping improvement project with little remodeling of the actual building.
Landscape design for commercial projects is not very popular in the South on the whole, but in many other parts of the country it is a major component of attracting retailers and customers.
Also a new park is being built at BullStreet right now...
Attributing new projects in West Columbia and the improvement of Trenholm Plaza to landscaping seems like a false conclusion. Aesthetic improvements help, but ultimately those projects were the result of recruiting behind the scenes. The same is true of Columbia Common- I don't think new flower beds are going to convince stores to co-locate there. The flowers are certainly a nice addition, but I wouldn't expect any new announcements as a result of some minor landscaping.
And my point was that a park is a piece of infrastructure big enough to draw development, though as far as I can tell it is only going to draw the new med school when USC finally finds the funding from private donors.
Check the Bull Street update today. Still no reason for informed optimism since there are still no retail or restaurant announcements. USC is well short of funds to build there soon. The baseball stadium will begin to show its age before anything of substance shows up there. It is about as likely as the fountain at Finlay Park actually working. Main Street has been a nice surprise but think of all we could have done with that $40 million for a stadium in the middle of nowhere. If you disagree please don’t use the tired argument of we just have to be patient. There’s no way that we taxpayers would’ve signed on to the stadium if we had known three years later that it was still all by itself out there. And don’t tell me that retail is dead, just take a trip up to Greenville or down to Charleston. It seems that they build these kind of developments in those communities successfully. Just yesterday, the specialty grocery store Sprouts announced its first South Carolina location in Greenville. Another location is going up in Augusta. Does this sound familiar ?I’ve lived in Columbia for nearly 25 years and I’m tired of seeing it considered as a second rate retail destination. Columbia Common was supposed to be the antidote, but so far it has been very very disappointing.
I can’t relate to not thinking of good landscaping as being an essential component of a place’s attractiveness as a destination. I come from a long line of agrarians and horticulturalists. Brick and mortar combined with trees, shrubs and flowers make people happy.
Well it will have a nice Central Park to suck up the limited Rec and Parks budget that should have gone to Finlay. Not sure what we need all of these "central parks". The Riverfront Park along the entire Congaree River an improved Finlay and maybe a wider landscaped Assembly St median where people could congregate as a linear park like the Ben Franklin Pkwy in philly would have been nice. A 20 ac park at Bull St simply takes too much property off the tax rolls and will cost $$$ to maintain. I think that there should have been some useable green and open space but not 20ac
I can’t relate to not thinking of good landscaping as being an essential component of a place’s attractiveness as a destination. I come from a long line of agrarians and horticulturalists. Brick and mortar combined with trees, shrubs and flowers make people happy.
That may be true, but unfortunately attractiveness is not Bull Streets (only) problem. I'm wondering if firing Jackson Hughes made a material difference; I imagine that they probably had to start their recruiting efforts from scratch again.
That may be true, but unfortunately attractiveness is not Bull Streets (only) problem. I'm wondering if firing Jackson Hughes made a material difference; I imagine that they probably had to start their recruiting efforts from scratch again.
Maybe you should offer up your services. Sounds like we need them!
And don’t tell me that retail is dead, just take a trip up to Greenville or down to Charleston. It seems that they build these kind of developments in those communities successfully.
What developments do Greenville and Charleston have that are analogous to the Bull Street campus? The closest example I can think of is the Magnolia project in Charleston and that didn't turn out well at all: https://www.postandcourier.com/busin...6dfa40806.html
The closest development to Bull Street I can think of is the Dorothea Dix property in Raleigh which also served as the state's mental health campus; the city of Raleigh purchased the property several years ago and has made the decision to turn it into a destination park and the process has taken about as long as Bull Street, and perhaps even longer--just for a park. So yes, patience actually is necessary for large-scale developments like these. I'm not saying that progress couldn't be faster or that the process has been perfect for Bull Street, but some perspective is needed here.
Quote:
Just yesterday, the specialty grocery store Sprouts announced its first South Carolina location in Greenville. Another location is going up in Augusta. Does this sound familiar ?I’ve lived in Columbia for nearly 25 years and I’m tired of seeing it considered as a second rate retail destination.
Are you seriously using Sprouts to make this argument? Here in Maryland, the first Sprouts store is locating in Ellicott City as opposed to somewhere in Montgomery County. And Augusta couldn't even keep its Whole Foods so I'm not sure if that's the comparison you want to make. Fayetteville is getting a Sprouts before Asheville, Durham, Winston-Salem, or Greensboro.
Some of you guys really need to learn more about what's truly going on in other cities--not just the successes but also the failures--because this whole "every other city gets everything right" mentality has really gotten old.
What developments do Greenville and Charleston have that are analogous to the Bull Street campus? The closest example I can think of is the Magnolia project in Charleston and that didn't turn out well at all: https://www.postandcourier.com/busin...6dfa40806.html
The closest development to Bull Street I can think of is the Dorothea Dix property in Raleigh which also served as the state's mental health campus; the city of Raleigh purchased the property several years ago and has made the decision to turn it into a destination park and the process has taken about as long as Bull Street, and perhaps even longer--just for a park. So yes, patience actually is necessary for large-scale developments like these. I'm not saying that progress couldn't be faster or that the process has been perfect for Bull Street, but some perspective is needed here.
For some reason ... I couldn't get the link to attach..sorry... but if you want ... google away.
Are you seriously using Sprouts to make this argument? Here in Maryland, the first Sprouts store is locating in Ellicott City as opposed to somewhere in Montgomery County. And Augusta couldn't even keep its Whole Foods so I'm not sure if that's the comparison you want to make. Fayetteville is getting a Sprouts before Asheville, Durham, Winston-Salem, or Greensboro.
Some of you guys really need to learn more about what's truly going on in other cities--not just the successes but also the failures--because this whole "every other city gets everything right" mentality has really gotten old.
I don't know much in detail about the Bull Street project but from what I do know , The West Edge project in downtown Charleston is probably more analogous to Bull Street .The West Edge project runs from the hospital district to the Citadel Campus ... all over looking the Ashley River. Its about half complete at this point and is comprised of residential, office ,retail and research and laboratory dedicated space. Leasing has commenced.
Magnolia was intended to be largely residential and was a brownfield development just outside downtown... and a spade had never been turned before the developer filed bankruptcy.
The Google comment was mine ... but I misplaced it... again sorry ..it does have a great website.
I don't know much in detail about the Bull Street project but from what I do know , The West Edge project in downtown Charleston is probably more analogous to Bull Street .The West Edge project runs from the hospital district to the Citadel Campus ... all over looking the Ashley River. Its about half complete at this point and is comprised of residential, office ,retail and research and laboratory dedicated space. Leasing has commenced. Magnolia was intended to be largely residential and was a brownfield development just outside downtown... and a spade had never been turned before the developer filed bankruptcy.
Led by Cherokee Investment Partners, the Magnolia backers set out to clean the property so it could be reused, describing their effort as the largest redevelopment of polluted land in South Carolina. The idea was to build a dense mix of homes and commercial space on the land.
My broader point is that it is fallacious to act as though other cities don't have their issues with large developments of this type.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
