Housing will be at an all time high over the next few years for Columbia. With ten new housing developments popping up on the radar and most clustered around USC’s campus, the city is seeing a boom in housing directed toward its university students.
500 Huger St.
Park7 Group, a company based in New York, is building 482,000 square feet of space that students will be able to move into by spring 2016. Residents will be able to choose from units with one, two, three, four or five units.
The hosing complex located on 500 Huger St. will consist of 237 units, or a total of 640 bedrooms. The complex will have at least 480 parking spaces.
The Flats
Edwards Communities of Columbus, Ohio is adding to the student housing expansion at a price tag of $2.6 million. Their property, located at 620 Blossom St., will adjoin the lot that Park7 Group bought for a housing development of their own.
The Flats will provide an additional 818 beds, in the form of 341 individual units, to students by 2015.
710 Pulaski St.
Edwards Communities bought a second property in Columbia for $1.6 million. The Pulaski Street property will be located across from the Palmetto Compress.
The 4.75-acre property will feature 177 units with one to four bedrooms, for a total of 524 beds. The property will also have an on-site credit union.
In terms of parking, residents will have access to 14 on-street spaces, 136 off-street spaces and a parking garage of 297 spaces. There will also be 131-bicycle spaces onsite.
650 Lincoln St.
This 279-unit project is unique from the other off-campus student housing options in the works because it is connected with USC through a university partnership.
The property will open to students in July 2015 and will offer options with two and four bedrooms as well as two parking garages. It will also have 30,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor of the residence.
Other amenities include a pool with cabanas, an outdoor dining terrace and courtyard, a fire pit, grills, hammocks, a recreational activity lawn, an outdoor movie screen and projector and an Internet café with a coffee bar.
University SC Towers
One of Park7 Group’s newest projects will be located just blocks from the Horseshoe, on Assembly Street.
The 848 beds will be found in two glass towers 12-stories high. Amenities of the apartment will include a theater, fitness center and rooftop pool.
The development will have a total of 435,000 square feet in floor space, and will cost $60 million. Construction could begin this spring, with the completed project possibly opening in 2017.
The University SC Tower has been approved for a 50 percent property tax cut for 10 years, which was coordinated by Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin.
Gervais-Harden apartments — Peak Campus Development
Student housing opportunities have been flocking to the areas around the Vista and Williams-Brice Stadium, but Atlanta-based Peak Campus Development could be starting a Five Points trend. In addition to its proximity to USC, this property will also be in walking distance from Allen University and Benedict College.
Their project to develop on the corner of Gervais and Harden Streets has been approved by the city. When finished, it will feature three buildings for a total of 660 bedrooms and five-story parking garage.
This 4.3-acre, $50 million endeavor is not Peak Campus Development’s first project. They have already developed five dozen properties in 24 states, including a location at Coastal Carolina University.
National Guard Road
Practice Field LLC, based in Athens, Georgia, is adding 26 acres of construction to the boom in student housing.
The new complex of 792 beds will be located less than a half mile from the already existing University Oaks. Students will be able to live in 198 units spread out over 17 different buildings.
Williams and Associates, which is also an Athens-based company, will be designing the complex. In the past, they have worked on student housing in Alabama and Texas.
The style of the Practice Field LLC complex will mirror that of pre-existing housing options, such as the Woodlands and Stadium Suites.
612 Whaley St.
PMC Property Group already owns Olympia Mill and Granby Mill apartments, but they are looking to expand with 612 Whaley.
“For the past couple of years we’ve always led the area in our leasing efforts,” Josh Harding, a manager with PMC Property Group, said. “We saw kind of an opportunity for a different type of building, a different type of floor plan, a different mix of housing.”
This new property, which will be finished by April 1 of this year, will feature 184 apartments. These one and two-bedroom units will have stainless steel appliances, oversized windows, premium flooring, high ceilings and granite countertops inside classic architecture.
“It’s kind of a nice blend of historic architecture. It’s made to look kind of like an old mill,” Harding said. “From the outside you’ll think it’s just another old mill, but really on the inside it’s going to have this nice modern approach to a new building.”
Harding said that this property will be unique, not only because of the one and two-bedroom options, but also because of the 6,500 square feet of retail space that will be available on the first floor.
“There really wasn’t a lot of one and two beds in the area. It was kind of a natural progression to our other buildings here,” Harding said. “It’s a nice addition to our area, the area we’ve built here, but it’s also a nice addition to the university as well.”
Harding said the property group is looking to create a community environment that “bridges the gap” between undergraduate students and older students or recent graduates.
“It’s unique in the fact that it being one and two bedrooms, we’re hoping to get more of a mix of graduates, older undergraduates and young professionals,” Harding said.
Former Shuman-Owens property
A Charlotte development group that wishes to remain unidentified plans to build a student apartment complex at the northern end of Shop Road, near Williams-Brice Stadium, with plans to open in the fall of 2016.
The complex will stretch over six acres and will replace a car-repair garage and Shuman-Owens Supply Co.
According to George McCutchen, representative of the sellers and a principal owner of Newmark Grubb Wilson Kibler, said that asking price for the garage property was $550,000 and that the asking price for the former Shuman-Owens property was $3 million. Both properties sold for amounts close to the asking price.
The project is expected to cost $40 to $50 million dollars. It will include a parking garage and possibly a pool, but McCutchen is unclear how many beds it will house.
“The university continues to grow, facilities continue to grow, and this will be a nice amenity for those students,” McCutchen said. “I think that the university continues to grow and I think that the students apparently have the ability to afford nicer housing projects and I think it helps recruit kids to the university when they have nice housing options like this.”
Pulaski Square
Woda Construction, an Ohio-based company, is setting foot in Columbia with its Pulaski Square apartments located in the Vista.
“We think it’s going to be a good location, not just for young professionals, but also college students,” James Glasgow, president of Rent Charleston said. “I think the most convenient thing is the location. You’re just blocks away from the university.”
The two-acre housing complex will provide beds for a total of 120 students, with 40 units of three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Fourteen of the units will have garage parking, while the rest will have center parking.
Amenities will include a pool, fitness center, media room and coffee lounge.