Next year, many USC students may be fighting for new housing. This time, however, the housing isn’t on campus. The Palmetto Center, a building that has been sitting vacant on Main Street, is set to be converted into private, off-campus housing, dubbed the “Hub on Main Street,” by August 2014.
For our vastly overcrowded campus residence halls and burgeoning student population, the new housing is opportune — and the location is prime. A few blocks down from the Statehouse, the building is in the middle of downtown Columbia but still within convenient walking distance of USC.
The new housing is great for USC students, and it has huge potential to benefit the Columbia community for years to come. As it stands right now, a portion of Main Street is rundown and empty. However, with around 800 students living on Main Street, the Hub on Main Street will also draw in new businesses to Columbia and stimulate the surrounding economy. Unlike the existing, slightly isolated off-campus housing complexes like Copper Beech and Stadium Suites, living in downtown Columbia will allow us to engage more with the Columbia community and be an active part of our small but rapidly growing metropolis.
While the new housing project is still waiting for a final OK from the city, we’re already getting excited about the positive effects the Hub on Main Street has the potential to bring. Hopefully the complex will be Columbia’s chance to continue to grow into the city we would all like it to be.