A developer is planning on constructing a new student housing complex just at the border of the USC campus. The building will boast 12 stories, its own built-in parking garage and floor-level retail space.
The new building located adjacent to the State House of South Carolina will have options for one to five bedroom units. It will feature amenities such as a theater, a fitness center and a rooftop pool.
Park 7 development group could start building as soon as next spring. The complex, named University SC Tower, will span 435,000 square feet and cost an estimated $60 million.
Columbia’s Design/Development Review Commission evaluated and approved Park 7’s application.
“From an urban planning standpoint, the residential density is important, in our city center,” Lucinda Statler, urban design planner said. “It is important to make sure we have a mix of uses. Also, around the clock activity that our business center doesn’t empty out after five o’clock in the afternoon.”
The space will house 318 units, and 848 beds, as well as a variety of stores, which would bring a lot more traffic to the Assembly and Pendleton intersection. However, the city has conducted studies to determine whether or not the infrastructure of the area could support the traffic, said Statler.
The new Walk Bike Columbia master plan will be responsible for funneling a lot of the residents’ potential vehicle traffic into walking and biking traffic since the complex is located less than a mile from the Horseshoe.
The lobby entrance to the building will be located on Assembly Street. The Pendleton side of the building will feature parking and ground level retail.
The family of state Representative Beth Bernstein previously owned the piece of land where the complex will be situated. The land was acquired by Park 7 development.
University SC Tower qualified for a 50 percent, 10-year tax cut that was implemented in order to attract more developers to the metro area. The tax cuts have already attracted three different student-housing buildings.
The tax cut was created by Richland County in accordance with Mayor Steve Benjamin’s plan to revitalize the metro area.