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A view of what Columbia’s skyline would look like with the new office tower
Posted on Sat, Dec. 01, 2007
BUILDING OUR CITY: RESHAPING MAIN STREET
Skyline to get 19-story glass tower
New building would be at Main and Gervais
By JEFF WILKINSON - jwilkinson@thestate.com
JOHN HOLDER
AGE: 52S.C. CONNECTION: Active alumnus of Furman University; graduated in 1977
JOB: Chairman and chief executive officer of Holder Properties, an Atlanta-based, privately held commercial real estate company founded in 1980
SCOPE OF BUSINESS: Projects in 15 states, including Columbia and Charleston; credited with about $1.5 billion in properties
OTHER ACTIVITIES: Member of board of directors for, among others, the Carter Presidential Center, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Fox Theatre; also a member of the Furman University Advisory Council, SunTrust Bank regional board, the Columbia Central City Partnership and the Urban Land Institute
Columbia’s skyline is set to get another boost.
Holder Properties of Atlanta plans to build a 19-story office tower at the high-profile corner of Main and Gervais streets.
The site is across the street from the S.C. State House and next to the 25-story Capitol Center, the state’s tallest building.
Plans filed with the city show a restaurant and bank lobby on the first floor, with seven levels of parking above. Above that would be 10 stories of offices.
The $60 million tower would be built on the parking lot next to the National Bank of South Carolina building at Main and Lady streets. The plaza next to the Capitol Center (formerly the SouthTrust building) would remain. Holder owns the land.
The building, which has yet to be named, will be the company’s fourth project downtown.
“We’ve made a commitment to Columbia,” said president and CEO John Holder, whose firm has built projects in 15 states from Maine to Oregon.
“Columbia has stable growth,” he said. “You don’t see the wild swings you do in so-called hot cities in other parts of the country. It’s a good place to invest.”
Holder said he is negotiating with “a number of people” to occupy the building. “We feel confident we can move on” with the project, he said.
Several sources said NBSC and the powerful McNair Law Firm are negotiating to move into the building.
NBSC president and CEO Chuck Garnett had no comment.
McNair CEO Bill Youngblood said the firm’s present lease at the Wilbur Smith building (the former Bank of America Tower) on Gervais Street would expire in “a couple of years.”
“We are exploring several alternatives, as is prudent,” he said.
The building would be the second new office tower built by Holder on Main Street. He was the developer of the 17-story Meridian Building.
Holder Construction, run by John Holder’s brother Thomas, was the contractor for the nine-story First Citizens Building on Main Street.
Also, Holder Properties, in conjunction with the USC development foundation, is the developer of the 115-unit Adesso condo building at south Main and Blossom streets. The firm also has announced plans for a 388-unit apartment complex called Assembly Station at the corner of Assembly and Whaley streets.
If the McNair firm — co-founded by former Gov. Robert McNair, who died Nov. 17 — is the tenant in the Holder building, the city would see a convergence of four of the city’s premier law firms near the intersection of Gervais and Main Streets:
• The Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd firm recently relocated to the Capitol Center.
• Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough occupies the new Meridian building.
• Nexsen Pruet is in the new First Citizens building.
Mayor Bob Coble said the new Holder tower shows the resiliency of the downtown office market in the face of SCANA Corp.’s decision to move from Main Street to Lexington County.
“SCANA moves out, others move in,” Coble said. “The multimillion-dollar investments being made downtown indicate the office market is very strong.”
Office occupancy downtown is hovering at a strong 92 percent, according to the Columbia office of CB Richard Ellis.
Matt Kennell, president and CEO of Center City Partnership, a public-private group that boosts investment in the city’s central business district, said the building should improve the business climate of the Main Street area.
“New buildings mean higher rent,” he said. That means “older buildings become attractive because they seem like bargains.”
The oldest buildings, Kennell said, will probably find “new life” as apartments, condos or hotels. Their small offices and narrow corridors “make them wonderful for condos and hotels for the same reason they don’t do well for modern offices,” he said.
According to documents submitted to the city, the new tower would be 482,410 square feet and include:
• 194,400 square feet of office space on the upper floors, much of it with stunning views of the State House
• 600 dedicated parking spaces. No public parking will be available, Holder said.
• 10,000 square feet of retail space — a bank lobby opening on Main Street and restaurant space opening on a plaza along Gervais.
The building would be mostly glass. It will get it first public vetting during an informational presentation at the city’s Design/Development Review Commission on Tuesday.
Holder said he hopes to begin construction this spring, with completion in about 18 months.
“There is a lot of work to be done. But we are excited to be participants in the growth of Columbia.”
Reach Wilkinson at (803) 771-8495.
