Monday, Apr. 06, 2009

Lake Murray: Economy is not holding back region’s ‘crown jewel’

Lake Murray remains what many consider “crown jewel of the Midlands” even as suburban growth envelops it.

On its north side, people pay up to $2 million to live on its 650-mile shoreline and $250,000 to live in a neighborhood with access to it.

Homeowners come for the in-town resort lifestyle, schools touted as some of the best in the area and the commercial corridor on nearby Harbison Boulevard. Plus, about one of every two residents is college-educated, according to census data.

Harbison is still where many new retailers want to enter the Columbia market despite competition from a recently booming Northeast Richland, commercial real estate agents say.

“That’s where they want to be,” said Mary Winter Teaster, broker-in-charge for commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis.

Some longtime residents view the growth as a mixed blessing as the area evolves from semi-rural to suburban.

“I like the convenience of having stores close by,” said Joy Downs, who has lived in the Ballentine area for 20 years. “I just wish it wasn’t coming so fast.”

HOW GROWTH IS SPREADING

Growth sprouted in the Harbison area two decades ago when the area started to develop with new homes.

And now retail growth is stretching out to smaller hubs.

A shopping center of three dozen stores anchored by a Wal-Mart is opening this fall at Broad River and Dutch Fork roads, a project that the town of Irmo reached two miles beyond its border to annex.

Other commercial centers are sprouting at Broad River and Kennerly roads in Dutch Fork and along Columbia Avenue in Chapin.

That partly reflects availability of utilities and roads able to handle extra traffic, said Eddie Wilder of Chapin, a real estate broker and former member of the Lexington County Planning Commission.

Chapin — some 15 miles northwest from Irmo and Harbison — will be the next boom area, Teaster said. Local officials there already are preparing for the growth, expanding the sewage plant and seeking to improve roads.

The economic downturn is stalling some projects, but that hasn’t stopped some residents from battling to control future growth.

Some Ballentine residents want to create a new town to have more local say over what is coming, a step sparked by backlash at Irmo’s extension to take in the Wal-Mart shopping center.

Homeowner groups also worry steady growth will environmentally damage the lake.

“Our concern is preserving its water quality, that it is not overwhelmed,” said Downs, executive director of the Lake Murray Association.

Other residents are battling proposals for new neighborhoods and questioning the need for new schools in outlying areas, calling it unwanted urban intrusion.

RETAIL, HOUSING HEAVY

Industrial growth is sparse, mainly because the area doesn’t have a large road corridor, such as the one along I-77 near Blythewood in Northeast Richland.

Land prices also are too rich for industry, making the area more suitable for retail and residential growth, real estate agents say.

The down economy is tempering growth. Empty storefronts like Circuit City in Harbison and Piggly Wiggly in Irmo are appearing.

Even as some businesses fail, others are taking their place.

“The area keeps getting a lot of looks,” said Ansel Bunch, an agent with CB Richard Ellis.

Those looks are translating into new stores and restaurants, such as a Japanese steak house in Harbison.

Part of that interest could be because average rental rates in the area are falling, Teaster said.

Rental rates for small shops dropped slightly in 2008, and rates for all spaces are expected to drop further as the recession lingers.

Lower rates could mean more opportunity for businesses that are new to the market or previously could not afford to locate in the area, agents said.

Whatever the reason development comes, no one expects the area’s luster to fade soon.

Tommy Boozer sees the changes that growth is creating in the myriad of new demands on SCE&G’s operation of a lake built 79 years ago for hydropower.

“More people are letting us know about what they see going on and asking questions,” said Boozer, who is SCE&G’s lake manager. “That’s all good.”

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