Kline City Center, CanalSide addition on tap for design panel

Developers are seeking final city approval Thursday to go ahead with plans for two large-scale, mixed-use projects planned for downtown Columbia.

Greenville-based Homes Urban has asked Columbia’s Design/Development Review Commission to approve designs for the first two buildings of a larger, 545,000-square-foot development on the former Kline Iron and Steel Co. property at the corner of Huger and Gervais.

And The Beach Co. of Charleston has requested design approval for the last two buildings in its planned addition to the CanalSide apartment complex in the Vista.

Both developers say applying for the commission’s approval is the last significant obstacle between them and breaking ground.

Plans for the up-to-$100 million Kline City Center project call for a 140-room hotel, roughly 350 apartments and space for stores and restaurants, Homes Urban partner Russ Davis has said.

The first two mixed-use buildings will have several stories of residential units, with commercial space mixed in on the first story, D/DRC agenda documents show.

The first building, at Huger and Washington streets, includes four or five stories of residential units with restaurant and retail space on the first floor, D/DRC agenda documents show. A parking garage for that building is to be west of the apartment complex, toward the State Museum and the Congaree River. City design staff has recommended approval of the plans, with some conditions. Davis said Homes Urban plans to begin construction this spring and complete the project within two years.

The Beach Co. is seeking both design and site plan approval Thursday to go ahead with construction of a $58 million expansion to the CanalSide apartment complex in downtown Columbia.

Plans for the project include nearly 340 apartment units and more than 31,000 square feet for commercial use, according to D/DRC agenda documents. The Beach Co. development manager Ned Miller has said the addition would nearly double CanalSide’s number of residents, currently at about 600.

The Beach Co. plans to begin building in late spring or early summer and to complete the construction in two years, Miller said.

City staff has recommended the design commission approve the plans, with some conditions.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 9:28 PM with the headline "Kline City Center, CanalSide addition on tap for design panel."