Muschamp buys Spurrier’s condo near stadium

Will Muschamp is taking over more than the Gamecock football team from Steve Spurrier.

The University of South Carolina’s new head coach bought a condominium across from Williams-Brice Stadium from the team’s old head coach, according to a sales record filed in Richland County.

Muschamp bought the 796-square-foot, one-bedroom condo at Carolina Walk for $130,000.

Spurrier and his wife, Jerri, paid $221,212 for the sixth-floor unit when the complex, one of the first of its kind catering to USC football fans, opened in 2006. Its tax value is $141,900, according to county records.

Despite the success of the Gamecocks since 2010, values on so-called Cockominiums have fallen with the recession, overbuilding and changes in tax laws, said Jim Craig, who was minority owner in developing Carolina Walk. Developers auctioned 10 units at discounts of more than 50 percent in 2008.

But having Muschamp in the complex might spark some interest in Carolina Walk, Craig said. “You might bump into him, have an accidental meeting, maybe get his autograph.”

Efforts to reach Muschamp and Spurrier were unsuccessful Wednesday.

The condo is Muschamp’s second real estate purchase since coming to Columbia. He bought a five-bedroom, seven-bathroom home on Lake Murray for $1.85 million in February.

Spurrier, who stepped down last year after nearly 11 seasons at USC last year, is staying in Columbia as an $100,000-a-year ambassador for the university. His home at Woodcreek Farms in Elgin is not on the market, according to a search of real estate records.

In 2006, Spurrier along with then-USC baseball coach Ray Tanner and men’s basketball coach Dave Odom were offered discounts on Carolina Walk units in exchange for using their pictures on a banner outside the building to promote sales, Craig said.

Odom and Tanner did not buy units, Craig said. Spurrier bought two condos in 2006, according to county property records.

One of them was a two-bedrooom, two-bathroom unit that Spurrier purchased for $221,160. Similar condos in Carolina Walk were going for more than $400,000 at the time, according to property records.

Spurrier sold the 1,206-square-foot condo in 2008 for $268,000 — a profit of almost $47,000.

The coach joked in 2006 about the growth of condominium complexes around the stadium: “We are making a lot of money for somebody.”

The Gamecocks’ going on another good run could help Muschamp with his latest real-estate investment.

“If the Gamecocks get better, hopefully that improves the market,” said real estate agent Loretta Starr with Russell & Jeffcoat, who is selling a unit in Carolina Walk.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Muschamp buys Spurrier’s condo near stadium."