Developer known for student housing has sights set on Columbia’s Olympia neighborhood

The city is reviewing plans for a new housing development in the Olympia neighborhood, which has become a popular hub for college students in recent years.

Documents submitted to the city’s Design/Development Review Commission outline a plan to build seven single story homes on a set of vacant lots on Hayward Street, right across from the Olympia Mills and Granby Mills student apartment complexes.

The application was submitted by Josh Harding, vice president for PMC Property Group, a Philadelphia based developer that owns the Olympia Mills, Granby Mills and several other student housing complexes in the city.

According to the evaluation from the DDRC, Harding originally received approval in October 2019 to build seven brick duplexes on the parcels, but has now revised the plans to construct single family homes instead. The proposed site has been vacant since the mill was constructed more than a century ago, according to DDRC documents..

The DDRC is set to vote on the proposal at its upcoming meeting on Thursday, Sept. 9.

Rebecca Liebson

The State

Rebecca Liebson covers housing and livability for The State. She is also a Report for America corps member. Rebecca joined The State in 2020. She graduated from Stony Brook University in 2019 and has written for The New York Times, The New York Post and NBC. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Hearst Foundation and the Press Club of Long Island. Support my work with a digital subscription