At 25, Columbiana Centre sprucing up, going solar
Columbiana Centre turns 25 this summer and notable changes at the thriving Harbison mall are under way that include a new, “really cool” sit-down restaurant to replace Spinnaker’s after a nine-year absence of a dining room for shoppers.
The regional mall is opening new stores, and is at the doorstep of a major spruce-up that includes new roofing, parking-lot paving, new heating and air-conditioning systems and, literally to top it all off, the start of conversion to rooftop solar panels.
The work is not necessarily related to the mall’s anniversary, Columbiana Centre manager Andrew Peach said.
Shoppers also will have smoother rides to the mall. A 11/2-mile stretch of Columbiana Drive is to be repaved. The $2.6 million job, on what the city of Columbia’s public works director once called “the worst road in the city” is to be completed about mid-June.
“Right now, the mall is extremely healthy,” said Peach, general manager for about a year. “Like many of the mall management companies in the United States right now, we are facing bankruptcies of retailers (Cache, a women’s clothier, RadioShack, an electronics chain, and Coldwater Creek (in 2014), a women’s clothing and accessories dealer).
“It seems like every time we find out a bankruptcy is about to occur, we have a line of retailers that are trying to get into the center.”
Here are the highlights and the mall’s history of upgrades.
Reach Burris at (803) 771-8398
Twitter: @RoddieBurris
New stores
Harris Jewelers, opened last week; Kids Footlocker, Belk Men’s Store, which is having a grand opening celebration Wednesday.
Belk’s expansion of its men’s store opened in 51,000 square feet of the former Sears store. The expansion is dedicated solely to men’s fashions with an expanded shoe department, new apparel lines and more space.
New prospect (as yet unannounced), will open in 48,000 square feet of Sears’ space; a second prospect is negotiating for the remaining 9,000 square feet. Announcements could come within 30 days.
A new restaurant to replace Spinnaker’s is to be announced in a month, across from Forever 21. The restaurant will feature a new, open patio with a retractable roof.
Nine stores opened in 2014.
The Mall
Located on Harbison Boulevard and near three interstates, the mall is 15 minutes from downtown and USC, depending on traffic.
It has 827,719 square feet of enclosed space with vaulted ceilings and skylights – all on 82 acres.
It opened July 25, 1990, was expanded in 1993 and is managed by General Growth Properties of Chicago.
Anchors: Belk, Dillard’s, JC Penney; 78 permanent stores total; 98 percent occupancy
Dining: Food court with 9 restaurants, 540 seats
Parking: 4,191 spaces
Upgrades in the making
Heating, air conditioning: 17 new rooftop units to be delivered in May, aiming for greater energy efficiency, sustainability, greener footprint
New roofing: Approximately 170,000 square feet to be replaced; work begins in May. Completion is scheduled for eight to 10 weeks. Two-thirds of mall will be newly roofed going into 2016.
Solar panels: To be installed over areas that get new roofing and to be completed by mid-summer.
Paving: Five-year phase-in plan starts this year. The mall’s outer ring road and the entrances are in worse condition and likely to be paved first. Parking lot improvements are to commence immediately after roof work is finished.
Lighting: Retrofitting all parking lot light fixtures with LED bulbs, beginning immediately.
Sources: General Growth Properties; Columbiana Centre mall
This story was originally published March 28, 2015 at 10:30 PM with the headline "At 25, Columbiana Centre sprucing up, going solar."