Luxury apartments to boost downtown Columbia living

Work is beginning on two apartment projects that will ramp up luxury living in downtown Columbia and expand Main Street’s revitalization down Lady and Hampton streets.

Memphis-based Heritage Land & Development has embarked on a $19 million project to the AgFirst Farm Credit Bank Building at 1401 Hampton St. – known for the “Tunnelvision” mural on its north side – into 114 one- and two-bedroom apartments.

And downtown pioneers Tom and Jeff Prioreschi soon will convert the 65-year-old Owen Building at 1321 Lady St. into 130 luxury apartments at a cost of $22 million.

The developers “are really taking downtown living to a new level,” said Matt Kennell, president of City Center Partnership, which encourages and guides investment in the central business district. “They are going to be very very high end.”

The AgFirst project, called Land Bank Apartments, will feature 16-foot ceilings, 88-year-old marble columns, original wooden flooring, French doors opening to Hampton Street, personal terraces overlooking Marion Street and beautiful views of downtown.

There even will be a studio apartment in the old bank vault. And yes, “Tunnelvision” will remain.

With limestone and granite facade, jutted green awning and marble foyer, developers hope the 150 or so residents will be reminded of a Fifth Avenue apartment house in Manhattan.

The developers – who specialize in historic renovations – keep uncovering new features and adjusting floor plans to incorporate them.

“It’s kind of like a jigsaw puzzle putting it all together,” said Heritage president Will Yandell. “We’ll sacrifice a room to save a feature.”

Each unit in the building will be different from the others, with its own features and layout. They’ll each have ceilings ranging from 10 to 16 feet and include the building’s original moldings. Private, secure-access parking will be behind the building, as will a pool and outdoor social area, the developers said.

Studios in the building should open in the first quarter of next year. They will start at about $800, Yandell said, adding “we haven’t priced the vault yet.”

The Prioreschis plan on starting construction on Thirteen 21 later this month.

The apartments will add about 170 residents to Capitol Places’ current 250, according to Jeff Prioreschi, managing member of Painite Capital and son of Capitol Places co-founder Tom Prioreschi.

Amenities will include a salt-water swimming pool, deck and grilling area, theater room, Wi-Fi lounge and fitness center, all of which will be available to residents of all Capitol Places apartments.

The Owen Building is an eight-story structure built between 1947 and 1949 with a four-story annex added in 1961. It was once considered a milestone in downtown Columbia, being the city’s first “high-rise” building to go up after World War II.

It was home to Southern Telegraph and Telephone Co. for more than 20 years.

The Owen Building will join other Capitol Places properties, such as the Kress and Barringer buildings on Main Street. The Prioreschis first developed the Kress building in 2000.

“Back then, you could roll a bowling ball down Main Street after five o’clock and not hit anybody,” Jeff Prioreschi said. “Now its getting to a level where we can go a little higher end have a higher level of amenities.”

The project will be Capitol Places’ first since 2011, when it opened the Lofts at Lourie’s apartments on Main Street.

Thirteen 21 should be open by late summer of 2016. Studios are priced at about $900 per month.

Kennell predicted that more upscale apartments will be built as empty nester move to a more vibrant downtown or rent second homes to be closer to downtown amenities.

“There’s a national shift for more luxury apartment living and Columbia is prime for that,” he said.

He noted that upscale student housing, which is adding more than 5,600 beds near the University of South Carolina, sparked more interest in downtown living. And the upscale housing will ramp that momentum even more.

And there is a next wave of downtown rental housing, led by developer Don Tomlin.

Tomlin plans to build towers on the city’s downtown parking garages, and has announced plans for a 22-story high-rise on top of the seven-story Lady Street parking garage.

The market, he has said, would be recent college graduates who are used to the resort-style amenities now offered by the city’s upscale student housing – such as pools, vollyball courts, fitness rooms and outdoor theaters.

“It seems funny,” Kennell said. “But they would be apartments for young professionals who want something as glitzy as they stayed in at college.”

This story was originally published July 4, 2015 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Luxury apartments to boost downtown Columbia living."