Will outlet mall locate off I-77 in Cayce?

An outlet mall is being planned for Cayce near the interchange of Interstate 77 and 12th Street Extension, according to a Vermont development company’s website.

Columbia Capital Outlets would be located near SCANA Corp.’s headquarters off Saxe Gotha Road. The 300,000-square-foot site, at Exit 2 on I-77, is 11 minutes from downtown Columbia and easily accessible to I-77, according to the development company.

EB Development, an outlet mall leasing and management company, lists the Columbia Capital Outlets project on its website, ebdevelop.com. The website says the mall is “Columbia, S.C.’s new destination for outlet savings” and directs leasing inquiries to the company.

The website does not indicate whether any tenants have committed to the mall. But it, along with a brochure posted on the site, lists several local assets, including the University of South Carolina’s growing student enrollment, annual visitors to Fort Jackson, major local employers and area hotels.

The company said it has been involved with several other outlet malls, including The Outlets at The Pike in Long Beach, Calif.; The Outlets at Assembly Row in Somerville, Mass.; and Las Americas Premium Outlets in San Diego. Retailers have included Nike Factory Store, Gap Factory, Banana Republic Factory Store, and Disney Outlet.

EB Development said Columbia Capital Outlets is a joint venture with Paris Projects in Charlotte.

State and Cayce officials contacted by The State this week said they were unaware of the outlet mall plans. No plans have been filed with the city of Cayce, City Manager Rebecca Vance said.

SCANA, the parent company of South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., owns the property that EB Development has identified as the mall’s location. A SCANA spokesman said the company still owns the land and is marketing it for commercial development. The company said it does not discuss details of land or property sales until purchase contracts have been finalized.

The property is part of SCANA’s Otarre Pointe development, which includes about 260 acres surrounding the I-77 interchange at 12th Street Extension. SCANA moved its headquarters to that area from downtown Columbia in 2009.

Three years ago, SCANA said it had a letter of intent to sell a sizable portion of Otarre Pointe, which lies in an archeologically significant area of Cayce. The company, which constructed a five-building, 550,000-square-foot headquarters at a cost of $160 million, said it wanted only specific kinds of development at Otarre Pointe, including upscale shops and stores, apartments and, possibly, a hotel.

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 9:40 PM.