When will construction start on apartments, stores at old Cardinal Newman school?

It’s been argued over, down-sized and reconfigured, but redevelopment of the former Cardinal Newman school site in Forest Acres is set to begin.

Charleston’s The Beach Co. will begin construction on the 12.5-acre site on Forest Drive in the first quarter of next year, construction manager Ned Miller said.

The 42,000-square-foot shopping component, called Cardinal Crossing, should be finished in early 2019. The 246 residential units and 10 townhouses, called The Cardinal, should be ready for occupancy about a year later.

“We want to create a gathering place,” Miller said. “We want to create a mixed-use setting that allows people who live in the apartments to walk out of their homes to restaurants, services, Pilates, whatever.”

The redevelopment of the former private Catholic school campus is one of the three largest infill projects in the Midlands. It joins the 25-acre CanalSide project on the site of the former Central Correctional Institution in Columbia and BullStreet on the 181-acre campus of the former S.C. State Hospital.

Like those two projects, the Cardinal Newman redevelopment was controversial at its inception. The company, the city and the developers tangled for months over the size of the project and its impact on traffic on busy Forest Drive.

The issue was somewhat put to rest when the state Department of Transportation agreed to place about $750,000 worth of new, high-tech traffic lights along the length of Forest Drive from Interstate 77 to Two Notch Road.

The “smart signals,” officially called adaptive traffic signals, won’t solve rush hour traffic, said Lori Campbell, assistant district traffic engineer for the South Carolina Department of Transportation. But they should help iron out the flow during off-peak periods and improve safety.

“It’s an effort to manage expectations; we need people to understand that this doesn’t add capacity to the roadway,” she said. “There might be some improvement in the a.m. and p.m. peaks, but it should give (more) improvement during off-peak hours.”

Also, along with additional yellow flashing left-turn arrows, the smart signals should improve safety, Campbell said, also cutting down on traffic snarled by accidents.

Also, the Beach Co. is adding right turn lanes coming in and out of the development for traffic coming from I-77, and left and right hand turns at the traffic signal at the adjacent strip shopping mall, Miller said. That mall will be home to the new Lowe’s Foods, Miller said.

Campbell noted that the Cardinal Newman school added significant traffic during the morning commute, which is now mitigated.

“So it’s the p.m. when (new development) will have the most impact,” Campbell said.

Cardinal Newman School moved to Alpine Road in January 2016. The school’s mascot is the Cardinal.

Forest Acres is also considering a long-term corridor plan that will also address capacity and safety concerns.

“The traffic studies showed that they would not have a negative impact on the traffic especially as we do things to alleviate the overall traffic issue,” said Forest Acres city administrator Shaun Greenwood.

Greenwood said that like BullStreet and CanalSide, The Cardinal and Cardinal Center are part of a nationwide trend of baby boomers downsizing and young professionals seeking inclusive “lifestyle centers.”

“That’s the overall trend throughout all of the United States,” he said. “They want to live in the neighbor but don’t want the big yard and all the upkeep. They want to get in an all-inclusive community-type apartments.”

Miller, of the Beach Co., said that the retail — paired with the new Lowe’s Foods — would provide that all-inclusive lifestyle. The storefront will be sized to restaurants and service shops.

“It’s going to be compact and convenient,” he said.

The apartments will be built in a traditional style and offer studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, Miller said. They also will offer high-quality amenities.

The lease rates of the apartments have not been determined, he said, “but they will be on the upper end of the market.”

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 3:13 PM with the headline "When will construction start on apartments, stores at old Cardinal Newman school?."