The future of downtown Columbia could be shaped by this massive project, leaders say
A $92 million project that includes two hotels and retail and office space planned for the Kline Iron and Steel site at Gervais and Huger streets could be transformative for the city, downtown boosters say.
The corner is one of the most prominent in the city. And the adjacent Kline tract has been ripe for development for years, but nothing has stuck so far.
If the project comes through, it could spur more development on another large, adjacent tract that once housed the SCE&G bus barn and reshape Columbia’s main gateway.
Fred Delk, executive director of the Columbia Development Corp., which encourages and guides investment in the Vista, said the project would be “transformational,” finally linking the Vista to the Congaree River and its nearby attractions.
“We have been developing to the west and there was always this big gap,” he said. “Now we will have a hotel next to all the amenities like the children’s museum, state museum, Riverfront Park and Stormwater Studios.
“Also, it is a gateway from West Columbia to the city and also for people coming in from the interstate to downtown.”
A new intersection is also planned at Huger and Lady streets to serve as an entrance into the project, he said. It and improvements to the Gervais Street intersection will make the river and its attractions more accessible to pedestrians coming from other areas of the Vista.
The project by the Windsor/Aughtry Company of Greenville will initially feature a seven-story, 146-room Marriott AC Hotel with a 10,000-square-foot rooftop bar, the city of Columbia and Richland County announced Wednesday in a news release.
The project will eventually include 75,000 square feet of office space, 35,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, a 350-space parking garage and a second hotel with 114 rooms.
“We believe that there is no greater investment opportunity in the region that will facilitate Columbia becoming recognized as one of the ‘really cool’ river cities in the country,” developer Bo Aughtry said in the release.
Aughtry is a pioneer in Columbia’s downtown hotel market.
He developed the Hampton Inn on Gervais Street in 2001 and the Hilton Columbia Center in conjunction with the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
Aughtry told The State Wednesday that he wanted to create a destination for visitors on the 7-acre Kline tract, an area that has been ripe for growth since the long-standing mill closed in 2004.
“It felt like a crisp, current lifestyle center would do well there,” he said.
The Kline property is also adjacent to the 6-acre former SCE&G bus barn tract that is ready for development, Delk noted.
Aughtry said construction of the AC Hotel could begin in the third or fourth quarter of this year and take up to 24 months to complete.
Although the hotel itself would have a construction time of 16 to 18 months, the need to build public infrastructure — sidewalks, a parking garage — could stretch that to 24.
Wednesday’s announcement touted a second, unnamed hotel as part of the project. But Aughtry said it would be built well down the road and its construction would depend on market conditions.
“We would be reticent to pull the trigger in a market that was moving to oversupply,” he said.
The project leverages a 50 percent property tax credit approved Tuesday night by Richland County Council. The tax break, also approved by Columbia City Council in December, would require the developer to pay for the public infrastructure, including the garage.
Without the tax break, the project wouldn’t have been feasible, Aughtry said.
It is the third project to leverage the new tax breaks. The others are a 262-unit apartment building at BullStreet and the redevelopment of the old Capital City Stadium.
Mayor Steve Benjamin noted in the release that the Kline project would create 250 jobs.
“This project will serve as a catalyst for future development in our city,” he said, and “solidify the connectivity between the Vista Entertainment District and Congaree River.”
Kline Steel was founded in 1923 and became a national player in steel fabrication, specializing in television towers. It even fabricated the broadcast towers placed atop the World Trade Center in New York City.