Columbia church could be turned into apartments alongside shops, restaurants
A Columbia church whose congregation has worked to rebound after growing slim in recent years could be redeveloped into apartments and a mix of businesses.
The Rosewood Church property on Rosewood Drive, which went up for sale last fall, is now slated for a rezoning hearing to consider whether multifamily housing, or apartments, could be built there.
Columbia’s Cason Development Group hopes to keep the existing church building and convert it into “high-end apartments for young professionals and empty-nesters looking to downsize,” company president Frank Cason said in an email to The State.
According to a zoning application submitted to the city, the redevelopment also would include parking and a pair of commercial buildings — one existing, one to be newly built — across the street from the church, beside Rosewood Market.
Plans submitted with the application indicate there could be 47 apartment units built on the church site.
In its case for rezoning, the developer says the plans for a mixed-use development will complement the existing variety of businesses and homes in the surrounding area and could encourage walkability. Near the church site are a shopping center anchored by Publix grocery store, several restaurants such as Rosewood Dairy Bar and Rockaway Athletic Club, Rosewood Market, and a number of small shops.
“We are excited about the opportunity to bring a new mixed use project to the Rosewood/Shandon area and are hopeful it will spark additional investment in the area and continue to raise the bar in the community,” Cason told The State.
Cason Development Group has staked a broad development footprint in the Columbia area, including several restaurant and retail projects in recent years in the Cottontown neighborhood off of up-and-coming North Main Street.
Rosewood Church has rebranded itself and worked to regrow its community presence in recent years after its aging congregation had begun to dwindle. Speaking to The State last fall, pastor Bob Morgan said selling the property would free the church from the costly burden of its aging building and allow the congregation to start off on a new foot in a new space.
Aging church buildings across the U.S. are increasingly being redeveloped into homes and businesses as faith communities adapt to changing cultural habits and, in many cases, shrinking church attendance. The Rosewood Church redevelopment likely would be one of the first, if not the first, of this kind in Columbia.
The rezoning request for the church property will be considered at a virtual meeting of the city Board of Zoning Appeals on June 4.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 3:51 PM.
