New student apartments planned for Gervais Street get city approval
Eight stories of student apartments are set to be built on Gervais Street in downtown Columbia after a developer received approval for the site design Thursday.
Earlier this year, the city’s Design/Development Review Commission had said the apartments shouldn’t be built because the plan pushed the boundaries of the city’s guidelines for zoning and design. However, the design board quickly walked back its denial and agreed to reconsider approving the site plan and building design after the developer made a few design changes.
The project does, in fact, met all of the city’s zoning requirements, including height and density. City planning staff noted that the height and scale of the proposed building are in line with the nearby University of South Carolina law school building and Hilton Garden Inn hotel.
Indiana-based developer Trinitas plans to build 276 apartment units, able to house about 540 residents, according to previous plans submitted to the city. The project site is in the 1600 block of Gervais Street, at the intersection with Pickens Street downtown.
In addition to a variety of studio, two- and three-bedroom apartment units, the development is expected to feature a parking garage, swimming pool, fitness center, study rooms and other amenities, according to plans previously submitted to the city.
The apartments will be built across the street from the law school and diagonally from the hotel. Each of those buildings stand between 70 and 75 feet tall, compared to the apartments’ 75-foot height.
Residents of the nearby University Hill neighborhood, along with the Historic Columbia organization, opposed the proposed development from the beginning and continued to stand against it Thursday, saying it is too large for the area. They had earlier argued, too, that it could invite too much college traffic into their neighborhood.
A local law firm and a pair of real estate firms submitted letters of support for the project to city staff and members of the design board.
“I think it is a beautiful proposal, with the added benefit of making modern residential space available for students at the adjacent Law School,” local attorney David Massey wrote. “It would be a shame for the City of Columbia to lose this opportunity to enhance the beauty and function of Gervais Street.”
This story was originally published July 9, 2020 at 5:40 PM.
