Developers, city continue to hammer out details of $80 million student housing tower
The world was a different place in September 2015.
Steve Spurrier was the football coach at the University of South Carolina and social media giant TikTok didn’t exist. September 2015 is also the first time the City of Columbia’s design board got a look at a concept for The Edge, a massive private student housing tower that could potentially change the face of Assembly Street north of the State House.
Now, five years later, developers and the city continue working to hammer out the final details on exactly how the ambitious $80 million project would look.
Columbia’s Design/Development Review Commission held a committee meeting Monday with developer Jay Case, of Chicago-based CRG Real Estate, to discuss design tweaks to the proposed development, which would stand at the corner of Washington and Assembly streets, next to the main branch of the Richland Library.
The basics of the project are that it would be 17 floors, with 679 beds and a parking garage with spaces for 417 cars, according to paperwork filed with the city.
Monday’s work session between the D/DRC and developers came on the heels of a mildly contentious meeting on Nov. 12, when commission members were alarmed at some proposed changes to the design of the building, as compared to prior renderings and plans.
“This looks like a very significantly different design,” D/DRC member Tom Savory said at the Nov. 12 meeting. “It’s really sort of a matter of incremental changes that add up to a big difference in effect.”
Another commission member, Sanford Dinkins, said at the Nov. 12 meeting that he was “a little taken aback” by some of the design changes to the project compared to previous versions.
Among other things, commissioners at that meeting suggested the amount of glass on the facing of the proposed building, particularly on the Assembly Street side, had been diminished.
Meanwhile, Case on Nov. 12 had expressed concern about the timeline for getting the project started if negotiations with the design board dragged on. Ultimately the commissioners voted to discuss things further in Monday’s work session.
And on Monday the tone between the two sides softened quite a bit. New plans presented increased the aforementioned glass —commonly referred to as “glazing” in construction projects — along Assembly, and clarified other concerns, such as the location of trash facilities on site.
Savory, a Columbia architect, affirmed the D/DRC wants to work with developers toward a final design.
“I want to set the tone clearly, and for those who might be watching, that the D/DRC is very supportive of this project,” Savory said Monday. “I’m personally very excited about it. I’ve said that myself, and I know other commissioners have said the same.”
The design board will likely consider the project again for a formal vote in its Jan. 14 meeting.
Case, of CRG, noted that the design board and the community have been “good to work with” as plans have been developed.
“It’s a large project, and there are challenges today that are different than when we started,” Case said. “We are trying our best, because we really think it’s a good market and a good location.”
Meanwhile, Matt Kennell, CEO of Main Street District property owners’ advocacy group City Center Partnership, authored a letter in support of The Edge, which was read aloud during Monday’s informal meeting.
“We are hopeful the D/DRC can work with this quality developer on a final design that is able to move forward toward construction,” Kennell wrote. “This new development fits well in an urban setting that bridges both the Main Street and Vista districts and brings smart density to a long-vacant parcel.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 2:53 PM.
