Columbia’s City Roots urban farm plans $10 million, 93-acre expansion. Here’s what we know
Columbia’s City Roots urban farm is planning a $10 million new agricultural facility at Pineview Industrial Park in Lower Richland and the addition 60 new jobs to its operation over the next five years.
City Roots will purchase 93 acres from Richland County for a total of $100 while receiving economic development tax credits from the county to offset the project’s costs, according to county documents. The organization has agreed to invest nearly $10 million for a massive microgreen operation, to include a state-of-the-art greenhouse and solar panels to help make the whole endeavor as carbon-neutral as possible.
City Roots has been looking for space to expand for months. After seeing new projects at trade shows this fall, City Roots co-founders Robbie and Eric McClam, a father-son team, agreed they didn’t have the room at their original facility in Columbia’s Rosewood community, so they started looking around South Carolina.
They looked around Orangeburg and Charleston before connecting with state commerce leaders, who pointed them back to Richland County.
Eric McClam said they can only build on about 10-15 acres of the nearly 100-acre property at Pineview Industrial Park. The rest of the land is wetland, which City Roots is uniquely positioned to care for as an urban farming operation.
He said they hope to complete building the greenhouse by January. The group also plans to continue its educational programming, which has included partnerships with Clemson, the state Department of Agriculture and local schools.
In the past few years, City Roots has undergone several changes.
In 2018, the farm downsized after previously expanding from 3 to 30 acres, the Free Times reported at the time.
The next year, the farm announced a new venture — growing industrial hemp with partners Brackish Solutions. That announcement came with another expansion and the promise of 40 new jobs. But that endeavor was short-lived, Eric McClam explained, calling hemp a “boom and bust” industry.
The farm still operates for consumption, producing a variety of microgreens sold at Whole Foods, Earth Fare and Lowes Foods among other retailers. McClam said the farm’s expansion will help expand their reach at national retailers as well.
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 10:02 AM.
