Nearly 100 new ‘attainable’ apartments are coming to Columbia’s BullStreet District
More residences are headed to Columbia’s BullStreet District.
The Midtown at BullStreet development, which will feature what officials are referring to as 90 “attainable,” workforce rental apartment units, is set to begin construction at BullStreet, per a Wednesday morning news release. Construction is expected to be completed by fall 2023.
The Midtown development will be situated near Paige Ellington Park, east of Segra Park baseball stadium. It will feature 18 two-bedroom townhouse units and 72 one-, two- and three-bedroom garden-style units, with amenities to include a community room, computer center, exercise room, playground and gazebo.
“Our company is honored to be a part of history to provide much-needed attainable workforce housing at one of the nation’s largest downtown redevelopments,” said Kevin Connelly, president of Lexington’s Connelly Development, which is developing the Midtown project. “Our years of experience in providing various types of housing have prepared us to help meet the city’s need for more attainable housing while providing our residents with a quality lifestyle experience.
“With this community being within 100 yards of Segra Park, our residents will have the opportunity to not only walk to enjoy a game, but they also have them potential to work in the same community where they live.”
Wednesday’s release didn’t detail how much apartments would cost in the Midtown development. However, various online resources, including the National Apartment Association, generally define “attainable” apartments as those aimed at residents making between 60% to 120% of the area median income.
Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann lauded the idea of having cost-effective housing in the rapidly changing BullStreet District.
“Attainable housing at the BullStreet District helps the city meet one of our most pressing needs because it helps keep workers in Columbia to benefit our workforce,” Rickenmann said in a statement. “Workers are leaving Columbia because the cost of housing is too high. Having attainable housing in one of our most high-profile developments is good for our city and our workforce and addresses a critical need.”
The Midtown housing announcement is the latest bit of movement at BullStreet, where Greenville’s Hughes Development and the city of Columbia are in the midst of a multi-year effort to overhaul the 181-acre site.
A new Publico restaurant is now open near Segra Park, where the Columbia Fireflies are are nearing the end of their 2022 minor league baseball season.
Meanwhile, there are tenants in the Merrill Gardens senior living facility at the site and in the townhomes on the southeast portion of the property. And despite a destructive fire in 2020, work is forging ahead on a $55 million project to turn the historic Babcock Building into more than 200 apartments, where some residents have already moved in.
Two parking garages have been built on the site, including one that is being used for Fireflies games, and work is being completed on the WestLawn building, which will have a law office and retail space, at the site. A food hall is planned for the district, and the Bennet at BullStreet apartments are under construction.
Construction also is underway on Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant along Bull Street, not far from where a Starbucks and REI Outdoor store are located in the district.
Robert Hughes, president of Hughes Development, which is the master developer on the BullStreet site, said having residents living in the district is key to its success.
“The announcement of Midtown at BullStreet brings us one step closer to fulfilling BullStreet’s vision,” Hughes said in a statement. “At this project’s completion, we will have over 1,000 residents living in over 700 units of either attainable housing, market-rate apartments, for-sale townhomes, or senior housing, with plans to develop student housing as well. The variety of housing types is necessary to provide an authentic mixed-use, urban lifestyle experience, and we are excited to work with Kevin Connelly and his team.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 9:00 AM.
