Most of USC’s Williams-Brice area project could be in a flood plain. How could that work?
The University of South Carolina athletic department’s plan for more development near Williams-Brice Stadium drew a range of ideas — and concerns — this past week about what could be built on the flood plain property between Bluff Road and the Congaree River.
While there would be restrictions on constructing many types of buildings in an area prone to flooding, state and community leaders envisioned a place dotted with amphitheaters, walking trails, athletic fields and golf courses, which could be developed more easily in flood plains because they can withstand floods.
One former USC board member questioned how much the work might cost the university, but others said developing near the river would complement happenings at the football stadium on Bluff Road. USC said additional development could attract people to the stadium area year-round, not just on seven football Saturdays.
“I think there is a use there, especially for a fan experience,’’ Columbia flood consultant Lisa Sharrard said. “There’s a ton of stuff they could do that would not be problematic.’’
On Tuesday, USC athletics director Ray Tanner and other top university officials announced their intention to embark on an aggressive development project that would lead to major renovations to Williams-Brice Stadium and areas near the stadium, as well as the eventual development of a number of properties near Colonial Life Arena downtown.
Specifics have been hard to come by initially, but the university has started a Request for Information process in which it is seeking ideas from developers and the private sector on how to embark on the redevelopment. All in, school officials have estimated the project could result in more than $1 billion in investment, largely from the private sector.
A key part of the plan involves the area along the river near the Carolina football stadium. USC is looking to leverage 889 acres of property the school or its foundation own near Williams-Brice, land that is located south and west of Bluff Road.
Of those 889 acres, 847 of them are in a flood plain, as noted on an aerial reference map the school provided reporters on Tuesday. The other 42 acres, most of which are at the west end of National Guard Road, beyond USC’s football practice facility, are not in a flood plain.
Properties in flood plains typically have restrictions on what can be built there. Buildings often must be designed to withstand flooding, usually by being elevated higher above the ground than buildings outside flood plains. That can slow down development and drive up costs.
That’s worth paying close attention to as the university moves ahead with plans, one leading environmentalist said.
“I think the important thing for the university to keep in mind here and the important thing for any of these developers who are bringing proposals is to know that, in fact, this is a flood plain, and there absolutely will be restraints and limits on what they can do there,” Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler said. “There are some uses of flood plain property that are good, and there are some that are just not going to fly.’’
Sharrard, a former state Department of Natural Resources flood plain official, said golf courses, recreational sites and outdoor amphitheaters are sound uses for flood plain property like USC’s. Her company, for instance, helped with development of a baseball complex in recent years near Heathwood Hall school, which is in the same low-lying area as the USC land, she said.
“They are going to find uses for that property because land is valuable,’’ said Sharrard, who owns Carolina Flood Solutions.
Stangler agreed there are passive uses that could be targeted for the property. Athletic fields or a golf course, for instance, wouldn’t be as difficult to develop in the flood plain as buildings that might contain commercial businesses, he said.
“The real concern with flood plain development is putting people or property in harm’s way,” Stangler noted. “So, if the uses you have don’t really put people or property in harm’s way, that makes it a much more reasonable use of that area.”
“Google the phrase ‘Green Diamond’”
Development in flood plains has occurred across the country for hundreds of years. The land is often attractive because it is flat and near water, but heavy rains and storms can swell rivers that spill their banks and swamp developed areas.
People living in flood plains typically need flood insurance, backed by the federal government, because of the risk. But when massive floods occur, the program has sometimes not been adequate to pay claims, causing taxpayers to spend millions of dollars. That’s been a problem near rivers in the nation’s interior and on the coast near the ocean.
The area USC is interested in seeing developed is along a part of the Congaree flood plain that was at one time envisioned for a massive project touted as potentially transformative for Columbia.
Called a “city within a city’’ by developers, the Green Diamond project was to include residential areas, hotels, a conference center, a technology center, golf courses, greenways and an outdoor amphitheater, according to an October 2000 news release from Columbia Venture, the development consortium headed by Myrtle Beach developer Burroughs and Chapin.
The developers also promoted it as a way to benefit USC, saying research facilities could be part of the project.
But the Green Diamond effort fell apart for a variety of reasons. The land was never developed, and substantial chunks of it eventually were sold off.
Critics said the development group headed by Burroughs and Chapin was too secretive, while others questioned the project’s relationship to USC.
Much of the concern about developing the land centered on flooding on parts of the approximately 4,500 acres, particularly the lower portion near the Columbia sewer plant adjacent to Interstate 77. Parts of the land contain earthen dikes, structures built long ago in an effort to prevent flooding. The property also is pockmarked with wetlands.
Concerns by environmentalists in the early 2000s were realized in October 2015, when a historic flood swamped Columbia. Much of the property near the sewer plant and Heathwood Hall school was covered in standing water.
About 17 years after initially proposing the Green Diamond project, developers lost a case in the U.S. Supreme Court in which they argued that local flood restrictions had limited development. The developers had said they were owed government compensation.
“One of the things that I would recommend any developer who is looking at that flood plain property to do is Google the phrase ‘Green Diamond,’ because we have seen how this could play out,’’ Stangler said.
J. Egerton Burroughs, who served on the USC board from 2008 until late 2022, said he could not address how the area should develop, but he was skeptical about what future development might cost the university. He is also director emeritus of the Burroughs and Chapin board.
“It caught everybody by surprise,’’ Burroughs said of this week’s announcement. “I don’t know that anybody knows much about it except Coach Tanner.’’
While senior university officials this week have insisted that the private sector would shoulder much of the cost for development plans near Williams-Brice, Burroughs said he doesn’t favor any development that would put the university further in debt.
“What I am qualified to say, even though I’m not on the board anymore, is I’m opposed to any project that the university has — to go in any kind of indebtedness — as much debt as we’ve got,’’ he said, noting that he opposed other projects for the same reason.
“We just don’t need that kind of debt. The cost of operations are too high and that is being passed on in the form of tuition. There are a lot of things we need to do to clean up our act.’’
Asked what he thought about the concept of more development plans for the stadium area, Burroughs said development trends appear to have been healthy. Condominiums and tailgate parks have sprung up near the stadium in recent years, changing the character of parts of what has historically been a warehouse district.
“I thought it was going pretty good like it was,’’ said Burroughs, who has had extensive experience with development.
However, USC board chair Thad Westbrook expressed enthusiasm for potential development. He said the concept has been talked about for some time, though he said he didn’t have any specific hopes for the property.
“I’m excited about the prospect of doing something,” Westbrook said. “It’s very early, we’ll wait and see what people bring to us as far as ideas.”
‘I want them to think creatively’
Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann is among those watching USC’s stadium area moves closely. And, like others The State spoke with, he suggests a golf course would potentially be a winning addition to the plans.
“Wouldn’t it be great to have a golf course out there?” the first-term mayor and USC alum said. “Not only could visitors take advantage of the scenery, but they would be able to tie it into a basketball game or a football game. Would they go out there and create a hotel or two and give people an opportunity to stay and play?”
Rickenmann added there aren’t many other places near the city center where a golf course could feasibly be built, “and I hope somebody comes with that idea” for the USC property.
The mayor said he hopes plans for the stadium could be done in a way that is “very cautious that we don’t try to shift the entertainment out of downtown” and added he thinks “an approach of ‘let’s see what somebody could offer’” is a good step.
“I support my university. I want them to think creatively. But I also want them to think smartly and remember that this is Columbia, S.C., and whatever we do or whatever happens needs to be mutually beneficial to the people of Columbia.”
At-large Columbia City Councilman Howard Duvall said he was pleased to see USC starting to explore ways to use its own assets to begin an overhaul of the stadium area. And he said he could visualize elements that could work in the portions that are in a flood plain, specifically joining a seeming chorus who think a golf amenity could be a good use.
“I think there are a lot of activities, especially in the athletic world, that could use property that is floodable,” Duvall said. “Now, the Green Diamond project was, I think, poorly planned because you don’t want to put high-end housing in a flood plain.”
Carl Blackstone, the Columbia Chamber’s chief executive, said he was intrigued by the university starting the process that could lead to major development near Williams-Brice and elsewhere in Columbia, noting that the capital city is “blessed to have a university in the center of town” that is attractive for business growth.
“To see a university grow and develop property they own is great,” the chamber of commerce leader said. “If this is in line with continuing to do that, which is to enhance property that is underutilized right now, great. I do think that bringing additional development will certainly help this community. ... I’m excited to see what developers propose for the (stadium area) properties. I think it could certainly enhance a side of town that is just warehousing and low-lying land currently.”
Still, Blackstone urged caution and due diligence when considering developing large tracts of property in a flood plain.
“Development down in the old Green Diamond area needs to be the right development,” Blackstone said. “That fight’s been fought.”
Blackstone added that, while he is optimistic about what could come in the Williams-Brice Stadium area, he is perhaps more excited about the prospects of USC building its new medical school on the BullStreet campus. That $300 million project is slated for the northeast side of the sprawling, 181-acre BullStreet District campus, miles away from the football stadium.
“They have a lot of projects in the hopper, but the med school is going to be the game changer,” Blackstone said.
Scott Powers, executive director of Experience Columbia SC Sports, acknowledged there are a number of unknowns about the Williams-Brice area project. He said he is looking forward to seeing what ideas developers initially come up with, adding he could imagine how a golf course or other athletic amenities could be incorporated into a larger plan.
“I think with that much area inside the flood plain, it’s very easy to build sports facilities that meet the requirements for those flood plained areas,” Powers said. “A golf course downtown would be unbelievable. Kind of like how Clemson has its golf course on campus up there.”
Experience Columbia SC Sports is the sports arm of Columbia’s visitors and tourism bureau.
On Tuesday, Tanner teased the idea of development at or near the stadium being a catalyst for bringing people into that area of town year-round, not just during the seven Saturdays in the fall when the Gamecocks play home football games. Powers said creating that kind of amenity would be a plus for tourism in the Midlands.
“Williams-Brice Stadium, itself, is an attraction,” Powers said. “I’ve talked to people who were driving through town and came off the interstate just because they had seen (the stadium) on television. They were from Wisconsin or elsewhere and they’ve seen a college football game at Williams-Brice on TV and wanted to see it (in-person). And that’s really with nothing else going on there. If there were restaurants or entertainment or other things to do there I think it would be fantastic.”
As the university awaits the results of the Request for Information process — that initial part of the process ends in about a month — Stangler said USC and its would-be development partners are going to need to be clever to get a deal done that brings an attractive addition to the stadium area, while at the same time juggling the challenges that come with having nearly 850 acres in a flood plain.
“If they want to get something done, it’s going have to be smart, it’s going have to be sustainable and it is going to have to be something that can get permitted and meets the regulatory requirements of that flood plain,” the riverkeeper said.
This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 9:24 AM.
