‘Game changer’: Farmers market, assisted living and more planned for south Columbia project
A new farmers market with commercial kitchens, an affordable senior living community, a sheriff’s office substation and more are on the way as part of a 23-acre project announced in south Columbia.
A host of entities — including the city of Columbia, Richland County, Eau Claire Cooperative Health Centers and others — are partnering to help create the Station at Congaree Pointe, a multi-faceted project that will take shape along Bluff Road near Atlas Road.
The plan was announced Thursday afternoon in a ceremony on the southeast corner of the property, with Mayor Daniel Rickenmann, Democratic state Sen. Darrell Jackson, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, Columbia City Manager Teresa Wilson and a host of others on hand for the announcement.
Officials didn’t offer a timeline for the Station at Congaree Pointe project but did list a number of amenities that are on the drawing board. It will feature what will be called the Market at Congaree Station, which officials said will have several commercial kitchens, space for a farmers market and event venue space.
There will also be a Richland County facility on the property that will house a magistrate court and a Richland County Sheriff’s Department substation. Eau Claire Cooperative plans to operate a health center on the property, and there is expected to be an affordable assisted-living facility on the grounds.
The site is located just southeast of Interstate 77, on Bluff Road near Atlas. It is 3 miles southeast of Williams-Brice Stadium and about 11 miles northwest of Congaree National Park. There will be electric vehicle charging stations located at the coming Congaree Pointe site, according to officials at Thursday’s gathering.
The total cost of the project was not shared at Thursday’s announcement. However, the state Legislature appropriated $4 million for the initiative, for the purchase of the property and to kickstart the project. The Columbia Empowerment Zone, a development arm that works under the umbrella of the city, is heading up the project and working with public and private partners.
Empowerment Zone Executive Director Felicia Maloney said the marketplace portion of the project, which would include the commercial kitchens, farmers market space, event space and more, will likely come at a price tag of about $10 million. She said the Empowerment Zone will pursue grant funding for that portion of the project.
“It’s transformational,” Wilson, the city manager, said of the overall Station at Congaree Point plan. “The people that are here, the community members that are here, it warms my heart because some of them truly have been waiting for a quite a while to see these types of services in this area, where they don’t have to travel so far for them, particularly seniors.”
Rickenmann, who served on Columbia City Council for more than a decade before being elected to his first term as mayor in 2021, said the project on Bluff Road is in a key corridor for the city and has been a long time coming for nearby residents.
“This has been a project that really has been talked about for some time in this area,” Rickenmann said. “This, really, is a connector. It will connect folks to downtown. ... This will be a game changer because it fills a gap that we don’t have. It could be a really revolutionary project. Even having the (electric vehicle) charging stations here, this close to I-77, is a way to bring people into part of our community.”
Jackson, the long-serving state senator who pastors nearby Bible Way Church of Atlas Road, shared a story about a constituent, the late Laura Jefferson, who for years spoke to him about wanting a health care facility in the Bluff Road corridor.
“She said, ‘I pray that elderly people won’t have to go to other people’s community to go see a doctor. I pray that one day they will have what I never had, and that’s to buy groceries in their own community,’” Jackson said of the conversations he had with Jefferson. “My goal is that that health care center and that pharmacy will be up, and a 90-year-old person who lived their entire life in this corridor will be able to get health care and buy food in their own community.”
