Plan gets bigger: Proposed Columbia apartments could fill entire downtown block
A new apartment complex could fill the entire block of Elmwood Avenue between Marion and Bull streets — if the city’s planning department approves the nearly 300-unit project slated for the site.
The proposed eight-story apartment building is larger than when it was first pitched in 2023, after New York-based Astral Development purchased the property. The developer bought six parcels near the intersection for $2.125 million that February, according to news reports. At the time, the developers said they wanted to build at least 200 apartments and 30,000 square feet of retail space, and entice a grocery store and a national gym chain to the site.
The new plans, submitted to the city’s Planning Commission ahead of a meeting Thursday, call for a larger apartment complex. This one with 288 units, and slightly less retail space at 25,000 square feet. The plans also call for a pool, dog park and parking garage, among other amenities for residents. It is unclear if the developers are still eyeing a grocery store for the retail space.
The plans could affect longtime Columbia establishment No Name Deli, which is located at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Marion Street. The previous rendering of the apartment complex left the No Name Deli building untouched, but the new plans would replace the building at 2042 Marion St., which was built in 1960.
The Post and Courier reports that project developer Andy Golubitsky saidhe hopes the deli would reopen in the finished apartment complex.
No Name Deli didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Golubitskly previously said that Astral Development planned to host a series of community events at the property ahead of construction.
“To activate the area and engage the community through art, food and beverage and hopefully even a concert series,” he said. “So we can draw people in from different parts of the city and help them see this neighborhood in a different light.”
The Planning Commission meets Thursday at 4 p.m. at Columbia City Hall.
