How will two new Columbia high-rises impact an iconic Main Street mural?
Two new housing towers planned for Columbia’s Main Street would take the place of a long-standing parking lot between Hampton and Washington Streets. The city is behind the project, but what will become of Ija Charles’ massive mural on the side of 1401 Main Street?
The developers have already thought of that, they told members of the city Board of Zoning Appeals at a hearing Thursday night.
On the side of the new project that aligns with the mural, the developers are planning a pedestrian square and retail space, maybe a coffee shop, a representative for developer Core Spaces Austin Pagnotta said Thursday.
They are planning to set that side of the building back 20 feet to “activate” it, and to “respect that mural that’s already there,” he said.
Charles painted the 180,000 square-foot mural for the city in 2021, on a city-owned building. The sprawling artwork commemorates the city’s Black business district, which was a major economic hub during segregation.
Charles’ art is visible all over the Columbia area. She has a towering painting on the side of the Richland County library’s main branch on Assembly Street, a mural on State Street in Cayce, and you can even see her art as you leave town at the Columbia airport.
The Main Street mural has become a tourist draw, city leaders have said. In passing the developers’ bid to build densely downtown, members of the zoning appeals board complimented Core Spaces on its plan to preserve the art. The State has contacted Charles for her opinion on the plan.
Core Spaces, a Chicago-based developer also behind The Hub student apartments on Main Street, plans to build two high-rise towers in the center of downtown worth $225 million. There will be one 22-story private student apartment and right beside it, 26 floors of market-rate apartments geared toward professionals and other non-student renters. All located on an undeveloped parking lot on Main Street between Hampton and Washington streets. The property, adjacent to the Wells Fargo office tower, had been owned by Wells Fargo since the 1990s and kept as a parking lot.
Members of the zoning board Thursday gave developers permission to build more rooms than the current rules for Main Street allow. The developers are planning student apartments with no more than four bedrooms, but because of the buildings’ height, they needed permission from the city.
