Nearly 200 more apartments in Columbia’s Vista are permits away from reality
A new 174-unit apartment complex, planned for the corner of Huger and Blossom streets, has received city approval.
In addition to the market-rate apartments, the proposed building is set to have 5,400 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and an internal parking garage. While the new development is near two student-focused apartment buildings, it is not pitched as a student housing complex.
The new complex’s design takes components from the surrounding buildings, borrowing red brick from the Palmetto Compress building and contemporary gray cladding in line with the other new apartments at or coming to the intersection. It was approved July 17 by Columbia’s Design and Development Review Commission, a week after it was approved by the city’s planning commission.
The next step for the project, dubbed “Antique Apartments,” will be for permit drawings to get approval. Once permits are issued, construction can start.
The new apartments would sit across Blossom Street from Park Place Columbia, a 656-bed student apartment complex. Across Huger Street from Park Place, another 233-unit student living complex called VERVE Columbia is under construction, expected to wrap up in time to lease in fall 2026.
Unlike the intersection’s newest project, the other two complexes are marketed toward students.
When Antique Apartments and the Verve finish construction, three corners of the Huger-Blossom intersection will be occupied by mixed-use apartment developments.
It’s a busy intersection. According to data provided by the state Department of Transportation, 29,200 vehicles travel down Huger Street each day in that area, while 25,500 travel along Blossom Street.
The new complex is the work of PMC Property Group, the company behind the nearby Apartments at Palmetto Compress, and the Granby and Olympia mill apartments. A few board members from the Mill District Alliance have supported the company at public hearings for Antique Apartments based on the work the company has done there
Board member Joe Wider said PMC has a 20-year history of working with the neighborhood group.
“We love everything they’ve done so far,” Wider told the commission. “They came to us early on with this project and said, ‘What do you think?’ The Mill District Alliance board looked over the drawings, and we all collaborated.”
City staff recommended the developer spruce up the ground levels with murals, decorative lighting and other surface ornamentation, including collaboration with city-backed arts booster One Columbia to commission the artwork. The development team has no issues with the recommendations from staff, said Kevan Rutledge of Strada Architecture, LLC.
“We thought they were very insightful comments, and we are looking forward to continuing to work through those for the betterment of the design,” Rutledge told the commission on July 17.
