A wave of new student housing is coming for this Columbia neighborhood. Why now?
A wave of new student housing projects is descending on one of Columbia’s oldest neighborhoods.
At least four new projects aimed at students are either now leasing, under construction or proposed for lots in the area of Rosewood nearest Williams-Brice Stadium.
Rosewood, nearing a century old, has always been something of a mixed bag: home-owners, renters, students, families. But right now, experts agree there’s fresh momentum for new construction, particularly aimed at students.
What’s causing the wave?
A mix of factors, leaders say: including growth at the University of South Carolina, a stream of new residents moving to the state, and infrastructure projects making way to support more people.
“It really has exploded from Publix down,” said Graeme Moore, a real estate entrepreneur currently building a student-oriented townhouse project in Rosewood. Moore operates multiple real estate businesses in Columbia, including The Moore Company real estate firm, and Soda City Rentals, a property management company.
Columbia Councilman Will Brennan, whose district includes Rosewood, thinks the growth is happening now in part because of the work the University of South Carolina has done to move its campus west and south, toward the Congaree River and toward Williams-Brice Stadium.
“I think private investors have picked up on that, and know that that’s the path of growth,” he said.
Projects like the makeover of South Main Street, and future ideas to turn the area around the stadium into a vibrant retail corridor are part of that work, Brennan said.
Among the new student housing options include Moore’s rental townhouse project, dubbed Edisto Row. The 15-unit, 3-bed, 3-bath townhouse community is being built on a long-dilapidated lot at the corner of Edisto Avenue and Superior Street. The project is nearly finished and is currently pre-leasing for this summer. It adds up to 45 beds to the area.
Also leasing for this summer is Pickens Corner, another student-oriented townhouse community near the corner of Pickens and Superior streets, just a stone’s throw from Moore’s Edisto Row. That project adds 60 beds, via new 3-bed, 3.5 bath townhouses.
Down Rosewood Drive, at the corner of Graymont Avenue, a 3-building, 10-unit apartment complex called The Graymont is also now leasing for the 2026-27 school year, having wrapped construction in 2025. That project adds 28 beds.
And across the street, a convenience store owner hopes to build a three-story, three-unit student apartment building next door to his convenience store Sunset Point, at the corner of Rosewood Drive and Pickens Street. That project could hit a snag with its proximity to the Jim Hamilton- LB Owens Airport, which limits heights and uses of buildings within the airport’s flight paths.
The new apartments are coming online as the University of South Carolina is encouraging momentous growth, despite critics pointing out that the university doesn’t have enough of its own housing to shelter the new students.
In the last decade, USC has added nearly 7,000 new students, surpassing a total enrollment of more than 40,000 people for the fall of 2025 and a freshman class of nearly 8,000, according to past reporting by The State.
“I think there’s a need for it with the university growing,” Moore said of the new student rental options in Rosewood.
Brennan agreed that the new construction happening in Rosewood serves a net good for the area, saying it’s a positive to have developers investing in new construction on long vacant or dilapidated lots.
“The more folks that live in the Rosewood area, the more folks will take a chance on opening restaurants, opening retail,” Brennan said, pointing to growth in just the last few years, like the 2022 redevelopment of a church into new luxury apartments across from Publix at Holly Street and Rosewood Drive, and new businesses like Masa Mexican Street Food, in the relatively new retail strip next to the church apartments.
Both Brennan and Moore also pointed to students wanting more luxury options, and the market meeting that demand with developers building higher-end rentals.
But, Brennan added, there’s also a balance to strike between single-family homes and more dense projects like townhouses or apartment buildings. It will be important for the city to watch the growth closely to protect Rosewood’s unique charm, he said.
Part of that includes an effort to build new single-family homes on city-owned vacant lots, and keeping a close eye on zoning restrictions, Brennan said.
