Something new to be built on 20-year vacant lot in Columbia. What we know
Roughly 4.5 acres at the corner of Huger and Gervais streets in downtown Columbia are under contract to be sold, confirmed Bill Fayssoux with Windsor Aughtry, a real estate brokerage listing the property for sale.
The news means that finally a massive vacant lot in downtown Columbia could soon be fully redeveloped, after over two decades of plans falling through at the property.
Fayssoux could not say who the buyer of the property is, nor what their plans are for the site. He did say the sale is expected to close by this summer.
The former Kline site, where once America’s radio towers were made, has been vacant since the facility closed in 2004. The large property has been subdivided, and already work is expected to start on one half of the site, where Silver Hills Development plans to build a 5-story apartment complex.
An entity called Huger Hospitality LLC purchased the other portion of the Kline site at the Huger and Gervais streets intersection in 2020 for $5.12 million, but nothing ever materialized. It’s not immediately clear who the new buyer is, or how much they are paying for the site.
Plans for more apartments have also been proposed next door to the Silver Hills site, though it’s unclear where those plans stand. In 2023, Richland County approved tax incentives for developers planning a $100 million apartment complex on the former SCANA bus garage site, just across Washington Street from the Kline Site.
In 2024, the property was sold to Huger & Hampton LLC. The State in November asked the City of Columbia for information on that project, and a city spokesperson said they had no information to provide. The SCANA site was cleared in 2008 and has also sat vacant since, creating a massive hole on Huger Street alongside the Kline property.
Movement at the former Kline site coincides with a wave of development on Huger Street, from new hotels to new apartments, and a new roadway being built by the City of Columbia to improve access to the Congaree River.
This story was originally published January 14, 2026 at 12:21 PM.
