Sidewalks are scarce near SC fairgrounds, will high-end townhomes add a new link?
Despite heavy foot traffic during Gamecock football weekends and other major events at Williams‑Brice Stadium and the State Fairgrounds, sidewalks remain scarce in the area.
High-end townhomes planned just across the street from the fairgrounds’ main entrance could begin to help close that gap, with the plan including a stretch of new sidewalk on a portion of Rosewood Drive.
Developers are planning to tear down the long-standing Seawell’s Catering to build 71 luxury, three-story townhomes on the site and on an adjacent vacant lot, which city officials gave initial approvals for in October.
The plans include a 5-foot sidewalk on a portion of Rosewood Drive, starting at Hamrick Street and extending slightly beyond Olympia Avenue, a small addition that could complement existing efforts to improve walkability in the stadium-fairgrounds corridor. Hamrick Street and Olympia Avenue would also get new sidewalks.
During big events, fans and fair-goers often end up walking on the shoulder of the road or in the street because there isn’t a continuous sidewalk for the public to follow.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation is already looking at adding a sidewalk around George Rogers Boulevard, which officials have said is badly needed.
That new sidewalk would start at the intersection of Hamrick Street and Rosewood Boulevard and extend all the way around George Rogers Boulevard, wrapping around the fairgrounds and connecting to the existing sidewalk on Bluff Road.
Developer Steve McNair with Palmetto Alliance Property Group has said the townhomes will be “very Gamecock-centric,” and the project includes a fence on Rosewood Drive that mimics the existing fence across the street surrounding the fairgrounds.
The location is also half a mile from Williams-Brice stadium. The area around the stadium sees bumper-to-bumper traffic on gamedays. McNair previously told the city’s planning commission that the townhomes would be a good fit, in part because of the heavy traffic in the corridor.
McNair said he’s spoken to Gamecock players, coaches, “and so forth,” who he said have expressed interest in buying units.
Mayor Daniel Rickenmann in October called the townhomes an asset for Columbia, saying the city needs young professional housing close to downtown. But the homes are expected to be priced for higher-end buyers, likely costing more than $500,000 per unit.
Columbia’s Planning Commission voted last week to approve the project’s subdivision plan with a few conditions, including that developers complete a traffic impact study.
