West Columbia riverfront project gets initial OK

A major redevelopment project on the West Columbia riverfront will be home to as many as 250 apartments and condominiums and up to 80,000 square feet of stores and offices under a plan outlined Tuesday.

Those parameters are included in a proposal that received initial City Council approval.

The project is designed “to really embrace the (Congaree) river” through views from buildings, plazas and parks, developer Matt Mundy said.

His firm, Estates & Companies, plans to move its headquarters to the site, he said.

Plans call for work to start by March 31, taking two years to complete.

Final details on parking and traffic flow remain to be settled, but city officials expect no problems since the mix of apartments and condominiums is 50 less than first suggested.

The development is on a four-acre site at State and Meeting streets overlooking the river just across the Gervais Street bridge from the Vista.

It’s a signature project promising to spur more riverfront redevelopment in the Lexington County city of 15,000 residents, officials say.

Making that happen is a decade-old dream of city leaders.

The plan taking shape is “a beautiful vision,” Councilman Tem Miles said.

When finished, the project will total more than $40 million, city officials predict.

The plan gives Estates & Companies, Mundy’s firm, flexibility to adapt development to demand for space.

But the development must include at least 30,000 square feet of commercial space, with half of that earmarked for stores and restaurants in buildings that will be four and five stories tall.

Mundy declined to discuss retailers interested, but said “we’ve had our foot on the gas pedal” designing and promoting the project.