Charleston developer planning third phase of CanalSide

A Charleston developer is seeking design approval to begin construction on the third and final phase of the CanalSide development in downtown Columbia.

The Beach Co. plans to construct four apartment buildings, including parking, on the vacant, nearly 6-acre lot between the current CanalSide apartment complex and the Columbia Canal. The developer plans to begin construction on the roughly $58-million, 340-unit project next spring and complete it in 2018, said Ned Miller, development manager at The Beach Co.

The project, called Sola Station, would nearly double CanalSide’s size. The development currently houses roughly 600 people in 374 residential units, Miller said.

Miller said The Beach Co. expects to add between 500 and 550 residents with the third phase. Miller said about 60 percent of the apartments in the three- to-four story buildings would be one-bedroom studio units. The rest would be either two- or three-bedroom flats. There will also be a handful of townhomes, Miller said.

The buildings’ contemporary style would be consistent with the existing CanalSide neighborhood, according to plans before Columbia’s Design/Development Review Commission. The project’s buildings are designed for residential units above ground-level retail and commercial units, Miller said.

“It’s definitely continuing what was done there before, but this is going to have that walkable feel with mixed uses,” Miller said. “The hope is that people that live there don’t need to go anywhere on a weekend. They’ve got the riverwalk to enjoy, restaurants and other retail establishments.”

A garage parking lot in one of the buildings will include 380 spaces, Miller said.

The planned unit development for CanalSide was approved by the city in 2005, according to commission documents. The first phase and infrastructure package, including the construction of several apartment buildings, was approved in 2007. The second phase, including more apartments and townhomes, was approved in 2011.

CanalSide is off Taylor Street near Klapman Boulevard.

The Beach Co. in September gave an informational presentation about the project’s third phase before the city’s design panel and has made “really significant changes” based on the feedback, Miller said. That included almost completely redesigning one of the buildings and eliminating the ground-level parking at another, Miller said.

The plans are set to appear before the panel on Thursday.

“We’ve still got a ways to go on a few of these buildings, but I think we’re pretty close,” Miller said.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 5:41 PM.