Kroger shopping center on Assembly moving toward reality

The abandoned Capital City Stadium and nearly 4.5 acres of surrounding land are up for consideration to be rezoned, laying the foundation for a Kroger grocery-based shopping center at the site.

The long-delayed Kroger project was announced nearly five years ago. On Monday, the city’s planning board will decide whether to annex some property surrounding the stadium into the city of Columbia from Richland County.

The board also will decide whether to change the zoning on a portion of the land from residential to light industrial use, which allows for some commercial uses.

The specific site plans are not on the commission’s agenda. Those proposals would have to be approved at a later date for the project to get started officially.

The Atlanta-based developer Bright-Meyers got a seventh extension on its contract to buy the stadium site last month from Columbia City Council. The extension allows the developer until Nov. 1 to close on the land, which fronts South Assembly Street near Whaley Street and stretches west in some places to Bluff Road.

The contract extension required the developer to put up $250,000 to help the city build a walkway along Rocky Branch from Assembly Street to Olympia Park.

That roughly 1,200-foot pedestrian and bicycle path is expected to cost up to $500,000.

The $250,000 is on top of the original $1 million purchase price for the six-acre stadium property that is to be part of a 22-acre complex anchored by the 113,500-square-foot Kroger grocery store and include a gas station.

The developer also has pledged to pay for much of the cost of opening three flooding choke points on Rocky Branch at the property and extending into the Olympia neighborhood, according to city officials.

Ryan Nevius of Sustainable Midlands said addressing those chokepoints will improve water quality and flooding issues.

Rocky Branch is one of the most polluted creeks in Columbia because it is in one of the most densely populated and urbanized areas, Nevius said.

Rocky Branch carries a lot of pollution into the Congaree River, which flows to Congaree National Park, she said.

Longtime Olymbia neighborhood resident Joby Castine lives about three blocks from the old stadium.

“That property really needs to be redeveloped,” said Castine, who said he is looking forward to a Kroger in the neighborhood.

The Olympia area population is growing and there is not a grocery store nearby, Castine said.

All of the student housing built in the area has caused congestion, Castine said, adding that has caused more of a problem than a grocery store would.

He said people won’t be traveling from miles away to use the grocery store. Instead, the store will instead will service the crowd already living in the area.

Bob Guild, president of the Granby Neighborhood Association, said the community has generally been supportive of the Kroger plans as they have evolved.

A lot of work has gone into meeting and negotiating with the developer, he said.

Guild said proposals include more retail tenants but on a smaller scale than traditional big box stores.

The Kroger plans include largely brick designs, reminiscent of the nearby Olympia and Granby mill buildings, Guild said. But Guild noted the plans remain a work in progress and final plans have not been presented to the community or city.

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Kroger shopping center on Assembly moving toward reality."