USC closed student apartments in 2015. Now, they may be redeveloped
In shadow of the University of South Carolina’s shiny, new student housing development, apartments that once housed students grow older.
Vacant, save one building used for maintenance shops, Carolina Gardens spans an entire block that has been mostly ignored since it closed. It has been a decade since the spring 2015 semester, the last time the apartments had residents.
Now, the apartments may be getting a new life.
USC has requested proposals to redevelop the site into a university retirement community, aimed at alumni who are 55 or older.
Carolina Gardens, which encompasses three sizable, brick buildings, were built in 1947 on four acres on the block of Whaley and Pickens streets. They had once been family housing for university employees, and later home to graduate and international students, university spokesman Jeff Stensland said.
The project would involve a long-term lease to a private developer, who would be responsible for replacing or renovating the existing buildings, as well as financing and operating them. No public dollars would be involved, Stensland said.
Stensland emphasized that the university is in the early stages of the project. The deadline for proposals is June 3. Submitted proposals will be evaluated for merit and may be revised. The university declined to comment on the amount of interest the project has received, citing state procurement rules.
Carolina Gardens sits on the edge of three Columbia neighborhoods: Wales Garden, Wheeler Hill and Hollywood-Rose Garden. Tensions between some neighbors and the university, which predated Campus Village, escalated after USC announced plans for the massive complex a decade ago. Even more so when the university killed plans for a 950-space parking garage, opting for a much smaller “transportation hub” instead. Campus Village opened in 2023 to house some 1,800 students.
Residents worried they would face a “parking nightmare” and said the decision contradicted the special exception granted by the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
Community members made it “pretty clear that they didn’t want additional student housing on that property,” Stensland said. So, the university decided to look into the idea of a retirement community. Schools like Duke University and Furman University offer something similar.
It’s unclear how neighbors might react to the concept, especially since it doesn’t resolve the parking concerns of the past, which are central to a lawsuit filed against the university in 2024. And it’s unclear whether they’ll be involved in the process for this future development. Still, the university hopes it’s an “ideal solution.”
“We’re still exploring the concept,” Stensland said.
