Offices near USC stadium owned for decades by The State eyed for apartments. What we know
The ball is rolling on potential new housing at the Shop Road site previously owned for decades by The State newspaper.
The longtime industrial site, where a massive printing press once whirred to life each day to print copies of the paper, has been empty since The State staff moved from that building in 2020.
Now, the nearly 23-acre property about a half mile from Williams-Brice Stadium could soon be repurposed.
The Richland County Planning Commission moved forward with a recommendation Monday to rezone the site, currently zoned for industrial uses, to allow for high density multi-family housing projects, like a large apartment building.
The exact details of the new housing project were not immediately available Monday. The State has contacted the project developer Landmark Properties for more information.
The Shop Road site would be able to have 402 housing units under the new zoning, according to an estimate from the county.
The development is being proposed at the same time the University of South Carolina is looking to build something new and exciting on more than 800 acres nearby along the Congaree Riverfront.
Jared Munneke with the development company Landmark Properties spoke on behalf of the zoning change Monday.
He specifically noted how the new housing would align with USC's vision for the future of the stadium district, which the university hopes to have a hand in shifting from its industrial roots into a vibrant activity center.
Several residents Monday told the Planning Commission that if it is going to allow more housing along Shop Road, the conditions of that and other area roads need to be improved, too.
'We've got a disaster in the making there,' said one resident, speaking of watching students walking, jogging or biking down the shoulder of Shop Road.
The area around Williams-Brice Stadium is notorious for lacking sidewalks. New sidewalks around the stadium are on the horizon, but residents Monday say the corridor as a whole needs to be much safer.
The former The State building would be the first parcel in that block of Shop Road allowed to have housing. The majority of the other parcels on that block remain zoned for 'heavy industrial' use. Despite this, multiple commissioners said the county's long-term development plans for envision the area becoming more mixed-use.
Other local projects led by the developer Landmark Properties include the off-campus student housing projects Saga and The Standard, a high rise completed in 2023 on Assembly Street in downtown Columbia.
Richland County Council must still approve the Planning Commission's decision before the zoning change is final. It is expected take up the first of three required votes on the matter March 25.
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