VOLUME 15 NUMBER 13 ■ COLUMBIABUSINESSREPORT.COM
Part of the
SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 9, 2022 ■ $2.25
network
City launches new transitional housing project
Pointing the way
New executive director at Five Points Association. Page 4
By Christina Lee Knauss
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Main Street moves Locally owned toy store newest downtown addition. Page 9
Expert answers
Q&A with president of South Carolina Realtors. Page 14
Foreclosure woes
SC has nation’s third-highest foreclosure rate in August. Page 16
HOUSING HELP
Midtown at BullStreet, a 90-unit attainable housing development, will soon be underway at BullStreet. (Rendering/Provided)
New BullStreet development aims to address need By Christina Lee Knauss cknauss@scbiznews.com
INSIDE Upfront ................................ 2 SC Biz News Briefs ................ 3 In Focus: Residential Real Estate ................................ 13 List: Residential Real Estate Companies......................... 18 Bonus List: Independent Insurance Agencies ........... 19 At Work .............................. 21 Viewpoint ...........................23
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idtown at Bullstreet, a new 90-unit attainable housing rental apartment complex, will soon be under construction at the BullStreet District in downtown Columbia. Midtown at BullStreet will cover approximately two acres located near the recently dedicated Page Ellington Park, a 20-acre city park. The development will consist of 18 two-bedroom townhouse units and 72 one-, two- and three-bedroom garden-style
units. Onsite amenities will include a community room, computer center, exercise room, playground and gazebo. Attainable housing is defined as housing that is affordable for people making around an area’s median income. No subsidies are involved. Connelly Development LLC of Lexington is the developer for the Midtown project. Company President Kevin Connelly has more than 25 years of experience in developing attainable housing in the Carolinas. He is also president of Connelly Builders Inc., general contractor for the
Going public
development. Parks Player Architecture of Greenville is the development architect, and Civil Engineering of Columbia is providing civil engineering and surveying services. Completion on Midtown at BullStreet is scheduled for fall 2023. “Our company is honored to be a part of history to provide much-needed attainable workforce housing at one of the nation’s largest downtown redevelopments,” Connelly said in a news release. See MIDTOWN, Page 16
Irmo-based Great Southern Homes to become publicly traded company. Page 17
cknauss@scbiznews.com
he city of Columbia has unveiled a new concept for providing services to chronically unsheltered people in the city. On Sept. 6, city officials announced the construction of a transitional housing project that will be built on city property at 194 Calhoun St., the location of the former Inclement Weather Center. The site will now be known as Rapid Shelter Columbia and include 50 sleeping cabins, each designed to accommodate one person, with 40 for men and 10 for women. The congregate sleeping quarters that already exist at the Calhoun Street site will continue to be used to accommodate overflow population during inclement weather. Construction for the project will be managed by the city and should begin later this month. The goal is to have the 50 sleeping cabins completed and ready for use by November. Pallet, the company that manufactures the sleeping cabins, is based in Everett, Wash., with several staff members who have experienced homelessness in the past. Pallet sleeping cabin projects have been built successfully in places such as Boston and Sonoma County, Calif. Once completed, Rapid Shelter Columbia will be open year-round, include 24-hour security, on-site case management services and food services. City officials also announced they will be hiring a new coordinator of homeless services for the city who will work with various programs and services for the homeless population. Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann and other city officials said the need to find solutions for the homeless crisis has become more urgent in recent months, as the number of chronically unsheltered people in the area has continued to rise. See RAPID SHELTER, Page 7