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I live literally around the Corner from Columbia Place Mall. a lot of houses over here are renovating. We bought our house several months ago for 98k but it's worth around 105k. many of our neighbors are renovating and refurbishing. I can imagine if something like a Great Wolf Lodge open up this area's land value will skyrocket quickly
Thats good to hear...Some of the areas around the mall went from thriving in the 1970s through the 1990s then experienced a decline through the first two decades of the 2000s so I hope things are turning around.. New Castle, Woodfield Park to name a few.. but there are some nice areas around Springwood Lake off of Parklane Road that have always been stable and attractive.
I dont know how much of the parking lots are owned by Richland County, but they should carve off some of the outparcels where the old Movie Theater, Auto Service Center and possibly behind the old Belks for multifamily apartments/residential.. It would solve for housing shortages/affordability and add more people to the area to support existing or new businesses. Since the County owns it.. they can send out a RFP for developers and have them meet whatever standard/requirement they want in exchange for the land which they could always ground lease to them as opposed to sell
Here is a repurposed mall outside of Baltimore.. They added the apartments where the anchor store used to be.
Here is another example. Here they tore down the entire mall and built a "Town Center" you can see the old perimeter mall road and how they built apartments off of it to surround the old mall site that now houses the Town Center
Thats good to hear...Some of the areas around the mall went from thriving in the 1970s through the 1990s then experienced a decline through the first two decades of the 2000s so I hope things are turning around.. New Castle, Woodfield Park to name a few.. but there are some nice areas around Springwood Lake off of Parklane Road that have always been stable and attractive.
I dont know how much of the parking lots are owned by Richland County, but they should carve off some of the outparcels where the old Movie Theater, Auto Service Center and possibly behind the old Belks for multifamily apartments/residential.. It would solve for housing shortages/affordability and add more people to the area to support existing or new businesses. Since the County owns it.. they can send out a RFP for developers and have them meet whatever standard/requirement they want in exchange for the land which they could always ground lease to them as opposed to sell
Here is a repurposed mall outside of Baltimore.. They added the apartments where the anchor store used to be.
Here is another example. Here they tore down the entire mall and built a "Town Center" you can see the old perimeter mall road and how they built apartments off of it to surround the old mall site that now houses the Town Center
The First one is so nice I would see something like that being built there. Hell I'm hoping they do something like this to Richland Fashion Mall Redevelopment instead of tearing down the whole Super Structure.
Unless it was overturned, I believe the decision was to cap the tar with concrete(?) rather than remove it. Also the riverfront park is not scoped into the penny tax fund, so it's currently unfunded and to my understanding, largely abandoned as a plan.
Update on the river cleanup as per The State. An excerpt from the article:
"Crews may begin removing 40,000 tons of coal tar from the Congaree River in Columbia this summer after Dominion Energy received key permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."
They provide a nice little graphic of how the cleanup will look. I'm glad to see the right thing is being done, even if it's more costly and time consuming.
If it’s already zoned for this type of business is there anything the city has to approve? I don’t recall seeing it on any agendas.
I thought grocery were zoned different than automotive, due to chemicals and what not. Maybe I’m wrong. Either way, it’s still sad because there’s not much room to build a grocery store so these empty spaces are pretty much all that’s left. Unless you do that huge patch of land between the river, Monticello and 20. I guess it doesn’t really matter if have a car, but like the article says most people aren’t here walk. And let me show you a car accident from yesterday to show how dangerous that is… this was Columbia college right when school was letting out. They hit a tree thankfully and weren’t hurt. Some things are gonna have to change when it comes to what goes on in northern Columbia. Just all around.
If it’s already zoned for this type of business is there anything the city has to approve? I don’t recall seeing it on any agendas.
Yeah.. this is pretty much a retail/mercantile use since it an auto parts store versus an auto repair. This is not ideal .. I know folks wanted a grocery store but like many other things in Eau Claire/North Columbia.. the income levels often drive what comes into the area.. In that same block there is a dialysis center, a check casher and Church's so that it the type of retail there. Incidentally someone told me that lower income neighborhoods attract dollar stores and auto part stores.. The later because many folks either are do it your self mechanics are use the services of them and cant afford to buy or take their vehicle to more expensive dealers or main stream auto repair places and use free lance mechanics or "shade tree" mechanics at small garages. If true that would explain why OReillys is going up there because I am sure Auto Zone further down is making a killing as the only such place in North Columbia.
I have seen some of these "shade tree" mechanics set up shop in the parking lots of some auto part stores and do oil changes, brake jobs, alternators, starters etc.... not that many in Columbia.. but in Baltimore they are everywhere. I would have thought the stores would run them off.. but in a similar manner to Home Depot and Day Laborers in their parking lot... there is an unspoken mutual benefit
I thought grocery were zoned different than automotive, due to chemicals and what not. Maybe I’m wrong. Either way, it’s still sad because there’s not much room to build a grocery store so these empty spaces are pretty much all that’s left. Unless you do that huge patch of land between the river, Monticello and 20. I guess it doesn’t really matter if have a car, but like the article says most people aren’t here walk. And let me show you a car accident from yesterday to show how dangerous that is… this was Columbia college right when school was letting out. They hit a tree thankfully and weren’t hurt. Some things are gonna have to change when it comes to what goes on in northern Columbia. Just all around.
If that area could suppOrt a grocery store, one would open there.
If that area could suppOrt a grocery store, one would open there.
Well, MY family makes well over double the median income in the county and we live near Columbia College. I’d say most folks can afford a grocery store around here. It’s that I’m forced to drive ten minutes for a decent one. I don’t shop at food lion because I can’t afford it, I don’t shop at food lion because it’s garbage. Earlewood, Elmwood, Seminary Ridge, and Cottonwood could have all easily supported a better grocer there. I don’t like cynicism. High and mighty attitudes get people nowhere except hurt feelings.
Well, MY family makes well over double the median income in the county and we live near Columbia College. I’d say most folks can afford a grocery store around here. It’s that I’m forced to drive ten minutes for a decent one. I don’t shop at food lion because I can’t afford it, I don’t shop at food lion because it’s garbage. Earlewood, Elmwood, Seminary Ridge, and Cottonwood could have all easily supported a better grocer there. I don’t like cynicism. High and mighty attitudes get people nowhere except hurt feelings.
I grew up in that area and both the Food Lion and the Piggly Wiggly have been there FOREVER. The Food Lion certainly declined as did the shopping center over the years. I saw a woman at the bus stop at the Food Lion heading north on Fairfield Road. The further north you go on Fairfield the more desolate and spotty good retail services become.. so she had to live between there and Lincolnshire which is just east of nowhere.
North Columbia has always lagged well behind the other sections of the City. I suspect partly because of the income levels but also the location. It is still fairly close to St. Andrews and Dentsville which sucked the life out of retail in the area in the 70s and 80s and even in town areas like Beltline Blvd offer some options for folks with cars.. Now those areas have their own challenges and things have moved further out and what is left behind is subpar or mediocre.
Hopefully as folks move back into the City.. which appears to be happening in Seminary Ridge, Hyatt Park, College Place, Keenan Terrace, Windemere Springs, and the little known Northwood Hills.. maybe there will be some changes though it may just be an improvement to the existing grocers that are currently there...Eau Claire has an interesting history and was supposed to rival Shandon and Rosewood but fell short in the battle of developers and realtors in the early 20th Century.
Last edited by Woodlands; 03-05-2022 at 02:23 PM..
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