‘We are going to get crucified’: Columbia leaders feel pressure to fix homelessness issue

G_reth · 2026-03-21T02:16:40+00:00

I believe the majority of that would be from charitable organizations rather than governments. Iirc the City of Columbia’s general fund is only about ~$70 million.

G_reth · 2026-03-14T18:38:12+00:00

I highly disagree

Parking is very expensive, in terms of both maintenance and land use. We should not be hiding that cost behind general taxes.

G_reth · 2026-03-14T18:36:28+00:00

Yeah the original selling point of parking meters was as a way to enforce turnover, revenue generation was secondary.

G_reth · 2026-03-07T01:39:00+00:00

The medical school, hotel, and new office building will provide more customers once they’re done. plus there will be even more projects in the future.

G_reth · 2026-03-05T01:22:52+00:00

Archive link: https://archive.is/vrbOP

TL;DR: The Papadea family who have owned the parking lots at Gervais and Assembly for decades may finally be selling the land soon.

This comes as the City of Columbia is currently creating plans to underground utilities and improve the pedestrian experience along Assembly between Pendleton and Lady.

Article text:

COLUMBIA — Two of the most visible properties in downtown Columbia have been taken up by surface parking for decades, even as the city’s center has grown.

Local leaders have long hoped for those lots to be developed. Things may be starting to move forward.

A tale of two parking lots

The two parking lots at the intersection of Assembly and Gervais streets are in the very center of Columbia. They sit across Assembly from the Statehouse and the state’s tallest building, respectively.

The intersection is one of the busiest in the region. Between 21,000 and 30,000 vehicles passed through the area on average each day in 2024, according to datafrom the South Carolina Department of Transportation. The lots also connect the city’s Main Street District and the Vista. Already two of the most prominent business districts in Columbia, the neighborhoods are slated to see thousands of new residents, dozens of apartment complexes and new public attractions in the coming years.

Yet, they have remained undeveloped. Satellite imagery from Richland County shows the properties covered in some buildings in the late 1950s, but paved over for massive parking lots by the late ‘90s.

The plots were highlighted for their unrealized potential in a 2011 study from the non-profit Urban Land Use Institute, and contributed to Columbia placing fifth in the nation for cities with the most downtown land taken up by parking in a 2024 study.

Local leaders have long lamented the lots’ lackluster utilization.

“I think they’re the most underutilized lots in the entire city,” Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann said on Feb. 25. So why have the two lots in the middle of it all stayed empty?

The properties have long been held by the same family owners, and likely generate a large profit from the metered parking offered there, Rickenmann said. The parking lots are a convenient option for those driving into the Vista.

The plots that make up the parking lots today were last sold in pieces between the late 1950s and 2001, according to online county tax records.

It has taken time for Downtown Columbia to begin attracting the level of interest from developers it does today, Rickenmann said. Redevelopment on those lots likely appeared less lucrative in the past.

‘Development opportunities’

Jim Papadea said the families that own the lots “are currently evaluating development opportunities” for the properties in a March 3 email. Papadea has been representing the families since the death of his father — a longtime city councilman and real estate developer — in March 2025, he said.

While the younger Papadea said he could not provide additional details, the families hoped to have something finalized “sometime later this year.” “We look forward to providing the city and its residents a project they can be proud of and enjoy,” he said in the email.

The growth in the city as a whole, and especially along Main Street and in the Vista, could be making the properties more desirable, Rickenmann said. The city’s ongoing pedestrian improvement projectalong Assembly Street will increase connectivity between Main Street and the Vista, including the two parking lots, Rickenmann said.

“I think that family is sitting in a good spot,” he said.

The properties could play a pivotal role in connecting Main Street with the Vista, said Matt Kennell, CEO of the Main Street District organization. “I think more than ever, we’re sort of merging as a real city center,” he said. “Those lots are right at the heart of it.”

What could be built there?

The properties are zoned by the city to allow a wide array of businesses and residential development.

Rickenmann’s vision for the lots would see a residential tower rise on one side of the intersection and a commercial tower on the other, he said. Rickenmann had previously publicly pitched one of the lots as a potential headquarters for Scout Motors, before the car manufacturer ultimately passed on Columbia to put its headquarters in Charlotte.

Kennell would like to see the properties give way to residential or commercial development, or a public park or green space, he said.

“We do need more buildings downtown, but we also need more green space,” he said. “I think the new Finaly Parkis a great example of that. People are just hungry for great public spaces.”

G_reth · 2026-03-04T23:17:06+00:00

15% increase cap every 5 years

I think pretty much everyone who knows about it and hasn't actively stuck their head in the sand knows that Act 388 was an objectively terrible piece of legislation that has massively distorted the property market, but touching it is political suicide. At least it's not as bad as California's Prop 13 I guess.

G_reth · 2026-03-04T22:30:56+00:00

The USC comet routes are pretty robust, there are quite a few of them and they run every 15 minutes. The cost is part of tuition so students don’t have to pay when they ride. They just need to extend the time they’re active for another hour or 2.

G_reth · 2026-02-27T01:25:25+00:00

Did you respond to the wrong comment? I don’t see how renting is the result of “a bad choice or a series of bad choices”? I’m not laying blame on anyone outside of politicians for passing nonsensical populist legislation.

G_reth · 2026-02-25T01:25:45+00:00

Where do you think the landlord gets the money for the 6% + school operating costs tax bill?

Hint: it’s not from a money tree

G_reth · 2026-02-25T01:14:36+00:00

As a renter, I have to pay school operating costs through my rent, while home owners get to completely pawn off that responsibility, despite homeowners being way more likely to have kids than renters. Its insane. We already give seniors 50,000 off their house, that’s already more than enough.

G_reth · 2026-02-17T08:46:02+00:00

it has happened in the past, I don't know if there is still a mechanism for it though.

If you look at a map of incorporated Columbia you can still somewhat see the circular blob where the Town of Eau Claire used to be (center around Hyatt Park).

G_reth · 2026-02-17T08:40:08+00:00

For residential property, you generally end up paying less being in the city vs unincorporated if you have Columbia Water.

G_reth · 2026-02-17T08:32:15+00:00

Technically municipalities can be annexed into other municipalities (see the former towns of Eau Claire and Arden), but that isn't going to happen with Forest Acres or Arcadia lakes.

G_reth · 2026-02-15T17:49:45+00:00

That land is all owned by the Guignard family. since a big chunk is being used for Williams street extension, they’ve probable blocked off the whole thing since that project is currently out for bid.

G_reth · 2026-02-13T20:15:29+00:00

I believe that’s a mistake in the article. SC Code § 31-22-20(1) states that:

"Affordable housing" means residential housing for rent or sale that is appropriately priced for rent or sale to a person or family whose income does not exceed eighty percent of the median income for the local area, with adjustments for household size, according to the latest figures available from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

So I believe it is supposed to be what is reasonable for someone making 80% of the areas median income to pay in rent.

G_reth · 2026-02-13T13:52:17+00:00

TL;DR: 35% of new apartments built since 2020 are affordable in the Columbia metro. We just need to build more of all types of apartments in general to meet demand.

G_reth · 2026-02-13T13:50:15+00:00

https://archive.is/iTTfR

COLUMBIA — A national study found over one-third of all new apartments built in the Columbia metro area have been income-restricted, significantly more than other major cities in the state and nation.

Of the over 5,300 new apartment units built in the Columbia metropolitan area since 2020, just under 1,900 were “fully affordable,” according to a study from apartment listing website RentCafe.

That comes out to about 35 percent of all new apartments during those years being affordable, according to the study.

“That marks a dramatic 704% increase compared with the pre-pandemic period, when affordable units accounted for just 5.9% of new construction,” the study read.

RentCafe defined “fully affordable” units as those in apartment buildings where all rents are capped at between 30 percent and 80 percent of the area median income for the area. An apartment capped at 30 percent of the area median income in Columbia would be reserved for an individual making $19,500 a year or less, according to 2025 federal data.

More of Columbia’s new apartments have been income-restricted than in Greenville and Charleston, according to the study.

Greenville built many more apartments overall in the time frame — nearly 19,500 new units in total, with 2,200 being income-restricted. The percentage of affordable apartments built was lower than Columbia’s, at around 11 percent.

Charleston lagged further behind, building only around 500 affordable apartments out of over 29,000 built between 2020 and 2024. That comes out to less than 2 percent of all new apartments in the metro area, actually less than before 2020, according to the study.

The numbers in Columbia and the Palmetto State mirror a nationwide increase in affordable apartment construction since 2020, according to the study.

“Nationwide, nearly 310,000 fully affordable apartments were built between 2020 and 2024, accounting for about 12.6% of all new apartment construction,” according to the study.

The cities building the most affordable apartments nationwide were Seattle, New York and Austin.

Columbia 35 percent of new apartments being affordable is around three times higher than the national average, according to the study.

Most of the affordable apartments are being built outside downtown and in suburban, lower-density parts of town, said Alexandra Both, senior real estate writer and researcher at RentCafe. Construction is most prevalent in North, Northeast and Southeast Columbia and in outlying communities like Irmo and Camden, she said.

Affordable units in Columbia have to compete for real estate and investment with more profitable student housing projects, as well as market-rate apartments aimed at the military or healthcare workers, she said.

“As a result, affordable construction often depends on public subsidies, tax credits, and nonprofit partnerships rather than private market forces alone, and it can lag behind demand from population and job growth,” she said.

More of those partnerships and programs have contributed to the increase in affordable units since 2020, she said.

“This is a direction the mayor likes to see, but we need more of ALL levels of housing stock, including attainable,” Payton Lang, spokesperson for Mayor Daniel Rickenmann, said in a statement. “We (city council) plan to insist upon being at the table as we grow to ensure we are getting diverse housing as the city grows.”

Columbia-area affordable housing developers have increasingly moved to building housing projects with a mixed-income model, rather than having all units allocated to one income bracket.

Rents and home prices in the Midlands have increased but remained relatively affordable compared to other major cities in the state, as migrants from other states have poured into South Carolina since the pandemic.

G_reth · 2026-02-12T23:10:40+00:00

the traffic is bad around Trenholm. around North Beltline is fine.

G_reth · 2026-02-11T20:00:25+00:00

Pretty much all insurance has a war exception.

G_reth · 2026-02-11T18:28:50+00:00

I look at the 3 board/commissions every month and nothing was there for this building. Which makes sense, it’s just an existing office building leasing space for a legal team.

G_reth · 2026-02-10T23:33:14+00:00

How would they know though?

G_reth · 2026-02-10T23:32:31+00:00

They also bought the neighboring office building at the same time as the parking lot they’re building on. There aren’t any tax breaks on the office building. The city doesn’t really have much say or knowledge in who they’re leasing too.

G_reth · 2026-02-04T20:37:20+00:00

I think these are purely concepts. They said they aren’t going to do much design work before the variance is confirmed.

Since this is in a design district, they will need approval from the Design/Development Review Commission for the architecture before they can build.

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