600-bed Student Housing for Columbia

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Pending a decision by the Columbia City Planning Commission, the city could see a new student housing project rising in town. Dubbed Monarch at USC, the 600-bed student housing project is a joint venture between local developer Ben Arnold, president of Arnold Companies, and Charlotte, N.C.-based Monarch Ventures, reports the Columbia Regional Business Report.

The location of the future development is a property owned by the Arnolds at the corner of Blossom and Huger Street and is already zoned for this type of development.

Monarch at USC is envisioned as a 600-bed development with one-, two- and four-bedroom apartments; units will average 1,180 square feet.  Amenities will include a fitness center, sports lounge, tanning beds, a rooftop pool and a rooftop outdoor courtyard. The apartment building will go around the property, while at the center a 610-space parking garage is to be constructed.  Apartment structures will range between four stories—at the corner of Huger and Blossom—and seven stories near Pulaski Street.

Construction is set to begin in the fall, with completion due before the start of the 2013 fall school term. Charlotte architecture firm Studio Four PLLC has been hired for the project and has presented drawings showing steel-framed structures with brick and hard plank trim façades. Construction cost estimates have yet to be released.

Monarch Ventures recently completed a $22 million, 440-bed student housing project near Coastal Carolina University and has four more student housing projects pending, including Georgia Southern University and UNC–Charlotte, reports the Charlotte Business Journal.

Photo courtesy of Monarch 544’s Facebook Page