Public-Private Partnership Brings 878 Student Housing Beds and 110KSF Office Building to Columbia

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Aspyre at Assembly Station

Student housing continues to enjoy an upswing in South Carolina, with Columbia being at the foremost of student housing activity. And a new public-private partnership between the University of South Carolina (USC) and Atlanta-based Holder Properties will spice things further up. According to the Columbia Regional Business Report the USC board of trustees has approved an almost $119.55 million development agreement to construct an academic office building and two student housing facilities in the Innovista research campus. Holder will finance, design, build, maintain and operate the planned assets on land leased from USC under a 40-year term. The financial terms of the lease have yet to be disclosed.

The project’s student housing component will most likely be developed on two blocks bounded by Greene, Blossom, Park and Lincoln Street and will be a two-phase project. Phase one will create 268,000 square feet of mixed-use space comprising 582 student beds, street-level retail and dining space and parking to accommodate 437 cars. Phase one, costing $61.35 million will break ground in early 2014 and complete by fall 2015. The 296-bed second phase, with a $33.2 million price tag, will also feature grade-level retail and dining space and create parking for 252 cars. Phase two is set for a July 31, 2016 completion.

The academic office building’s location is expected to be at an undeveloped site at the corner of Assembly and Blossom Streets. The $25 million building will feature between 110,000 and 130,000 square feet of space with parking available at an adjacent parking garage. Expected to be complete by July 31, 2017, the office component’s tenant has yet to be identified, but it will probably attract a private entity that will partner up with USC on research programs.

Holder has developed several projects in Columbia, such as the 205,000-square-foot Class A Main & Gervais office building and the 400-unit Aspyre at Assembly Station student apartment complex. Aspyre comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom units and community amenities such as a six-level garage, two pools, five courtyards, putting green, sports court, outdoor fireplace, fitness center, business center and additional storage space.

Image courtesy of Holder Properties