Mortgage Broker in Cayce, SC

The 1950s red brick house on the corner of Prentiss and Orchard streets in Cayce has been empty for half a decade.

The windows are boarded, the door is sealed tight. A bright yellow placard declares “CONDEMNED. DANGER,” to passersby.

Cayce officials deemed the home unlivable in 2018, but the city has no plans to demolish the structure. Despite complaints from at least one neighbor who says the house is creating pest problems, officials say there’s little they can do.

There are vacant properties across the small town of Cayce in similar states. Why are they still standing?

The house on the corner has been a topic of conversation for at least as long as Anna Percival has lived in the neighborhood, since 2017.

She expected something to happen to the house when the city became involved in 2018, but in her view, very little has been done to maintain the property. She’s had to deal with rat problems, and she watches feral cats laze on the home’s roof and porch. Percival said she’s spent roughly $7,000 on repairs to her own home caused by the pest problems she believes stem from the empty house.

“Every time I have a rat issue or any big bug problem, all the pest control companies, especially the one that I trust, tells me as long as that house is next door breeding rats and feral cats and mosquitoes and things of that nature, (I’m) going to continue to have issues,” Percival said.

She’d like to see the house demolished or repaired.

But Cayce officials say the house is already in compliance with city code and there’s nothing more they can do about it.

The Prentiss Street house could use a coat of paint. There’s some debris on the porch, and at least one window appears broken. But the structure is stable, explained Cayce building official Stuart Jones.

When code enforcement initially learned of the Prentiss Street house in 2018, they kicked off the same process used anytime a vacant home is discovered out of code in the city.

The property owner, in this case Ronald Capps, according to property records, was notified and given 60 days to bring the home back into compliance. In Cayce, there are three ways to do that: 1. Repair the house. 2. Secure the house. 3. Demolish the house.

Capps chose option two, according to Cayce officials. In addition to securing the property by boarding the doors and windows, the property owner maintains the yard to keep that in compliance as well.

“They can keep it that way in perpetuity, really,” Jones said, as long as it stays structurally sound.

Capps did not respond to a request for comment from The State.

Now that the home has been secured and doesn’t violate city code, the matter is out of the city’s hands, said Cayce city manager Tracy Hegler.

As for the pests, officials said the problem is one of jurisdiction.

“We live in a state that has very strong property rights,” said assistant city manager Michael Conley. “I can go to this guy and go, ‘Hey, you have a pest problem.’ He’s going to go, ‘So, it’s not your problem,’ and it’s not. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

The city can act on a pest problem when the house is occupied because there are clauses in state law that require certain health and safety standards for human habitation. But because the home is vacant and has already been deemed unlivable, the city doesn’t have the jurisdiction to investigate, officials agreed, adding that concerned neighbors should contact the homeowner directly.

Hegler added that there isn’t clear evidence that the vacant home is the source of the pests.

Percival has gotten this response as well, but she says she doesn’t know the homeowner and has never seen him.

“I feel like that’s something that the city should be taking care of. I don’t think I should even have to touch that issue,” Percival said.

The Prentiss Street house is not unique. It’s typical that when a vacant Cayce property falls out of code, property owners usually opt to secure the home, rather than repair or demolish it.

Officials couldn’t provide exact numbers Friday but said they typically only demolish one house a year, if that. Most of the time, the homeowner addresses the problem. The city did not readily have a list of those vacant homes Friday, but officials said they do keep track of them.

Jones, the building official, said he doesn’t believe vacant houses are a widespread problem in Cayce and doesn’t believe there are particularly blighted areas.

Houses that are left vacant are also still monitored by the city, and the homeowner will get notified if the property does fall out of code, Jones said.

There’s also a reason that demolition of vacant homes is so uncommon.

It will take a minimum of four months to get to the point where a problem property can be razed, Jones said, but often it takes much longer. The process can be slowed by homeowner appeals and ownership changes, among other red tape.

Sometimes the property owner will demolish the house themselves. If the city has to do it, it will issue a lien against the property, but there’s no guarantee the city will get that money back, Hegler said.

Hegler added there may be things the city can do to make the process more easily understood by residents. For example, the language on the sign affixed to the Prentiss Street property uses the word “condemned,” but the house isn’t actually condemned. By the city’s view, it’s vacant but in compliance, and it hasn’t been abandoned.

Jones added that if residents see a home in their neighborhood they believe is not in line with city code, they should contact Cayce code enforcement at 803-739-5361.

This story was originally published August 19, 2023, 5:30 AM.

The 92-acre building serves as a main campus for Dominion, now the company is looking to possibly move employees to another space.

CAYCE, S.C. — The potential sale of Dominion Energy's main campus could mean big change for the Cayce community.

Stavros Seremetis has owned Tony's since 2010 and says his business is always impacted by changes that happen in the community.

"If we lose 10 customers from there, we're going to get 15 from there," Seremetis said.

A big unknown in the Cayce community at the moment, is the potential sale of a Dominion Energy building on Otarre Parkway.

"My regulars from Dominion, I see them at least once a week, but I know if they move they won't be able to come by as much, maybe once a month, but either way it will affect us," Seremetis explained.

The Dominion building was built on Otarre Parkway in 2009 and sits on 92 acres of land.

WLTX reached out to Dominion Energy on Monday to confirm the sale of this particular building and received this statement in reply:

"Dominion Energy is committed to maintaining a strong company presence in Cayce. We continue to assess ways to operate even more efficiently, and this includes the potential for consolidating occupancy of our facilities on the 12th Street corridor if it is in the best interest of our customers and employees. In doing so, Dominion Energy has entered an agreement with Stern & Stern Properties Inc. for the potential sale of our main campus on 12th street."

Phil Baughman who often rides his bike near this particular Dominion Energy building, along a portion of the Cayce Riverwalk, says he hopes the sale of the building will be a good thing.

"You've still got to pay your electric bill no matter what, no matter who it's from," Baughman said. "People will have jobs, I mean there are jobs around now, people begging for work, for workers, so I think we'll be okay either way."

Cayce Mayor, Elise Partin, also hopes the sale of the building will be positive. She sent WLTX this statement:

"While there are still many unknowns for us… we hope that Dominion will stay in the area even if they don't own the building. We look forward to welcoming new businesses and corporate partners in that space as well. Cayce has a great quality of life and we are thrilled about the possibility of more employees getting to enjoy our restaurants, local coffee shops, and businesses."

From what we know the sale is not a done deal as of yet, and there are still discussions to be had.

We reached out to Stern & Stern Properties about the sale of this particular building to get more details about what it will be used for, but we have not heard back just yet.

CAYCE, S.C. (WIS) - A popular restaurant in Cayce is closing its doors after serving up food for almost seven years.

The owners of “Henry’s of Cayce” say they will be closing at the end of the month because of increased Liquor liability insurance.

The owners made the announcement yesterday in a Facebook post, saying they can’t continue to operate the establishment. In the post, they thanked all former and current employees, as well as city officials, for their support throughout the years.

While it wasn’t mentioned directly, this is happening about a month after state representative Jay Kilmartin, of Lexington, co-sponsored a bill that would change the liability on bars and restaurants, after someone leaves their business, due to alcohol consumption.

Many bars and restaurants in the state fear not being able to afford to stay open because of a 2017 state law.

It causes their insurance bills to jump tens of thousands of dollars from year to year.

The law was intended to help victims of drunk driving, but businesses argue it’s hurting them and forcing some to close.

This comes as SC Venue Crisis, an organization that raises awareness on the rising liability insurance rates prepares for a rally at the State House tomorrow.

People participating can get there as early as 8:30 a.m.

Speakers will address the crowd starting at 10:30 a.m.

As for Henry’s, they say they’ll be open for a few more weeks and hope to see plenty of people in the community come out.

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When you chat with owners and employees at Cayce’s Piecewise Coffee Co., the word “community” often pops up.

And in a recent poll of readers of The State, the community showed its love for the shop.

Piecewise emerged as the winner of The State’s recent reader poll on the Midlands’ favorite coffee shops. Nineteen local coffee shops were listed in the poll, and more than 30,000 votes were cast. When the smoke cleared, Piecewise came out on top, with 40% — more than 12,000 — of the votes.

West Columbia’s Brickhouse Gourmet Coffee was second with 28% of the votes, and the Coffee Shelf, Loveland Coffee and Oliver Gospel Roastery tied for third with 6% each.

Piecewise, located at 2001 State St. in Cayce, was bustling on a recent Wednesday morning. There were baristas crafting hot and cold beverages — items on the pumpkin- and Japanese sweet potato-infused special fall menu are a current favorite — and customers filling the seats of nearby tables; friends catching up with each other and remote workers tacking away on laptops.

In the midst of it all was Jacob Kirby, who co-owns Piecewise with twin brother, Zach, making drinks, chatting with colleagues and wiping down tables and chairs on the sidewalk outside the shop. The Kirby brothers bought Piecewise in September 2022 from original owners Lindsey and Stanton Scoma, who initially opened the shop in 2019.

Jacob Kirby said it felt good to see Piecewise climb to the top of the newspaper’s recent reader poll.

“My brother and I are both from Columbia, so for us it’s really rewarding to feel like the community here is showing support for what has been going on at Piecewise,” Kirby said.

The Kirby brothers are 29, and Jacob said they have been talking about having their own coffee shop since they were 19. They were regular customers at Piecewise in recent years, and in 2022, when the opportunity arose to purchase the Cayce shop, they took that leap into ownership.

“When that opportunity kind of showed up, we were kind of like, ‘Can we pull this off right now? Can we tackle this?,’” Jacob Kirby said. “Luckily we have such a great team here. We inherited a really amazing team. Our managers here, Kaden (Parham) and Zoe (Ebo) were totally instrumental to us even pulling it off, at all. I tell them every day that we couldn’t have pulled this off without them.”

Ebo has been working for Piecewise since it opened in 2019. She said it was encouraging to see the support the Cayce shop gathered in the recent coffee poll.

“I think it’s pretty neat,” Ebo said. “Especially since we’re such a small shop outside of the (downtown) Columbia area. You might not even know we were here unless you drove outside the downtown.”

As Piecewise has established a foothold in Cayce since 2019, and the Kirby brothers have adjusted to ownership during the last year, Jacob Kirby said they are beginning to take a look into the future. While there are no concrete plans in place, he didn’t rule out establishing another Piecewise location at some point down the road.

“We are looking at the coffee landscape in Columbia and trying to identify whether there are parts of town that don’t have a local option,” he said. “There are a lot of parts of town that do have a local option, and we aren’t trying to go in and put ourselves next door to another local choice. ... What we are trying to find out is, in the Midlands, where there are areas that don’t have a real local option, and if there’s an opportunity for us to put another one of these there, maybe.”

Piecewise is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

This story was originally published October 5, 2023, 5:30 AM.

CAYCE — Customers are climbing the walls at the newest business in Cayce.

Capital Climbing Cayce opened its doors at Parkland Plaza on May 30 to those who backed the project in advance. The gym will open to the public on June 10.

It adds an outdoor attraction in the Midlands that had been lacking as the community becomes more of a draw to outdoor enthusiasts.

The gym has more than 2,000 feet of space for those who want to work on bouldering and rock climbing at different levels of difficulty, with marked routes on the walls to follow.

The walls rise up to eight feet and are inclined outward, with thick padding welcoming those who have lost their grip.

For those who like to rock climb, having a spot right in Cayce to enjoy the sport is a boon.

"It's good to have good bouldering here, five minutes from my apartment," said Garfield Fowler, a University of South Carolina student who was trying out the new walls on the first day that members could use the space.

The idea is to have a destination for those who love rock climbing and bouldering but also have a place where newcomers can try the sport, owner Chris Neal said.

Capital Climbing even has climbing shoes in a variety of sizes that can be rented.

"One of the things that we wanted to offer was the opportunity to walk by, come in off the the street and not feel like they weren’t welcome," Neal said.

It has taken months to get the space open for customers. Years ago the space was a dollar store, Neal said.

To convert it, he had to remove the drop ceiling and vinyl floors, then work with a Utah company, Vertical Solutions, to install walls and rock pads.

The space also needed a new roof and air-conditioning system.

The climbing walls include a Kilter Board, which has a huge variety of holds and is electronic, so can be programmed with an app to highlight routes of varying difficulty.

Columbia News

It slopes inward at 45 degrees from vertical.

Some space at the gym allow children to climb, Neal said, adding that he has brought his own kids in to test the difficulty for younger customers.

Scouts' designer

Scout Motors, which will build pickups and SUVs in Blythewood, has made one of its most important decisions as it ramps up.

Scout has selected Chris Benjamin as its chief design officer, the company announced May 30.

Benjamin is a veteran of automotive design, working with such brands as Jeep, BMW and Ram Trucks. Most recently he was leading interior designs at at Stellantis North America, the parent company of Chrysler.

“His thumb prints are all over many of the most beloved off-road vehicles in the market today," Scout Motors CEO Scott Keogh said.

Benjamin said in a statement that Scout's classic designs have been among his favorites.

"They created the archetype for the modern SUV in the ‘60s and proved that a daily driver could also be a weekend adventurer," Benjamin said. "My task now is to balance the iconic design language of the past with all of the innovative possibilities that electrification unlocks."

The company, part of Volkswagen, picked Blythewood in March for its $2 billion assembly plant. Production there is projected to start at the end of 2026.

Columbia Business

Esther's closes