Mortgage Broker in West Columbia, SC

WEST COLUMBIA — West Columbia drivers will now need to slow down in neighborhoods as the city dropped speed limits in one of its largest residential areas.

In a joint effort with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, West Columbia cut speed limits to a blanket 25 miles per hour on roads north of Sunset Boulevard between North Lucas Street and McSwain Drive. Before the change, speed limits ranged up to 30 miles per hour in the neighborhoods, West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles said in an August council meeting.

“What they had over this area specifically, they had kind of a hodgepodge where some roads were posted 25, some roads were posted 30,” Miles said when the resolution was passed. “This created issues for citizens to know how fast they could go, but also some enforcement issues.”

In addition to streamlining speed enforcement, the change comes as an effort to improve quality of life and boost safety for the area’s residents, according to a statement from West Columbia.

The neighborhoods in question, Westover Acres and Saluda Gardens, sit north of about a 3 mile stretch of U.S. 378, known as Sunset Boulevard, and south of the Saluda River. The speed limit change will be on all roads between North Lucas Street, which veers off of Sunset Boulevard near the Jarvis Klapman Bridge, and McSwain Drive, which runs parallel to Interstate 26. Sunset itself won’t be affected.

The residential roads in these neighborhoods, which surround the West Columbia entrance to the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, are narrow and hilly, making it difficult to see pedestrians as a motorist.

“Reducing the speed limits throughout the neighborhoods should make the areas safer for pedestrians and drivers,” said District 6 Councilman Jimmy Brooks.

The idea was sparked by residents who live in the neighborhoods, citing the need for lower speed limits with the department of transportation. West Columbia council unanimously signed on its support for the initiative in an August 21 council meeting.

LEXINGTON — An overhaul of U.S. Highway 1 near downtown Lexington is expected to wrap up this year as crews work to revamp the interchange of Lexington County’s two highly traveled roads.

The improvement project for U.S. 1 over the I-20 Interchange will replace the bridge on U.S. 1 that crosses over I-20. Plans also include road improvements to help ease congestion where the thoroughfares converge.

To ease congestion in the high-traffic area, the South Carolina Department of Transportation is building a bridge over U.S. 1 to Cedar Road, near where the highway passes over I-20.

The bridge is planned to be complete by summer 2024, said Hannah Robinson, a spokeswoman for SCDOT.

In the final weeks of 2023, crews began installing retaining walls on the bridge, which is expected to continue in the coming weeks, Robinson said.

The rest of the work at the interchange is set to be finished by the end of 2024.

U.S. 1, which runs from downtown Columbia through Lexington, is one of the area’s main thoroughfares. The road — known as Gervais Street in Columbia, Meeting Street in West Columbia and Augusta Road and Main Street in Lexington — is notorious for its rush-hour traffic congestion in downtown Lexington.

In October, crews added a left-turn lane and a commercial driveway on Dooley Road next to the U.S. 1 and I-20 interchange, helping drivers access Augusta Road businesses more easily and prevent traffic backups.

The work on U.S. 1 comes as SCDOT takes on a monumental project nearby, making major renovations to the I-20 and I-26 interchange, known to locals as “Malfunction Junction.” The near-decadelong project is intended to overhaul the Midlands’ most nightmarish highway interchange.

A subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company has leased a speculative building in a Columbia industrial park.

Colliers South Carolina brokers Chuck Salley, Dave Mathews, Thomas Beard and John Peebles represented Saxe Gotha Spec LLC/Cypress Development in the lease of a 43,750-square-foot speculative industrial building at 225 Old Wire Road in West Columbia, to WESCO Distribution Inc., a news release stated.

”Our team was pleased to represent Cypress Development to lease its first speculative industrial development,” said Salley in the release. “While marketing this property for Cypress, we realized that there is pent-up demand for freestanding industrial properties of this size as they are a rare commodity in the current market.”

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The speculative building was delivered in May 2023. It is located along Interstate 26 in the Saxe Gotha Industrial Park which is home to Amazon, Dominion Energy and Nephron Pharmaceuticals, according to the release. Chick-fil-A and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits also recently announced that they will be building new distribution facilities in the park.

“Having a track record of nearly 200 primarily retail build-to-suits, we are especially pleased to announce the recent completion of a 43,750-square-foot, speculative, ground-up industrial development in our hometown of Columbia,” said Tyler Baldwin, partner and co-founder of Cypress Development Partners LLC, in the release. “The industrial market in the Midlands region has exhibited extremely low vacancy rates over the past few years. This shortage of inventory — coupled with the recent Scout Motors plant announcement and other expansions — attracted us to this sector.

“With the assistance of the Colliers industrial brokerage team, we were able to secure a longer-term lease with WESCO, a Fortune 500 tenant, during the construction process. This building provides WESCO a standalone location with great access and visibility immediately adjacent to the Saxe Gotha Industrial Park. We pride ourselves on being responsive to the markets we serve.”

WESCO Distribution Inc. is owned by Wesco International Inc., a publicly traded Fortune 500 company headquartered in Pittsburgh, and is a leading provider of business-to-business distribution, logistics services and supply chain solutions, the release stated. 2021 sales were over $18 billion. Wesco offers a product and services portfolio of electrical and electronic solutions, communications and security solutions, and utility and broadband solutions.

The company employs over 18,000 people, maintains relationships with approximately 30,000 suppliers and serves approximately 150,000 customers worldwide, the release stated. Wesco operates approximately 800 branches, warehouses and sales offices in approximately 50 countries, providing a local presence for customers and a global network to serve multi-location businesses and multi-national corporations

The view of West Columbia from the Gervais Street Bridge features apartments, restaurants and other businesses that look right at home.

But less than a decade ago, this entire area was undeveloped, used primarily by kayakers and river-goers as parking.

Amid all the new growth on the west side of the Congaree River, the winds of change are blowing.

Al’s Upstairs Italian Restaurant, a West Columbia staple, announced it was closing after operating for 44 years at the junction of Meeting Street and Sunset Boulevard. New Brookland Tavern, an iconic State Street venue, is moving to Five Points.

A e of transition calls for a look into where West Columbia is headed.

25 years in the making

Recently re-elected West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles said he’s seen “unbelievable change” throughout the city during his tenure in public office.

The mixed-use development at the corner of Meeting and State streets, anchored by the Brookland apartments, is what most people think of when they consider West Columbia’s growth, Miles said.

Even though it’s developed quickly over the last few years, Miles said the vision for these changes started decades ago.

“The city council started accumulating that land 25 years ago,” Miles said. Miles said it took the city several tries to find the right private developer for the land, which sits between the Congaree River and West Columbia’s entertainment hub on State Street. “Until we arrived at a point where the stars aligned and we were able to go find a developer who had a proposal that was something that we thought would be a good catalyst for that area.”

Miles explained this project has allowed for further re-development, including new parking resources and Carraway Park, an all-inclusive children’s park.

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“It’s just opened up so many other opportunities, brought so many desirable things to improve the livability of our entire city, not just that area,” Miles said. “And it’s also helped to foster and bring about some demand for redevelopment to push further on up Meeting Street.”

“We proved those people wrong”

For West Columbia business owners, the changes have brought new customers and foot traffic.

“This development (on State Street) was exactly what West Columbia needed,” said Lainie Lewis, owner of State Street Trading Company.

Lewis, who also serves on the West Columbia Beautification Foundation, said city administrators have made it easy to operate a business.

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“They’re easy to deal with,” she said. “They really want us here.”

When Lewis first decided to move to West Columbia and open her shop, she was told, “Nobody’s going to cross that bridge” from Columbia into West Columbia.

Mike Davis, owner of Terra, heard similar feedback when he prepared to open his restaurant in 2006. Naysayers said customers wouldn’t go to West Columbia for fine dining.

“We proved those people wrong,” Davis said.

Davis has had a front-row seat for much of the city’s State Street and riverfront development.

“At that point in e, it was just us and Al’s (Upstairs), and everything else was a pit,” he said.

Davis believes the addition of new destinations like Savage Craft Brewing Ale Works has been critical to West Columbia’s growth. “Each business that opens just draws more people over here,” he said.

Going beyond State Street

Not everyone is in favor of the changes. Miles said he’s received feedback that the city is only focused on the River District, the commercial and residential area along the West Columbia stretch of the Congaree River.

“If you only look at what you physically see when you drive around, it’s a fair point of criticism,” Miles said.

But, he countered, the criticism isn’t justified because that development alone took more than two decades, and West Columbia is working on new projects throughout the city.

Miles said the focus is on what he defined as the four main corridors of the city: Highway 378, Highway 1, Platt Springs Road and Airport Boulevard.

“Over the past decade — 15 years — we have been working in those areas to establish a plan for revitalization, to put those physical infrastructure pieces in place, to try to help expand and push that revitalization along,” Miles said. “And over the next several years, you will see the benefit from that long-term investment.”

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Upcoming plans include changes to reduce sections of Highway 1 to two lanes, adding on-street parking and creating safe pedestrian crossings.

So far, many of the improvements have been on Highway 378 and Highway 1, but Miles said there are also discussions about projects along Platt Springs Road and Airport Boulevard.

“We’re really going to give that area a lot of attention,” Miles said of Airport Boulevard.

Earlier in 2023, West Columbia assigned a tranche of its federal COVID-19 relief dollars to make improvements on Meeting Street in an effort to bolster Meeting Street businesses and attract new ones. The city envisions Meeting as a walkable retail district by streamlining traffic, increasing pedestrian safety and beautifying the roadway.

Akera Sellers owns Brickhouse Gourmet Coffee & Tea Co. on Meeting Street. He believes the thoroughfare is on its way to seeing many of the improvements visible on State Street.

“People don’t realize, Meeting Street is a main road,” Sellers said. “I want to say it’s not too far from it being State Street.”

He cited the recent Meeting Street Music Fest as a prime example of the area’s potential.

“A lot of people from all over came to be part of that,” he said. “And I think that brings a lot of attention to Meeting Street.”

Growing pains

Growth has challenges, and each part of West Columbia feels them differently. Lewis said there’s one consistent obstacle for her business.

“In capital letters, ‘parking,’” she said. “Yeah, it’s the biggest one.”

She said while the city has added new options, like a garage in the Brookland apartment complex, she still has customers who struggle to find parking.

“There’s parking in the garage here,” she said. “We have city parking. Nobody seems to park there or know it’s there. Even though the city’s done everything they possibly could to tell people it’s there.”

Terra’s Davis said he hopes future development is done thoughtfully.

“There’s definitely a chance for more momentum to be built,” he said. “We just hope it’s done smartly, and there’s enough infrastructure to make it easy for people to come over here.”

Tim James, President and CEO of the Cayce-West Columbia Chamber of Commerce, said another challenge for growth is the lack of undeveloped land, which means new businesses are limited to redeveloping existing properties.

“We’re not making any more land,” he said. “And much of the land in the Cayce-West Columbia area already has buildings on it.”

What’s ahead

As West Columbia continues its transition, business owners and community leaders have an eye on what the future holds.

James believes West Columbia will begin attracting more retailers.

“There’s an absolute need in the Cayce/West Columbia area for clothing stores,” he said. “You’ll see that coming sooner rather than later.”

West Columbia revamping Meeting Street into a walkable retail district

Sellers, a New York transplant, believes an influx of new ideas will create a distinct personality in West Columbia.

“It’s gonna be that city where it houses everyone and it has a very unique perspective to it,” he said. “And it’s on a good direction.”

Miles, much like city leaders two and half decades ago, understands the city is laying the groundwork for changes that will take years to come to fruition.

“You can’t get what you want in 25 years if you don’t do those incremental steps between now and then to bring better in,” he said. “So we’ve got to continue moving toward what our goal is, but we can’t wait until our final goal arrives.”

Leah Hincks contributed to this report

As an effort to continue development in West Columbia, the city is working to enhance safety along the Highway One corridor.

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — The City of West Columbia was awarded a grant for traffic studies to boost pedestrian safety along Highway One.

West Columbia residents Nick Gavin and Kathryn Morit said walkability is a huge factor when deciding which bars and restaurants they visit. Having recently moved to West Columbia, Gavin said he enjoys being near downtown, but once he gets further from the river, Highway One becomes less walkable.

"Here, there's a nice pedestrian crossing where there's flashing lights, and cars can see you. I think that's really helpful. This is one of the few places that I've seen that has that," he said. "Then, you go along this road, and there's not too many places where you can cross or are very accessible."

According to West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles, that could soon change. The city was just awarded $288,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of a "Safe Streets For All" program. He said the money will be used to conduct safety surveys on pedestrian traffic.

"We're looking into some pop-outs to help folks know where the pedestrian crossings are," he said. "We're looking into incorporating some better places for pick up and drop off for ride share apps and services; we're just looking for ways to increase the safety of pedestrians along Highway One, where we intended to see further revitalized to be more of a retail corridor where you have more and more pedestrians moving about."

He said the study will be run through the entirety of Highway One in West Columbia as the city pushes to add more development to the Highway One corridor.

"There's nowhere more important than Highway One," Miles said. "It's the center of town, and it's the opportunity for us to go and really build out and have some additional retail. It's our best chance for that and to get a Main Street feel."

Moret said having more places to walk to and safer ways to get there would greatly help the area.

"If we can walk anywhere, that's so much better than worrying about Ubers, especially on a busy night with college students in town, and you have to worry about surcharges and Uber variabilities," she said. "But anywhere that we could walk would be better, so that's definitely a plus."

Miles did not give a timeline for the study project but says it should be started in the next year.

In last week’s West Columbia City Council meeting, an announcement was made about a new hotel that is to be built along Sunset Boulevard. The new building will be a Tru by Hilton on one side and a Home2 Suites on the other.

According to the same article by West Metro News, Infrastructure improvements are also in the works, with plans to install a new water + sewer line moving toward I-20.

Let’s recap some West Cola development news that’s in the works or will soon be wrapping up.

Earlier this month, West Columbia announced a major transformation + initiative, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and SCDOT, to enhance the area’s visual appeal and improve access to shopping, dining, and entertainment.

The project is set to begin bidding early next year and plans to include:

Last week, we shared about a new pedestrian bridge coming near the Botanical Gardens entrance to the Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens on Mohawk Drive.

The new development project aims to enhance recreational opportunities by improving access to the Saluda River. Efforts are underway to establish an official project address and amenities include:

Back in December, we shared news about Langley Pointe, a new $60 million mixed-use development with Class-A housing and commercial development project coming to a 37.87-acre property along Sunset Boulevard.

The development at Langley Pointe is ongoing and will be a luxury, multifamily gated, community apartment.

Designed by local company LS3P, USC and Lexington Medical Center are partnering to build a new state-of-the-art nursing simulation center + teaching space. Construction began last year on the $19 million, 45,000-sqft development which will host the new Graduate Medicine Education (GME) program’s instructional space + patient care clinics.

The Brookland development, a $40+ million dollar development, has been under construction since 2017. The 4West apartments — the final phase of the Brookland development — is almost complete and has brought with it 52 residential units + about 15,000 sqft of commercial space.

Plan ahead: Another Broken Egg Café will be the first tenant and occupy almost 4,000 sqft of the new space and its name display has been installed. According to Google, it may be opening within the next few weeks.