Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
COLUMBIA — Plans for over 70 upscale townhomes on Rosewood Drive near the State Fairgrounds and Williams-Brice Stadium are moving forward. The project would displace a longstanding local event venue. A developer hopes to build 71 three-story townhomes on two plots of land along at 1027 and 1125 Rosewood Drive. Those lots are currently occupied by a grass parking lot and Seawell’s event venue, respectively. The project would be aimed at young professionals seeking to buy a townhome close to downtown and Williams-Brice, rather than renting to students, developer Steve McNair said at an Oct. 21 Columbia City Council meeting. A large, 400-unit student housing project was previously proposed for the same site but fell through, he said. “We did see the student housing project that was there, and I was thinking, ‘Oh my Gosh that's a monstrosity,’” McNair said. “We feel really good about the product, we feel very good about the location. I am a Gamecock, and I will have a unit there.” City Council gave a final vote to rezone both properties to make way for the townhomes on Oct. 28, as well as to annex the grass parking lot property into the city limits. Mayor Daniel Rickenmann spoke — and voted — in favor of the project at the prior Oct. 21 meeting, saying it would help fill the need for more housing in the city aimed at young professionals. “We need young professional housing in proximity of downtown,” Rickenmann said. “I mean, a lot of the young professionals are moving to other cities because of the proximity of living downtown. … They want to be able to shut the door and go out and go to concerts and travel, so there's a real need here.” The project is backed by Nashville-based Lennar Homes, McNair said. McNair’s company, Palmetto Alliance Property Group, is developing similar projects in Greenville and Asheville on behalf of the Tennessee developer, he said. The townhomes would be priced in the mid-$600,000 to $700,000 range, he said. Final plans for the townhomes would have to be approved by the city’s Planning Commission before construction could begin, city staff said. The development would displace Seawell’s, a family-owned business dating back to 1946. The business originated as a chain of restaurants, before evolving to the event venue and catering space it is today, according to the business’s website. The family currently owns the property the townhomes would be built on, according to county tax records. “Some of the brothers are getting a little older and thinking about handing it off to one of the sons, letting them continue maybe somewhere else,” George McCutchen, a commercial realtor attached to the project, said on Oct. 21. “This is some valuable property and we have a great project.” The townhomes are expected to bring between $44 to $49 million to the city’s property tax roll, McCutchen said. The plots of land are currently valued at over $5 million, according to county tax maps.
