Bull Street Commission

BULL STREET COMMISSI ON MEETING MINUTES April 19, 2021 02:00 PM Virtual Meeting CALL TO ORDER Chairman Howard Duvall called the meeting to order at 02:08 p.m. Attendee Name Title Status Howard E. Duvall Chair Present Ellen Cooper Member Absent Lyle Darnall Member Present John Dozier Member Absent Rebecca Haynes Member Present Robert Lewis Member Absent Sabrina Odom Member Present PRESENTATIONS 1. Bull Street Progress Report - Ms. Chandler Cox, Hughes Development Corporation Chandler Cox, Project Manager/Hughes Development Corporation introduced Janie Quinn as the District Manager for the BullStreet District. I will start with a timeline of events since February 2020. In March 2020, we announced that Iron Hill Brewery was expanding their SC locations to Bull Street with hopes to open next year at the Bull and Matilda Evans intersection. In June 2020, we started constructing Starbucks as our second national retailer. In July 2020, the initial demolition and grading for the future USC School of Medicine campus was completed. Our last meeting was at Merrill Gardens and the first residents moved in during July 2020. A couple of months ago, they were at 50% occupancy, which was ahead of projections. In August 2020, we opened REI as our first national retailer. In conjunction with the construction of REI, we completed the Freed Street extension and the Boyce Street extension. A third intersection will be at Elmwood and Bull as part of the Richland Penny Project. In September 2020, the second phase of town homes was completed at Town Park at Bull Street. It is a 28-unit 2 bedroom/2- bathroom complex behind the Babcock Building. All phase one units are occupied and only one unit remains in phase two. Construction of more 3 bedroom/3 bathroom units will begin during the summer of 2021. In October 2020, we announced a new office and retail project called WestLawn at Bull Street. Robison Gray Stepp & Laffitte is our anchor tenant in this first office building of its kind in Columbia. We extended Matilda Evans Street and created additional parking. We had a devastating fire at the Babcock Building in September 2020 but the building 1 was saved and construction began in October 2020. The 254,000 sq. ft. building is being renovated into 208 apartment units that will turnover in phases with the first units being occupied at the beginning of 2022. The new Starbucks opened in January 2021. We hired a new District Manager in February 2021 and the Columbia Fireflies announced their affiliation with the Kansas City Royals. Their fifth season will begin on May 11th. In March 2021, the USC Board of Trustees voted to move their medical school to Bull Street. The groundbreaking of the WestLawn Building occurred in March 2021, as well. The public park has been unofficially open for months and it is getting a lot of use. The City’s Administrative Policy Committee is in the official naming process. The Bull Street Dog Park has been one of the most successful pieces of the park. A lot of infrastructure work has been ongoing during the pandemic. We are working to connect the new pieces up to Pickens Street and into the heart of the retail district. We just opened the Saunders Street extension last week. It is a new way to enter from the Bull and Elmwood intersection. We are also finishing the asphalt on Gregg Street. Councilman Howard Duvall announced that the Columbia Administrative Policy Committee is going to recommend that the park at Bull Street be named after Page Ellington, an African American who was enslaved in Rockingham, NC. He was sold to an owner in Columbia in the mid-1800s. He taught himself to be a master brick mason. He designed and built several buildings on the Bull Street campus. I am confident that he built the Parker Annex. He also built the original steeple on First Presbyterian Church and his home that is still standing on Blanding Street. He was instrumental in the development of several churches in the downtown area. He served in politics during the Reconstruction Era and was a renaissance man in the late 1800s. This was a unanimous decision of the commission. We want to name it after Page Ellington and then install wayside signage to honor other families and individuals. We will set a date for the opening of the 20-acre park. What are the two trailers behind REI being used for? Chandler Cox, Project Manager/Hughes Development Corporation said those are construction trailers that are being used for the WestLawn office and retail project and the two parking garages. A garage is going between the WestLawn Building and Starbucks. The Freed Street garage will be used for baseball, office parking, and the apartment project. Lyle Darnall asked about the timing for the build out of the medical school. Will they build it in phases? Also, is Proffitt Dixon still around? Chandler Cox, Project Manager/Hughes Development Corporation said USC is doing their own development of the medical school. They hope to have a development team in place this time next year. I hope construction will begin within the next 18-24 months. It will start with the medical school and the plan is for them to move their health science campus there, as well. At a later date, there will be the school of nursing, school of public health, and school of pharmacy. They may also have a large research component. The Proffitt Dixon project is still in the works and we are hoping for construction to start this summer. Councilman Howard Duvall recalled that the USC Board of Trustees recently approved $4.5 million for the design portion of this project. Gregory Tucker, Special Projects Administrator said we are doing a hard hat tour of the Babcock Building for the media on Friday. It is due to have occupancy in eight months for the first phase of the project. We hope to show how repairs are being made to the area damaged by the fire and information on the replacement of the dome. The parking lots, curbing, and paving are in place. 2 Councilman Howard Duvall inquired about SOCO and the Laundry Building. Chandler Cox, Project Manager/Hughes Development Corporation said SOCO is in the Bakery at BullStreet. They have been fully occupied since opening in September 2016. The Laundry Building was sold to a local developer, Todd Avant early last year. He is going to do full historic preservation on that project. They are working on replacing the roof, getting it water tight, installing new windows, and the use. Rebecca Haynes said my neighborhood won’t stop talking about grocery stores and asking when one will come to Bull Street. Has that progressed at all? I am loving the new traffic light, but it is long. I love the infrastructure changes and the layout is great. Chandler Cox, Project Manager/Hughes Development Corporation said a grocery store is on the wish list and we agree that it makes sense. I have nothing to announce at this point. There is a cool mural on the side of Starbucks. It has a South Carolina and Columbia theme. Gregory Tucker, Special Projects Administrator said Hughes Development donated the land alongside REI for the planting of wildflowers. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 2:37 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Erika D. Moore Hammond, CMC City Clerk 3

BULL STREET COMMISSI ON MEETING AGENDA April 19, 2021 - 02:00PM Video Conferencing Technology The meeting will be streamed online at www.columbiasc.gov. Bull Street Commission was established when Council voted unanimously to approve the creation of the Bull Street Commission to be comprised of seven (7) members serving in an advisory role to the city in advancing the vision and the goals articulated by this Council in achieving quality development on Bull Street, including funding issues, benchmarks and development activities. The commission will be chaired by a member of City Council and comprised of six (6) other representatives from the following categories: the business community including a minority business owner, the Coalition of Downtown Neighborhoods and the historic preservation community. All appointments will be approved by City Council and appointees will be duly sworn to advise the city and the developer in the discharge of their respective responsibilities. The Bull Street Commission is asked to meet at least every other month and report to Council at least twice a year. Commission Chair: Howard Duvall Commission Members: Ellen Cooper, Lyle Darnell, Dr. John Dozier, Rebecca Haynes, Robert Lewis, and Sabrina Odom CALL TO ORDER PRESENTATIONS 1. Bull Street Progress Report - Ms. Chandler Cox, Hughes Development Corporation NEXT MEETING DATE ADJOURNMENT 1