Construction plans for The Edge, a 15-story student housing project that will be built adjacent to Richland Library on Assembly St., have been delayed – again. (The project was initially put on hold for 6 months last year, citing design concerns.) The $70 million development will bring 600+ students downtown, acting as a bridge between the Main St. + Vista districts.

In the past few years, Columbia’s downtown has witnessed a growth explosion due to the larger UofSC freshman class sizes. There’s record breaking 5,800 new Gamecocks this semester.

4,000+ UofSC students haved moved into 10 new student apartment megaplexes – like The Hub, an 850-bed student apartment high rise on the 1400 block of Main St., which played a major role in the revitalization of Columbia’s Main Street District.

However, with The Edge’s delay, the cutback on Huger + Gervais St.’s Kline City Center development and the new retail recruitment strategy for the BullStreet neighborhood, the booming growth appears to be stabilizing – a.k.a. developers still want a piece of downtown real estate, but are no longer in a mad rush. Matt Kennel, president + CEO of City Center Partnership, claims this is a normal part of the growing process.

Despite the pause, The Edge is projected to be completed in 2019.

4 min read / The State