Wanted in Columbia: Forest Acres, Brookland, War Mouth

Despite some community resistance, the planning commission in Forest Acres has approved the Cardinal Newman redevelopment plan. It now moves to a council vote. And in West Columbia, the Brookland development is facing opposition to the density of the project. In both cases is that increased traffic is the biggest concern.

And I’m hearing good things about The War Mouth in Cottontown. More independent restaurants is always a good thing. Can’t wait to try it out. And I hope the momentum continues from downtown over Elmwood and up North Main Street.

Still trying to figure out what the next step for my retail blog will be, but until I figure that out, I’ll be posting here on Mondays...

Wanted in Columbia: BullStreet, Free Times and Forest Acres

I was traveling last week, but there was a fair amount of retail news.

The State reports that 85 storefronts will be built at the Commons at BullStreet*, opening in the second half of 2016. Still no details on tenants.

The Free Time has a Volume 3 of their “What Columbia Needs” list. A couple of good ones, including a downtown multiplex and downtown small boat landing with parking.

And finally, there is opposition to the development at the old Cardinal Newman school in Forest Acres. I guess, I shouldn’t be surprised, but whatever goes there is going to generate traffic.  I’m not really sure what opponents to the project are expecting… that the property will just sit there unoccupied. Unlikely in such a hot retail corridor. (And yes, I understand that traffic is bad. That’s why companies will want to locate there, because there are potential customers driving by…)

I mentioned in my post on my publishing schedule that I'm thinking about renaming Wanted in Columbia and finding it a new home. Still researching options, but until then, I'll continue to post on Mondays here.

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* I hate it when corporations slam words together for unknown reasons. I think they are trying to be edgy by going with "BullStreet" as one word, but it just looks like a typo.

Wanted in Columbia: Mystery grocery store in Lexington, details x2 and food trucks in a vacant lot

Mystery grocery store. Hobby Lobby is coming to 378 in Lexington, along with an undisclosed grocery store. 

The identity of the new grocery store is the interesting thing here. The new Hobby Lobby in Northeast Columbia is getting a Fresh Market as a neighbor. The developer on the Lexington project – S.J. Collins Enterprises — does a lot of work with Whole Foods. Actually, almost all the example projects of their web site are Whole Foods developments.

Something like a Kroger seems more likely, but a Whole Foods or Fresh Market would make sense for the demographics in Lexington. And either of those stores would be a very big deal for that part of the Columbia area.

Details, Part I. The Columbia Star has lots more details, including renderings and site plans, for the Village Square development in Forest Acres that I mentioned last week. Looks like it could be a really nice development and a nice fit for the area.

Details, Part II. Mayor Benjamin commented this week that he expects significant details on the businesses coming to the Bull Street property by the year’s end. Personally, I’d be impressed with a couple of solid anchors and restaurants. I'm still betting on a P.F. Changs, here.

Food trucks in a vacant lot. In West Columbia, there are plans to turn a vacant lot into a food truck court. The idea would be that a selection of food trucks would always be there. Could be awesome, but doesn’t a food truck’s “magic” depend on the sometimes-it’s-there-sometime-it’s-not nature of the fact that it’s a truck. We’ll see, but it’s better than a vacant lot.

Every Monday, I post a Wanted in Columbia update. See the most recent updates on the Wanted in Columbia page.

Wanted in Columbia: Village Square

Quiet. Not much to report on this week as the focus for the Midlands area continues to be recovering from the floods. I don't expect many openings between now and the end of the year. Hopefully, we'll be getting updates on the Bull Street development soon. The 2016 minor league baseball season will be here before we know it.

Village Square. The plans to develop the soon to be vacant Cardinal Newman High School spot on Forest Acres looks interesting. The developers also appear to have addressed out-of-the-gate concerns about traffic. The new development will include around 300 apartments and local restaurants and boutiques.

Wanted in Columbia: Red Robin open, Forest Acres announcement

Red Robin at Harbison is open. It’s been a while since Spinnakers was open at Columbiana so it seems weird for there to finally be another restaurant in it’s place. With Red Robin and the addition of Dave and Buster’s next year, it’s clear that Columbiana is trying to give other people a reason other than shopping to come to the mall.

Forest Acres announcement. It’s rare for a large block of property to become available in a fast growth area. With Cardinal Newman moving from it’s current Forest Acres location to Northeast Columbia, that entire property will be redeveloped. The Beach Co. will be holding a press conference on Monday to discuss plans for redevelopment of the site. I’d expect some type of mixed-use development retail and condos. And I’d also expect serious discussion about the traffic impact of the project. That section of Forest has some wacky traffic issues.