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Green Diamond Project


Hybrid0NE

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I'm not sure if many of you remember it but there was a lot of buzz from 2000-02 concerning this proposal. Burroughs & Chapins "Green Diamond" would've been built on 4,600 acres of land located near 1-77 between Bluff Road and the Congaree River. The development would've had a hotel, convention center, golf course and thousands of homes (am I the only reading sprawl at this point?) group around a high-tech research park. If I remember correctly Burroughs & Chapins and FEMA had drawing battles over maps showing what percentage of the project lied in floodplains that could not be developed for that reason. I think at one point B&C had a mad with higher levees and FEMA claimed they would only shift floodwaters into Lexington County (and being the zealous Richland supporter that I am it only brought more happiness into what the future could hold) which may have caused a small uproar on the West Bank. Anyway, after awhile the project fell under the radar as the sparks of redevelopment downtown began to ignite a small inferno.

So, do any of you think it may have been or still is worthy of being completed? I think it would've been interesting to have something big down there since that area has a more unique identity when compared to the rest of the metro area (Piedmont hills and Sand hills). Plus, so much of our new development is fast-tracking it's way northeast, northwest or through Lexington.

Your turn...

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I'm not sure if many of you remember it but there was a lot of buzz from 2000-02 concerning this proposal. Burroughs & Chapins "Green Diamond" would've been built on 4,600 acres of land located near 1-77 between Bluff Road and the Congaree River. The development would've had a hotel, convention center, golf course and thousands of homes (am I the only reading sprawl at this point?) group around a high-tech research park. If I remember correctly Burroughs & Chapins and FEMA had drawing battles over maps showing what percentage of the project lied in floodplains that could not be developed for that reason. I think at one point B&C had a mad with higher levees and FEMA claimed they would only shift floodwaters into Lexington County (and being the zealous Richland supporter that I am it only brought more happiness into what the future could hold) which may have caused a small uproar on the West Bank. Anyway, after awhile the project fell under the radar as the sparks of redevelopment downtown began to ignite a small inferno.

So, do any of you think it may have been or still is worthy of being completed? I think it would've been interesting to have something big down there since that area has a more unique identity when compared to the rest of the metro area (Piedmont hills and Sand hills). Plus, so much of our new development is fast-tracking it's way northeast, northwest or through Lexington.

Your turn...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I love development as much as anyone, but I do NOT want Burroughs and Chapin in Columbia. Number one they are a very conservative company and, IMO, would not fit well in Columbia. Number 2, they practically run Myrtle Beach and I would hate to see their influence in Columbia. The land they wanted to develop is definitely in a flood plain and it is also next to the sewage treatment plant. I sure wouldn't buy any property there!

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B&C should be fought tooth and nail. For years they drained wetlands between Conway & Myrtle Beach which should have been federally protected. They had a big friend in Strom Thurmond who I would guess had a hand in letting them get away with this.

This company should be put us as a poster child of bad developers who will rape the land, and create a completely unsustainable development in the name of profits.

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B&C should be fought tooth and nail.  For years they drained wetlands between Conway & Myrtle Beach which should have been federally protected.  They had a big friend in Strom Thurmond who I would guess had a hand in letting them get away with this. 

This company should be put us as a poster child of bad developers who will rape the land, and create a completely unsustainable development in the name of profits.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Amen to that!

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  • 7 months later...

It appears the Green Diamond project from 2000 may be coming down off of the shelf. Don't know how many of you remember this project slated for lower Richland county but then got shut down. Now th project may be back up and running pending a 2001 map ruling. I'm suprised B&C are still pursuing the project considering innovista. There must be oil, or gold on that land down there?

Green Diamond

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Interesting. Can you provide some more information about this project? Its the first that I've heard of it, and the article only menitons a 'city within a city' concept, which indicates a new-urbanism style development to me, but again, the article did not clarify.

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A buddy of mine and his dad did some of the initial land surveys for this project back in the day... he says they're crazy. As I understand it, this development is a double-edged sword of environmental destruction... Development destroys environment in the event of damage to sensitive ecosystems that are linked to the Congaree Swamp National Park and/or environment destroys development in the event of flooding.

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EM and Krazee are both right on the money. I am all for development and the infusion of outside money into the Columbia area, but Burrooughs & Chapin is not an example of a company that cares about the environment or its community. The area that B&C wants to build in is in a flood plain (whether they convince FEMA to change flood maps or not). This area is best left in its natural state. Studies have shown that if levies are improved, etc. it will hurt the delicate environment at Congaree National Park, which is a few miles downstream from the proposed Green Diamond project. I, for one, don't want B&C developing ANYTHING in the Columbia area.

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NOOOOOO !!!

Not Green Diamond again.

I guess I should have realized that scum like Burroughs & Chapin would be back one day. There is probably not one corporation in SC that I dislike more than B & C. They control Myrtle Beach and have done plenty of environmental damage there. Do not, repeat do not, let them ruin another part of our beautiful state. This is land that should be in conservation. Why they think that anyone would even buy something in a flood plain, next to a sewer plant, in a bad school zone is beyond me.

Hopefully, Hurricane Katrina will at least make their job more difficult.

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NOOOOOO !!!

Not Green Diamond again.

I guess I should have realized that scum like Burroughs & Chapin would be back one day. There is probably not one corporation in SC that I dislike more than B & C. They control Myrtle Beach and have done plenty of environmental damage there. Do not, repeat do not, let them ruin another part of our beautiful state. This is land that should be in conservation. Why they think that anyone would even buy something in a flood plain, next to a sewer plant, in a bad school zone is beyond me.

Hopefully, Hurricane Katrina will at least make their job more difficult.

Vic, on this we do agree. Burroughs & Chapin is a scourge on the South Carolina landscape. We have one of the most beautiful states in the country and companies like B&C, that put the dollar ahead of everything else, want to clearcut and destroy the environment. They think by donating tons of money to Coastal Carolina's wetlands department that they can cover their tracks, but actions speak louder than a few dollars. We do not need or want B&C developing anything in Richland County.

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Here's my post from an old topic, I started about it...

I'm not sure if many of you remember it but there was a lot of buzz from 2000-02 concerning this proposal. Burroughs & Chapins "Green Diamond" would've been built on 4,600 acres of land located near 1-77 between Bluff Road and the Congaree River. The development would've had a hotel, convention center, golf course and thousands of homes (am I the only reading sprawl at this point?) group around a high-tech research park. If I remember correctly Burroughs & Chapins and FEMA had drawing battles over maps showing what percentage of the project lied in floodplains that could not be developed for that reason. I think at one point B&C had a mad with higher levees and FEMA claimed they would only shift floodwaters into Lexington County (and being the zealous Richland supporter that I am it only brought more happiness into what the future could hold) which may have caused a small uproar on the West Bank. Anyway, after awhile the project fell under the radar as the sparks of redevelopment downtown began to ignite a small inferno.

So, do any of you think it may have been or still is worthy of being completed? I think it would've been interesting to have something big down there since that area has a more unique identity when compared to the rest of the metro area (Piedmont hills and Sand hills). Plus, so much of our new development is fast-tracking it's way northeast, northwest or through Lexington.

Your turn...

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...wtopic=9390&hl=

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So, why are the school and the water plants allowed to build there? Is their intrusion just so minimal it doesn't matter... ie they're granted an exception?

I think they're allowed because they were probably built before FEMA or whomever decided the area was a flood hazard. I could be wrong, however...

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  • 1 month later...

I read in the Free Times that Burroughs and Chapin was no longer reconsidering the project, but that another unnamed developer was now looking at doing a different project there. Anyone know anything about that???

BEWARE! The other developer (the name escapes me) is partially owned by B&C. I'm sure they're a wolf in sheep's clothing.

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  • 9 months later...

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