West Columbia, Cayce & Downtown Lexington

[Spartan]

This is a good article in The State today about Cayce and its recent good fortunes associated with SCANA's future relocation and the relative upswing of the various neighborhoods in Cayce and West Columbia like the Avenues. Even with all of that growth, its all still tied to Columbia. The article makes several references to USC's expansion as well as Cayce's plans for the river.

Article

[krazeeboi]

Here's another story about SCANA's relocation from today's edition of The State: http://www.thestate.com/business/story/313654.html I suppose Cayce is turning into a "super suburb." At least it has a chance to truly develop some urbanity given its close proximity to downtown Columbia.

[Spartan]

Good point. I hope they take advantage of this opportunity to do something better.

[CarolinaSouth]

I would love for Cayce to be very urban and full of life....bringing W. Cola and the west bank of the Vista with them...but i really think with the Green diamond [Vista Farms] annex and everything...Cayce my snub Columbia and only look out for themselves...

[Spartan]

Well, somehow I don't think it will happen given the very suburban campus that SCANA is building. Yay for beautiful walkways that nobody will ever use. But it looks good driving by, so thats what really counts.

Gallery from TheState.com

[krazeeboi]

^I didn't even know that much had already been constructed. It would have at least been nice to see the HQs as a true urban infill project.

[Captain Worley]

^I think they wanted a lot of room to grow if needed, and infill probably wouldn't have worked for that. Plus, they already owned the land, so....

[CorgiMatt]

From Cayce's point of view SCANA is leaving Columbia and coming to Cayce. Yippee! From SCANA's point of view they're leaving Main Street and moving to 12th Street.

[krazeeboi]

Plus, they already owned the land, so....

I suspect that's the main reason, which I forgot. I don't really think room to grow was a big concern, since I'm convinced the CEO is just beefing up the company for a nice buyout by Duke Energy.

[Captain Worley]

^That rumor's been going around for decades. Makes you wonder if it'll eventually happen.

Believe it or not, growth was a pretty big issue. They wanted all their management, training, emergency ops to be fairly closely co-located. That land (which they originally bought for wetland offsets) fit the bill.

I've heard rumors that big box retail will be coming out there, too.

[waccamatt]

Captain, do you think there is enough nearby population base for big box retail to be successful out there?

[Captain Worley]

Yeah, I think there is, and there is easy access to the interstate, so you'll get some of the people who don't want to hit Harbison or NE Columbia. Kmart and Walmart have been doing pretty well in that neck of the woods. I can't imagine who the retailer is, though.

I bet in five years, all sorts of things will have sprung up on 12th.

[Spartan]

It might be a hard sell with all the big box retail going to Lexington.

[Captain Worley]

^ That was my take on it, but that info came from a pretty good source.

[digital_sandlapper]

They need to build restaurants at least on 12th Street Extension. Think of all the business they can get soon . . .

I am also thinking selfishly because I live in Cayce, and we have NO nice restaurants to speak of (Zesto, the West Bank, etc. are in W. Columbia). Of course, there's Piggie Park, but sometimes we would like something a little more sophisticated. Heck, even chains like Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden, Golden Corral, etc. would be better than what we have now--geez!

As for big box stores, I wish Target would come on 12th Street Extension. Those other locations are a pain to get to, for me and for downtown folks too.

[Chi2Midlands]

They need to build restaurants at least on 12th Street Extension. Think of all the business they can get soon . . .

I am also thinking selfishly because I live in Cayce, and we have NO nice restaurants to speak of (Zesto, the West Bank, etc. are in W. Columbia). Of course, there's Piggie Park, but sometimes we would like something a little more sophisticated. Heck, even chains like Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden, Golden Corral, etc. would be better than what we have now--geez!

As for big box stores, I wish Target would come on 12th Street Extension. Those other locations are a pain to get to, for me and for downtown folks too.

Well, there may be some restaurants coming to 12th Street and Cayce in general because of the traffic SCANA employees will generate (particularly around lunchtime), but the restaurants you mention (i.e., well-know national sit-down restaurant chains) really seem to follow rooftops (i.e., residential development), and more specifically newer middle-to-upper-middle-class housing. Unfortunately I don't see a whole lot of new such homebuilding coming soon, with the current state of the residential construction market. Eventually, though, I think what is needed and hopefully will come is more housing in the I-26/I-77/12th St. Extension area to support new restaurants (even though this adds to sprawl/congestion/traffic). In other words, you're probably going to need to replicate Moss Creek on a larger scale.

[Spartan]

Its hard to say how the SCANA relocation will impact Cayce. It may bring new rooftops, but it might not bring very many. Its just moving a few miles a way, not a few hundred. It will definitely cause some new businesses to locate in the vicinity.

[Captain Worley]

Don't forget the Black Bull, digital. It is technically in Cayce.

I'd love a Target on 12th street. The only one I get to is the one at Woodhill.

[krazeeboi]

On Tuesday morning (in a "special" meeting), Cayce City Council members took the first vote to annex the 35 acres of The Retreat, a planned 206-home development marketed toward college students, which is next to the controversial Columbia Venture property by the Congaree River. Council members will have to vote one more time.

Now you've gotta love this excerpt from the article:

The Retreat, backed by The Retreat Partners, a group of investors based in Athens, Ga., already has 146 homes completed. But with the first closings scheduled for mid-July, developers were having trouble financing the project because Richland County classified the homes as condominiums, which have more difficult financing requirements.

[Captain Worley]

I wonder if they are going to annex down Bluff Road to where Bibleway's developement is going.

I especially liked the part in the article where the mayor was eating cake in celebration of moving on. As a citizen of Cayce, I'm not at all happy with the way they've been handling annexation across the river.

Edited June 25, 2008 by Captain Worley

[waccamatt]

Wow, this is amazing. I wonder how Cayce is planning on providing water, sewer and law enforcement to this area? I also don't have a problem with Cayce growing, but undermining Richland County by allowing carte blanche (devereaux) development is really unbelievable.

[Captain Worley]

Police and fire protection probably won't be too bad, since the station is right at the beginning of the 12th Street extension, but water and ssewer will be a pain.

I couldn't believe the way that Cayce said, "OK, it isn't a condo." I had no problem with the way the city was run until about Decemeber and now every time I turn around they are doing foolish things.

[JT Boy]

Wow, this is amazing. I wonder how Cayce is planning on providing water, sewer and law enforcement to this area? I also don't have a problem with Cayce growing, but undermining Richland County by allowing carte blanche (devereaux) development is really unbelievable.

This does seem like an incredibly foolish move on the part of the Cayce mayor and council. Who would be foolish enough to invest in these, no doubt, poorly constructed and sited housing?

[Spartan]

I don't think anyone here is opposed to Cayce growing; indeed, they have a right to do so. But there's a responsible way to grow and an irresponsible way. Cayce is taking the latter route.

Cayce's intentions here are quite clear. Columbia is going to have to step up in annexation to the south and box in Cayce.

This "Retreat" development would have happened regardless of which city it annexed into. What's worse though is that this will be a crappy student housing complex that will start falling apart in 5-7 years. They just built a "Retreat" a Clemson... they built something like 80 separate hosing units about 5 feet apart (just far enough to call them houses and not "townhouses"). The whole thing went up in about 8 months. It was SCARY how shoddy those things were built. The City of Clemson had to stop construction several times due to code violations. This is just a new trend in student-oriented housing, and an unfortunate one at that.

Also, as a general point of debate, would y'all rather see topics that are in Cayce, but on the Columbia side of the river, located in the Cayce/West Cola thread or somewhere else?

[CorgiMatt]

Somewhere else, maybe in a thread called "Watershed Wasteland" or "Columbia's Sewage Area."