Innovista

[krazeeboi]

Wow, it's good to see USC in company with U-Wisconsin, which is definitely starting to make waves these days.

[CorgiMatt]

The Wall Street Journal freatured an article on the increasingly competitive admissions to in-state publics. Featured as "up and comers" 8 schools were listed:

Univ. of Delaware

Univ. of South Carolina

Univ. of Florida

Univ. Wisconsin

Univ. Georgia

U C SantaBarbara

Univ. of Oklahoma

SUNYStonybrook

It's good to see the publicity for Carolina.

http://uscnews.sc.edu/ADMN_Web067.html

Sorry, the WSJ link requires membership.

I mentioned this in another forum somewhere the other day and went into what they said about USC. No one ever responded to my post. Thank you for including the link, since I don't know how.

[GamecockEngineer]

I mentioned this in another forum somewhere the other day and went into what they said about USC. No one ever responded to my post. Thank you for including the link, since I don't know how.

Copy and paste the address bar from the article into your post, and the link should automatically attach.

[mcashlv]

Devoid of pedestrians. No streetscape retail. Looks rather cold and uninviting to me. But it's all nice and orderly. Another lost opportunity, IMO.

Craig Davis Properties, the development firm for Innovista, also served as the development firm for NC State's Centennial Campus in Raleigh. Here are some pictures of the campus (courtesy of forumer Orulz) so I guess Columbia can expect something similar (sans the brick facade):

These pictures and the rendering I posted earlier aren't too different.

[krazeeboi]

Centennial Campus isn't located downtown, and I think these photos were taken on a weekend. Where Centennial fails, Innovista will succeed.

[waccamatt]

Devoid of pedestrians. No streetscape retail. Looks rather cold and uninviting to me. But it's all nice and orderly. Another lost opportunity, IMO.

Streetlevel retail is important and it is being included in some of the Innovista buildings/garages. Retail establishments are not normally a large part of academic/research buildings.

[CorgiMatt]

USC has said over and over that Innovista will be a pedestrians-first development, with a mix of research buildings, housing, retail and green space. The Research Triangle is in suburbia and was designed before the nation's big urban renewal movement. Innovista is in the city.

[DanRNC]

Centennial Campus isn't located downtown, and I think these photos were taken on a weekend. Where Centennial fails, Innovista will succeed.

Centennial Campus is actually quite successful from a tenant and research perspective. Innovista hasn't been able to ink any major corporate tenants.

[CorgiMatt]

Centennial Campus is actually quite successful from a tenant and research perspective. Innovista hasn't been able to ink any major corporate tenants.

Centennial Campus has been more than quite successful with tenants and research, but it is still suburban. I thought I was responding only to a comment about design.

A building is coming out of the ground now on Innovista's biomedical block.

[BrasilnSC]

^ Yes, Discovery I or II, not sure which one, the steel beams are being put up. It seems like the building in the biomedical block is going up faster than the ones on the Horizon block, although the Horizon garage is quickly taking shape.

[krazeeboi]

Centennial Campus is actually quite successful from a tenant and research perspective. Innovista hasn't been able to ink any major corporate tenants.

I was speaking of Centennial's location as being less-than-ideal, not about tenants and research. Innovista will be much more urban than Centennial. We'll see what Craig Davis does regarding tenants.

[CorgiMatt]

^ Yes, Discovery I or II, not sure which one, the steel beams are being put up. It seems like the building in the biomedical block is going up faster than the ones on the Horizon block, although the Horizon garage is quickly taking shape.

They said that since they switched to different building materials on the Horizon block that you won't see anything and you won't see anything and you won't see anything and then all of a sudden you'll say OMG - !! - that building appeared out of nowhere.

[TheSuperPope]

so... umm the biomed block kind of came out of nowhere. Drove by there today, and I have to say it really just popped out of nowhere. They played in the dirt for almost a year at Horizon, but in 6 months there is steal going up at Biomed. Interesting.

Anyway, Horizon also now has some steal going up. I thought they were switching to concrete? And driving by the new garage for Horizon gives you a very dense, urban feel. Once that area is finished, it is going to be all sorts of dense.

[digihoop]

I took a few photos of the area this weekend (12/10/2006). The whole area is under construction. The size of the Hilton really adds alot to the area also. Discovery Plaza looks like its going to be nice also.

(click an image and then click the "all sizes" button for a larger version)

Downtown, viewed from convention center

Vista Hilton and new Pendleton St garage, viewed from convention center

Discovery Plaza parking garage

Discovery Plaza

Discovery Plaza, viewed from Colonial Center

Discovery Plaza, viewed from Greene and Lincoln

Discovery Plaza (and Hilton in the distance), viewed from Greene and Lincoln

Horizon Center Parking Garage and Assembly Street looking north, viewed from Strom Thurmond Wellness Center

Horizon Center Parking Garage, viewed from Strom Thurmond Wellness Center

Horizon Center (foreground) and Adesso (background) construction

Horizon Center (foreground), Horizon Center Parking Garage (background)

Adesso, viewed from Main and Greene

Adesso, viewed from Main

[krazeeboi]

Great shots! Thanks for sharing.

[CorgiMatt]

At Discovery Plaza, the first biomedical research building they are building between the Colonial Center and the Koger Center is going to have more height to it than I realized. The steel framing in the center is reaching relatively skyward now. That whole swath of downtown is construction crane city. That area is going to be as much a part of downtown Columbia's urban atmosphere as George Washington University is Washington, DC's. They're also building yet another frat or sorority house along Blossom. And the first Horizon Center building at Blossom and South Main is coming along. All four floors have been framed at the corner and you can see it from Cayce. With Adesso, the new face on the Holiday Inn (temporarily Columbia Inn and soon to be Marriott Courtyard), and the honors college dorm that will replace the Honeycombs, we are looking at a major expansion of our city. Also, the intramural fields, the brick and wrought iron, and the landscaping south of the Strom Thurmond Fitness Center are turning out to be beautiful!

[Spartan]

Those are great pics! Thanks for the update. I am hoping to get down to Columbia at some point to see this for myself...

[krazeeboi]

Biomedical block (Discovery Plaza), taken 12/26 (sorry about the glare):

[Firefox]

Nice video someone uploaded gives you a great view of whats going to be happening.

[krazeeboi]

This is from the Innovista webcam, only a few minutes old at the time of this posting. It's cool you can also see Adesso going up in the foreground.

[TheSuperPope]

Its like Dubai with all the cranes... just on a much much smaller scale.

[BrasilnSC]

That parking garage looks huge. Is Adesso running behind schedule? I just don't see it been completed by Summer 07.

Edited January 4, 2007 by BrasilnSC

[Captain Worley]

^ I'm not sure, but once those construction guys start slinging steel, things get accomplished very quickly. I wouldn't count them out for summer just yet.

[krazeeboi]

I agree Capt. Worley. I said the same thing about the Hilton, but once you see the actual structure start going up, it doesn't take much longer after that.

Its like Dubai with all the cranes... just on a much much smaller scale.

All of the cranes downtown REALLY make an impression heading into the city from Cayce over the Blossom Street bridge. You see the cranes for the Horizon Block, Adesso, Discovery Plaza, and the Hilton.

[CorgiMatt]

I agree Capt. Worley. I said the same thing about the Hilton, but once you see the actual structure start going up, it doesn't take much longer after that.

All of the cranes downtown REALLY make an impression heading into the city from Cayce over the Blossom Street bridge. You see the cranes for the Horizon Block, Adesso, Discovery Plaza, and the Hilton.

Even my mother commented on all the new construction (Greek Village) and construction cranes at Christmas, and she's not one to comment on such. "Great day!" she said, "Columbia's changing!" She lives in Bamberg and comes up with her friends about every other month to eat out.