Innovista

[803metlife]

Some more pictures of the Biomedical Block of Innovista. The parking garage is going up fast. (02/07/07)

From Assembly St.

Here's on of the Hilton Garage with Discovery I in the background from the Convention Center

Agreed, Thanks for the pictures. I ride down Huger St. everyday and see the cranes but I very seldom get to see the progress up close. Has anyone driven on Sunset Blvd in West Columbia and seen the density that part of downtown is getting. Its amazing!!! I would recommend it to anyone.

[TheCarolinaKing]

Thats a pretty tall garage they are building in front of the Colonial Center... if my eyes aren't decieving me.

[krazeeboi]

A shot of the Horizon block today from the webcam:

[waccamatt]

A shot of the Horizon block today from the webcam:

What an improvement over the Hardees that used to be there.

[krazeeboi]

^Yes it is. The lot where Wendy's is located needs to be redeveloped as well. I hate to see a suburban-style fast food restaurant take up that much space downtown.

[Spartan]

That Wendy's is routinely among the highest volume stores in the state. You won't get rid of it without a replacement... its way too popular.

[krazeeboi]

Put in in the ground floor of any one of these parking garages planned or under construction. That's what should have happened with the free-standing CVS as well.

[Spartan]

That would be fine with me.

Why don't people build those cool 3-4 storey narrow buildings with offices or apartments on top anymore? Just one at a time, and not part of a larger development. I'd like to see something like that in the USC area for Wendy's.

[krazeeboi]

Doesn't it have something to do with parking requirements, and ultimately, financial feasibility? I know I would love to see more buildings like this come to Main where the county courthouse is presently located.

[Spartan]

Its basicly finances and zoning. The City may have some parking rules, but those can be changed.

[emerging.me]

Just got this email... Anyone have inside scoop??

Greetings!

Please join us in welcoming the first major private partner knowledge economy company to Innovista.

President Andrew Sorensen and The Board of Trustees of The University of South Carolina invite you to join with The Research Campus Foundation, The City of Columbia, Richland County, The South Carolina Research Authority, The Central SC Alliance, The Columbia Chamber of Commerce and Engenuity SC on Friday, March 9 in welcoming Innovista

[krazeeboi]

Wow, it's about time! Somebody here should know something...if not, waiting until Friday shouldn't kill us.

[Spartan]

I wonder how large of a major tennant this is, and how prominent they are. This is good new either way, and hopefully the first in a line of new tennants.

[waccamatt]

Let's hope its somebody really big who will have a large presence in Innovista.

[emerging.me]

*THUD*

Duck Creek??

Well, it is good news, but that's not the kind of big name company that's going to grab national headlines and get a serious buzz going. What USC is trying to do is not unique -- there are many other schools out there banking on nanoscience, next energy, etc. -- and I don't think the big dreams will be realized unless we can score a huge name company. What is unique about Innovista, however, is the awesome real estate involved.

[goodbye]

200 new jobs with an average salary of $85,000 isn't bad at all.

[krazeeboi]

^It's not, and it's definitely good news. But from the announcement EM posted, it sounded like Innovista was about to land a company with a pretty high national profile. I'm sure that will come in time.

[Captain Worley]

I was hoping it would be something that would really put down infrastucture roots in town. I'm not saying they won't, but moving a software company is fairly easy.

I'm thinking the low cost of living here will be a pretty tempting draw for the companies Innovista is trying to attract.

Edited March 9, 2007 by Captain Worley

[sojay]

They have to be able to manage expectations, you know. If they start blabbering about this and that company that will be coming and these deals don't happen, it will look bad. There were a couple of deals that fell through, and there are more in the pipeline that look like they will happen. I guess we (the public) are just scrutinizing too much because we want results.

It's a decent medium sized company.

Edited March 9, 2007 by sojay

[Spartan]

This can't be for real. Our first major tennant is an insurance software company that has nothing to do with the goals of Innovista? This is not the news that I wanted to hear.

"Coble said he is not concerned that Duck Creek is not connected to one of the sciences that are USC

[Captain Worley]

C'mon, Spartan, it is USC we're talking about. I truly believe they'd take a call center for a tenant if they paid the asking price.

[Firefox]

Well the reasons why we may not be landing major tendents could be two reasons, the compaines are waiting to see what comes from Innovista or have already commited to other research schools and are not looking for any new space or expanding. Like it was said this is nothing new so there is a chance these compaines have already built at other schools or research areas. But like always I may be wrong.

[waccamatt]

Anytime you can add 200 jobs at an average salary of $85,000 a year, it is a good thing.

[krazeeboi]

Maybe they should consider changing the focus of Innovista so that the tennants it brings in will actually be related to researcha areas.

That would only require adding a techonological component, not changing the focus areas altogether.

We need to have some perspective here. Innovista is in its infancy, and several other research parks already have a big head start. We're in this thing for the long haul.

Another point: I don't think you can expect outside investors to show much interest in developments like these without local investors first doing so.

[krazeeboi]

It seems as though the Duck Creek anouncement may be the beginning of similar future announcements. Perhaps the university really should consider adding software engineering as one of its focus areas.