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I've seen cool plans from USC about what they intend to do with the innovista moving forward. I'll see if I can find them online somewhere. They're planning that same low/mid-rise development all the way to the river along blossom and green streets, similar to how it is all throughout that part of campus. In 10 years, there will probably be at least another half dozen buildings similar in size to the 650 Lincoln buildings.

A large pedestrian bridge will go over the train tracks at green street and they're debating closing it to cars. The plan is a more vague the closer you get to the river since it's basically completely undeveloped on the other side of huger.

I wish they'd put in another hourly parking garage like bull street somewhere on campus. The two biggest complaints USC students have are the Wifi and parking. It can be infuriating to find a spot. I've spent 30 mins trying to find one. They can't keep building dorms, classrooms, and apartments without increasing parking. (rant over)

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Are you referring to the Sasaki plan, which was developed several years ago? If so, this is a plan the city still holds in high regard and consults often when making development decisions.You can Google that plan, which is a humongous PDF. If you have seen something different, please let us know.

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I've seen that PDF and I think it's very cool. Here's a link to it:

http://www.sasaki.com/project/35/university-of-south-carolina-innovista-master-plan/

But that's not what I saw, although it goes right along with it. I think they're still using the Sasaki plan for the overall vision of the area. Which makes sense considering how extensive it is and likely expensive to create. But if you look at what they're currently developing in the area, it follows the Sasaki plan only loosely. The plan is almost 10 years old now.

I just saw the old plans for the Carolina Coliseum. It's beautiful. I wish they would convert it to dorms or something.

coliseum.jpg

Edited by Nick2
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2 minutes ago, Nick2 said:

I've seen that PDF and I think it's  (very cool). Here's a link to it:

http://www.sasaki.com/project/35/university-of-south-carolina-innovista-master-plan/

But that's not what I saw, although it goes right along with it. I think they're still using the Sasaki plan for the overall vision of the area. Which makes sense considering how extensive it is and likely expensive to create. But if you look at where they're currently developing in the area, it follows the Sasaki plan only loosely. The plan is almost 10 years old now.

I just saw the old plans for the Carolina Coliseum. It's beautiful. I wish they would convert it to dorms or something.

 

coliseum.jpg

I read the Board of Trustees meeting minutes religiously (I know, I know). The Board discussed future uses of the Coliseum during a Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting a while back. Basically they plan to create a second Russell House, albeit focused more on less frequently used student services like Financial Aid and the Bursar. This would free up space in other buildings on or near the Horseshoe, notably in Byrnes and Petigru. The PDF is cool. but the video is my favorite:

The USC Campus Master Plan also covers part of Innovista: http://www.facilities.sc.edu/downloads/master-plan.pdf

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When was that board meeting? (just curious as to the time frame)

I remembered hearing they were planning on converting to dorms. Is that scrapped or am I just mistaken?

They're already moving all that stuff out of the horseshoe into the close-hipp building since the national advocacy center backed out. I think they're going to turn close-hipp into what you're talking about. The mental health center is there, study abroad office, and others.

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9 hours ago, carolinagarnet said:

I read the Board of Trustees meeting minutes religiously (I know, I know). The Board discussed future uses of the Coliseum during a Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting a while back. Basically they plan to create a second Russell House, albeit focused more on less frequently used student services like Financial Aid and the Bursar. This would free up space in other buildings on or near the Horseshoe, notably in Byrnes and Petigru. The PDF is cool. but the video is my favorite:

The USC Campus Master Plan also covers part of Innovista: http://www.facilities.sc.edu/downloads/master-plan.pdf

I love the density of mid-rise buildings. It reminds me of Washington, DC.

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Here's the discussion about the renovation of Close/Hipp:

http://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/board_of_trustees/documents/minutes_archive/2015/b-g_112015.pdf

About 1/3 of the building will be used by HRSM, which is moving out of the Coliseum entirely. Global Carolina (International Programs I guess?) and other Byrnes offices are shifting there. Financial Aid is right across the street from Close/Hipp, so it would make sense for them to move there while space is available.

The Athletics Department build the men's (and women's?) practice facilities in the old arena rather than building a new facility in the Athletic Horseshoe. I know the volleyball and men's basketball team offices are moving to the basement now (http://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/board_of_trustees/documents/minutes_archive/2015/b-g_042415.pdf), but apparently there is still a ton of space. The University still lists a Coliseum Renovation at $125,00,000 for the 2019-2020 academic year, though that moved back a year between the Feb. 2015 and Feb. 2016 meetings.

Here are a few articles from 2013 and 2014 about the renovation. They suggest that the eventual plan is still unknown.

http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article13829837.html

"University Chief Financial Officer Ed Walton told school trustees on Friday that the money was included in a 2014-15 budget request to Gov. Nikki Haley's office to alert lawmakers about the project that would transform the former 12,000-seat home of the Gamecock basketball teams into a student-services hub with classrooms."

http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article13932104.html

"A renovated coliseum is expected to be the hub of the western campus, with a student union, classrooms and student services offices."

http://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-mens-basketball/article18189782.html

"USC has considered turning the rest of the Coliseum into a student union"

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Awesome! Thanks for all the info. I always thought the Coliseum renovation was a pie in the sky kind of thing. That price tag is so high though it would make more sense for them to buid new buildings instead. USC does have a massive desperate need for space for classrooms and dorms so anything they can do to help fix it, they will.

Also, McBryde, Bates, Bates west, and the Cliff apartments are all going to be removing at some point in the relatively near future. For the area near Bates, they want to create a community like 650 Lincoln with all new buildings but none of this has concrete time frames.

USC spends money like they won't have the opportunity to later. 

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1 hour ago, Nick2 said:

Awesome! Thanks for all the info. I always thought the Coliseum renovation was a pie in the sky kind of thing. That price tag is so high though it would make more sense for them to buid new buildings instead. USC does have a massive desperate need for space for classrooms and dorms so anything they can do to help fix it, they will.

Also, McBryde, Bates, Bates west, and the Cliff apartments are all going to be removing at some point in the relatively near future. For the area near Bates, they want to create a community like 650 Lincoln with all new buildings but none of this has concrete time frames.

USC spends money like they won't have the opportunity to later. 

I honestly think Pastides would love to demolish the Coliseum, but the history behind it makes getting rid of it politically unfeasible. The State hosted a poll about what to do with the building and readers were overwhelmingly in favor of reuse. As I said, the uncertainty around what to do with the Coliseum forced Rafael Vinoly to accommodate the brutalist 60s columns into the design of the new Moore School. The building itself seems like an odd fit for classroom space. It seems like encasing the entire facility in a glass exoskeleton and covering the concrete with the blonde brick façade might bring it more in line with the overall design of the area.

McBryde really should have been demolished when the Rare Archives Library Addendum was built. The school was not in the position to remove all of that residential space given the upcoming projects (at the time) on South Tower and the Women's Quad as well as the general shortage due to the unexpected growth of the freshman class. They can demolish the building, but that area is not well suited for anything else given its odd orientation.

I really hope the University can appease the neighborhood around Bates and Bates West because that housing inventory is badly needed. Those buildings are terrible anyway and growing in that direction makes a lot of sense since the University already owns the land and it would cater to athletes (near the Athletic Horseshoe) and engineering/math students.

If you think about it, now is the best time for USC to complete all of these projects. Interest rates are historically low, construction costs are still lower than they were in the early 2000s, and the University continues to grow. At a certain point the city will need to find a way to drive organic growth, but for now USC is directly or indirectly generating most of the new development around town. The Innovista design overlay is brilliant because it basically allows them to control the development between campus and the river without forcing them to build. I suspect we will see a lot more privately funded/university managed projects now that Holder has proven that it is quicker and more efficient than USC in terms of getting projects through the approval process and constructing them.

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I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they decide to start working more with private partnerships. It's much easier to justify allocating funding for projects when the costs are half covered by a secondary party.

For McBryde I think they were trying to decide whether to gut the buildings and add floors on top to save the "historic" buildings (they were the original greek life housing) or just to level them which makes more sense.

Everyone hates Bates. It's far from everything, the dorms are crappy and old, and trains. So many loud trains that you can easily hear inside the dorms enough to wake up light sleepers. Hopefully new buildings will have better sound proofing. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

It's amazing that the Palmetto Compress is almost complete considering it was nearly demolished. I wonder if the Mexican restaurant is Monterrey's? The location is not terribly far from their old spot in Cayce and brings them a lot closer to their base.

http://columbiabusinessreport.com/news/57782-palmetto-compress-work-progresses-on-converting-historic-warehouse-into-apartments-retail-space?rss=0

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Nice. You wouldn't guess that this place is nearly done judging by the outside so that's good to hear. The Knox Abbott Monterrey's already moved across the street though, plus the vista Monterrey's is only like six or seven blocks from here so it's most likely going to be something else.

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48 minutes ago, TKJones said:

Nice. You wouldn't guess that this place is nearly done judging by the outside so that's good to hear. The Knox Abbott Monterrey's already moved across the street though, plus the vista Monterrey's is only like six or seven blocks from here so it's most likely going to be something else.

Ah, I see. Maybe a second Eric's San Jose? It would be exciting for an entirely new restaurant to come in. Given how close both Monterrey's are, I would think the new place would need to hit a different quality level.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 3 months later...
1 hour ago, BrasilnSC said:

Foundation Square!  Lots of stone work but also lots of trees.  New restaurant on the SE quadrant (1801 Grille) and a new water feature (still being installed) on the SW quadrant.

IMG_3607.JPG

IMG_3608.JPG

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IMG_3610.JPG

IMG_3612.JPG

IMG_3613.JPG

Wow! The last photo is amazing- the area is going to be gorgeous once the trees fill in. The restaurant looks incredible 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/9/2017 at 1:02 PM, vicupstate said:

What is Foundation Square exactly?  

Whatever it is, is has way too much hardscaping.  

 

My thoughts exactly after having walked through, unfortunately. It's definitely a nice redevelopment, don't get me wrong, but the whole thing just seems way too non-functional to justify taking up nearly an entire city block. If they wanted it to feel like a small park like the article says, then why not just build one of those instead of planting some small trees and a few hundred square feet of sod in the middle of a big stone parking lot? Also, what's with the giant slabs just sitting there? Am I missing something on this one?

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5 hours ago, TKJones said:

My thoughts exactly after having walked through, unfortunately. It's definitely a nice redevelopment, don't get me wrong, but the whole thing just seems way too non-functional to justify taking up nearly an entire city block. If they wanted it to feel like a small park like the article says, then why not just build one of those instead of planting some small trees and a few hundred square feet of sod in the middle of a big stone parking lot? Also, what's with the giant slabs just sitting there? Am I missing something on this one?

I think they're meant as long benches where people can sit and eat lunch. The parking lot next to CLA will eventually be converted (USC leases the land from the city, I believe), which will make it more of a square. With that entire block still dedicated to surface parking, it probably feels somewhat open.

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