CanalSide

[waccamatt]

true. also i wish there were more retail. with it being a gated community will the retail be open to the public?

Canalside is not going to be gated; the acess to the canal will be there for everyone.

I agree. No other units will have views of the riverfront. They should keep those low rises and build like stadium seeting with either height of buildings or elevations.

I concur as well.

[krazeeboi]

I also agree about the placement of the condo buildings and the surface lots. Oh well, at least this thing is getting up off the ground.

And as usual, the commentaries in the comments section on thestate.com are ridiculous--and you know Greenville and Charleston had to pop up in the discussion at some point.

[Spartan]

Having a tower maximizes the number of people who will get to see the river front. If you have the higher towers towards the back, most of the lowere floors wouldn'tbe able to see it, the residents inbetween the small palces on the river and the towers in teh back would still not be able to see anything. Basicly you'd be creating extremely expensive housing along the river, which would be less apropriate IMO.

The people on the state's comment board are idiots. I wonder what ISNT a waste of money, time, and effort to them? These are people who have no appreciation for what a city should be. They want their identical houses and large trucks and whatnot.

Speaking of houses, I don't like the design of these places at all- assuming that the renderings in The State today are accurate. I think that it will become weathered and dated in 15-20 years.

[emerging.me]

Having a tower maximizes the number of people who will get to see the river front. If you have the higher towers towards the back, most of the lowere floors wouldn'tbe able to see it, the residents inbetween the small palces on the river and the towers in teh back would still not be able to see anything. Basicly you'd be creating extremely expensive housing along the river, which would be less apropriate IMO.

The people on the state's comment board are idiots. I wonder what ISNT a waste of money, time, and effort to them? These are people who have no appreciation for what a city should be. They want their identical houses and large trucks and whatnot.

Speaking of houses, I don't like the design of these places at all- assuming that the renderings in The State today are accurate. I think that it will become weathered and dated in 15-20 years.

I don't like the elevations either... but maybe the finished product will be better. I'm picking up my packet tomorrow -- maybe it will have better drawings. The early concepts were much better than this! Let's hope it's a fluke or something.

[Spartan]

I hope so. I like the layout of the properties well enough. I don't like the SFR thats in this project. As far as I'm concerned that should not exist in downtown unless its in conjuction with existing neighborhoods of that type.

[sonofaque86]

Who are these upstate morons who still think Greenville has something to offer that Columbia doesn't? Except a short stretch along the falls, Reedy is a creek a few fee wide, not a river. Columbia has a wealth of kayaking, canoeing, tubing and river recreation. Columbia has several miles of riverfront parks, with a plan to connect it all into 12 miles of trails. Greenville doesn't have 12 miles of anything, and they can't pay people to live downtown. Columbia is beautiful and booming. Get over yourselves. Apparently the Bob Jones crowd isn't just jealous of our arts and cultural diversity. They're jealous of our booming real estate market and people's desire to live here too.

Ya'll should read the comments left by the people on CanalSide...always gotta bring greenville in the picture

[Spartan]

Yeah I know. I was amazed at how ignorant these people were of what is happening in their own town. I mean, most people are not as informed as us UrbanPlanet readers, but I figured the USC-Guignard plan would have been big news enough for most people to know about it by now.

[sonofaque86]

I know...It was so many negative comments. Talking about another place for hobos and stuff...It's like they don't want anything good to go on in the city

[Spartan]

Exactly! And thats what I just can't comprehend. You'd think that they woudl recognize that its good for Columbia's downtown to have this type of development, even if everyone can't afford it right now.

[waccamatt]

Yeah I know. I was amazed at how ignorant these people were of what is happening in their own town. I mean, most people are not as informed as us UrbanPlanet readers, but I figured the USC-Guignard plan would have been big news enough for most people to know about it by now.

I'm almost certain those are not city residents making those comments. I live and work in the city and people are very excited about the current developments, even those that live in the suburbs. I have a number of suburban dwelling colleagues who are dying to move downtown.

[TheSuperPope]

6 pages of comments on The State's website and 4 comments have some intelligence in them. Every city has its hobos, but I run at the canal park daily and have seen 1 homeless person in the past 3 months there...

[krazeeboi]

I hope so. I like the layout of the properties well enough. I don't like the SFR thats in this project. As far as I'm concerned that should not exist in downtown unless its in conjuction with existing neighborhoods of that type.

SFR is single family residential right? I didn't recall that being in the original plan.

The surface lots should at least have been hidden; from the site plan, it appears as though they are fronting the street--a big no no.

Edited July 28, 2006 by krazeeboi

[The_sandlapper]

I'm almost certain those are not city residents making those comments. I live and work in the city and people are very excited about the current developments, even those that live in the suburbs. I have a number of suburban dwelling colleagues who are dying to move downtown.

Yeah I'm in agreement with matt there I doubt many of those posters are actually residents of Columbia. I'm sure it's the same batch of people posting negative crap just to try to get a rise out of people. I don't even give them the satisfaction of addressing those nimrods!

[Spartan]

SFR is single family residential right? I didn't recall that being in the original plan.

Yes, and yes. They are here now though. So not much that can be done now.

[803metlife]

I agree, most of the posters are probally not from Columbia

Edited July 29, 2006 by 803metlife

[emerging.me]

I think the change in strategy on CanalSide -- releasing the single family home lots first (they were always in the plan) -- shows that they might be anticipating a softening market, so they're going to push the highest dollar stuff quickly. Just speculation. What are some other possible reasons for the decision?

The new elevations have been posted on the website. They look much better than the way they looked in the paper. The only thing gnarley are the "Taylor Street Townhomes". The other designs are fairly slammin'.

I'm anxiously awaiting the pricing for the condos... It's a good sign (for those of us that aren't affluent) that they're revisiting the pricing on those to reflect the changing market.

Edited July 31, 2006 by emerging.me

[waccamatt]

In the paper, the reason they gave for the homesites being offered first is that they could be built more quickly than the condos/townhomes or apartments. Whether that's the real reason or not, is open to speculation. I will say this, however, there is ALOT of interest in moving downtown from some of my colleagues, so I think the market is pretty broad. I have never seen so much excitement from current suburbanites about moving downtown. I just hope the political mix in the city doesn't change too drastically.

[krazeeboi]

Single family homes are just a sure bet--that's what I see it as. It's a safety net. No matter what city you happen to be in, they are tried and true. I think it will make the condo transition a bit easier when those come onto the market.

[waccamatt]

Krazee is right; SFR's are more popular than condos so they wanted to go with the surer bet first. According to this article, the condo market is softening nationwide; I bet we will see some more proposed projects in the Carolinas get delayed. The 2 projects in Columbia I hope don't get delayed are Canalside and the Kline project.

Condo sales going soft

Edited because I forgot to post the link.

Edited July 31, 2006 by waccamatt

[comingtocolumbia]

I really don't think you can compare Condo market nationwide to Columbia. Columbia's downtown is probably 5 years behind the curve of development compared to other cities. How can it be overbuilt when two projects (1520 and Renaissance Plaza) have been built downtown? Only 100 or so people want to live downtown? A lot of areas (s. florida, vegas, arizona) were overbuilt, which is not he case here in columbia. I think if you look at all the annouced projects, the are spread out over a long period of time and will all succeed in the underserved market.

Krazee is right; SFR's are more popular than condos so they wanted to go with the surer bet first. According to this article, the condo market is softening nationwide; I bet we will see some more proposed projects in the Carolinas get delayed. The 2 projects in Columbia I hope don't get delayed are Canalside and the Kline project.

Condo sales going soft

Edited because I forgot to post the link.

Edited July 31, 2006 by comingtocolumbia

[waccamatt]

CTC, I agree the Columbia market is far from being overbuilt, but lenders start to get antsy when the national market is starting to go soft. My understanding for the Kline project is that it is taking awhile to get funding.

[krazeeboi]

I'm no real estate expert by any means, but I think both of you have a point. Obviously you cannot ignore the national trend, but at the same time, perhaps this news is good for cities like Columbia that's just starting to catch hold of the contemporary condo trend. Perhaps developers will begin focusing their efforts of those types of cities.

[Spartan]

The State has reported that the city is expecting this trend. There was an initial rush to build these units, and now the market must adjust. Columbia is nowhere near finished.

[803metlife]

Are towers still being added to the CanalSide Development? After going over the redering I did't see anything that looked like a tower. The site's rederings are much better than the paper also.

[krazeeboi]

Two 8-story condo towers are planned for a later phase of the development.