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Bull Street Common


The_sandlapper

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Something else from my notes that you guys will love -- haven't seen it mentioned anywhere, but I haven't been keeping up with all the news (on vacation this week)...

Duany recommended keeping the rail line at the rear of the property intact -- even if the railroad reroutes. He suggested leaving a space open for a light rail station with a line that would connect the Bull St. neighborhood to Benedict, USC, and the Research Campus. It's easy to imagine that line continuing on into a revitalized Olympia and possibly even an extension over the river between the airport and downtown. As well as a North-ish extension to Farrow Rd. He added, "Don't ever do 'rails to trails,' because you'll need them."

Edited by emerging.me
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haha, man... I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum from most of you guys! :) I'd much rather have quality density than impressive height. And I think if we do add more height in the future it should be concentrated in city center.

And I see your point, but I must say that the Carolina Plaza is truly assy. No offense, of course. :) I have odd architectural taste myself, so I'm one to talk. hehe.

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I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this! Signature buildings are great, but they should be clustered together to make an attractive skyline. Bull St. is too far out of the way to be seen. The domed building as you come in on Elmwood is plenty :)

Carolina Plaza is quite ugly IMO. I would only regret its loss because of its height. :)

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Oh I'm not advocating a "secondary skyline" in the Bull Street area. I'm just wishing for a few towers, or even just a new tallest, in the core area. But even more than that, I'd like to see infill from the BOA plaza down to the concentration of towers along Main.

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Oh I'm not advocating a "secondary skyline" in the Bull Street area. I'm just wishing for a few towers, or even just a new tallest, in the core area. But even more than that, I'd like to see infill from the BOA plaza down to the concentration of towers along Main.

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I agree. When I make my first hundred million I'll build a new tallest, lol.

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Something else from my notes that you guys will love -- haven't seen it mentioned anywhere, but I haven't been keeping up with all the news (on vacation this week)...

Duany recommended keeping the rail line at the rear of the property intact -- even if the railroad reroutes. He suggested leaving a space open for a light rail station with a line that would connect the Bull St. neighborhood to Benedict, USC, and the Research Campus. It's easy to imagine that line continuing on into a revitalized Olympia and possibly even an extension over the river between the airport and downtown. As well as a North-ish extension to Farrow Rd. He added, "Don't ever do 'rails to trails,' because you'll need them."

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God Bless Duany! Now all we need is a grassroots organization to promote LRT for the Three Rivers region (with a couple subway stations under the CBD and USC areas) and we could spark some interest (if only minimal).

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haha, man... I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum from most of you guys! :) I'd much rather have quality density than impressive height. And I think if we do add more height in the future it should be concentrated in city center.

And I see your point, but I must say that the Carolina Plaza is truly assy. No offense, of course. :) I have odd architectural taste myself, so I'm one to talk. hehe.

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I completely agree with your comments about density vs. height. I would much rather see Columbia develop a dense core of 10-20 stories buildinds of all sorts than to try and push a few 35-40 story towers into downtown. There is nothing wrong with a 40 story tower, but it should be supported by a really active, dense city center, not poking out like a sore thumb. Portland, OR and Washington, DC are two excellent examples of cities that lack major height, but more than make up for it with a dense, liveable core with an active street life (and some good architecture too).

Also, glad to hear that the Carolina Plaza is going, it is bad design taking up a prime spot in downtown.

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LOL son. We all want more scrapers, but unfortunately they are not always economically feasible.

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Everyone here has good ideas: Density; good

Grouping the tall buildings; good

More tall buildings; good (some 30 to 40 stories

sprinkled among the 10 to 20; very good

Less open space in the city; good

What does everyone think of the new First Citizens building AND all of the blank space behind the building? They are going to have new ground level open parking lots with some sort of plaza separating them. You will be able to see all the way from Lady Street across Gervais to the Capitol.

My opinion is that they are building a beautiful 'ground scraper' but we really don't need more open spaces in midtown. If that underground lot had been built not out of sight but ground level retail, several parking decks above that, then the banks tower on top of that we would now have a new 12 to 13 story building and would have done away with all that ugly open parking lot and counterproductive open space.

I still hate to loose the old Radisson if for no other reason than it is more than 10 stories tall.

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Everyone here has good ideas:  Density; good

                                              Grouping the tall buildings; good

                                              More tall buildings; good (some 30 to 40 stories             

                                                        sprinkled among the 10 to 20; very good 

                                              Less open space in the city; good

What does everyone think of the new First Citizens building AND all of the blank space behind the building?  They are going to have new ground level open parking lots with some sort of plaza separating them. You will be able to see all the way from Lady  Street across Gervais to the Capitol.

My opinion is that they are building a beautiful 'ground scraper' but we really don't need more open spaces in midtown.  If that underground lot had been built  not out of sight but ground level retail, several parking decks above that, then the banks tower on top of that we would now have a new  12 to 13 story building and would have done away with all that ugly open parking lot and counterproductive open space. 

I still hate to loose the old Radisson if for no other reason than it is more than 10 stories tall.

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I like the new FC building except that it doesn't have any ground floor retail space. How do they expect Main St to become something like Five Points or the Vista if there are no spaces for shops. It can't happen if there are no shops. Its all becoming suburbanized.

I think all parking decks should be underground. Above ground decks are tacky, and ugly, and a waste of space. The good news is that the folks over at the Columbia Development Commission have strict rules about having ground floor retail space in parking decks, so there is not dead space facing the street. It may make garages more expensive, but it is worth it IMO. So if and when they build the new garage on Assembly, it will at least have street level retail attached to it.

The "plaza," I agree, is quite useless. Why not at least face Lady St with some small shops or offices or something. Nobody ever uses these plazas anyway. When was the last time you saw someone relaxing in one of those?

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I like the new FC building except that it doesn't have any ground floor retail space. How do they expect Main St to become something like Five Points or the Vista if there are no spaces for shops. It can't happen if there are no shops. Its all becoming suburbanized.

I think all parking decks should be underground. Above ground decks are tacky, and ugly, and a waste of space. The good news is that the folks over at the Columbia Development Commission have strict rules about having ground floor retail space in parking decks, so there is not dead space facing the street. It may make garages more expensive, but it is worth it IMO. So if and when they build the new garage on Assembly, it will at least have street level retail attached to it.

The "plaza," I agree, is quite useless. Why not at least face Lady St with some small shops or offices or something. Nobody ever uses these plazas anyway. When was the last time you saw someone relaxing in one of those?

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Wow! Really sorry to hear those details about the new FC building. A surface parking lot - yeech! One can only hope that they are leaving the space open for future development of some sort.

You are right on about the lack of ground floor retail. That's one of the biggest problems with Main Street - too many buildings with no ground floor street life - its deadly to efforts to create a vibrant street life.

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I like the new FC building except that it doesn't have any ground floor retail space. How do they expect Main St to become something like Five Points or the Vista if there are no spaces for shops. It can't happen if there are no shops. Its all becoming suburbanized.

I think all parking decks should be underground. Above ground decks are tacky, and ugly, and a waste of space. The good news is that the folks over at the Columbia Development Commission have strict rules about having ground floor retail space in parking decks, so there is not dead space facing the street. It may make garages more expensive, but it is worth it IMO. So if and when they build the new garage on Assembly, it will at least have street level retail attached to it.

The "plaza," I agree, is quite useless. Why not at least face Lady St with some small shops or offices or something. Nobody ever uses these plazas anyway. When was the last time you saw someone relaxing in one of those?

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I agree that parking decks at ground level are tacky. All you have to do is look at the ugly duckling that the Meridian Building built. If at ground level there were shops and services it would be fine.

Street level parking except on the streets themselves should be outlawed in the zone bounded by Gervais, Assembly, Elmwood, and Bull. In cases where the lots already exist require them to be hidden with a brick, stone, or other attractive masonry privacy wall.

Parking decks do NOT have to be ugly! With parking on top of retail then either office space or apartments on top of that can be done beautifully. That type of architecture is a mainstay in Chicago.

waccamatt, when I get my first $100,000,000.00 I will fulfill my daydream of taking one city square, put retail on the street level all the way around plus an arcade through the middle, put a ten level parking deck on top of that with a 20 story office building on one corner and a 20 story apartment building on the opposite corner. The top of the parking deck would not be parking but amenities for the apartments like a swimming pool, tennis/badmitten court, etc.

If we are going to dream, lets dream big! B)

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I agree that parking decks at ground level are tacky.  All you have to do is look at the ugly duckling that the Meridian Building built.  If at ground level there were shops and services it would be fine. 

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The CDC was able to get them to include 1 retail shop in their garage. I believe it faces Washington St, and it is sitll vacant. Well, it was when I left anyway. They couldn't be to anal about their demands, because the folks who built Meridian didn't have to do it at all.

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The CDC was able to get them to include 1 retail shop in their garage. I believe it faces Washington St, and it is sitll vacant. Well, it was when I left anyway. They couldn't be to anal about their demands, because the folks who built Meridian didn't have to do it at all.

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Actually, Meridian does have 1 retail establishment - Garden Bistro - in fact I had lunch there today, lol.

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The latest from The State about the Bull Street project: "Developers are urging Columbia officials to adopt innovative zoning laws for the old State Hospital campus on Bull Street so they can meet the public mandate for affordable housing." I agree with this; it should definitely be a focal point of the new development. The entire article can be accessed here.

Also, the architect and planners are advising the city of Columbia to sell the land for the project in parcels at a time as opposed to selling the entire 178 acres at once. Since the property is to be developed in phases, it is reasoned, it is better to be purchased in phases as well. "The developer would save money by not having to pay interest on land he won

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I think that is a wise idea. It's important to have housing available to everyone and not just a select few that wants to put a gate up and isolate themselves from the rest of the world. Hopefully this will set a trend for future developments in the city. Aren't they doing something similar to this with the development down by williams bryce?

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