Aiken City Council to discuss selling downtown property, Village at Woodside apartments

Landon Stamper, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Jan. 22—An offer to buy two parcels in downtown Aiken has been submitted, and Aiken City Council will be discussing the matter during its Monday meeting.

One of the parcels is a portion of the Aiken Municipal Building footprint located at the southwest intersection of Newberry Street and The Alley, while the other is a parking lot on Richland Avenue near the intersection with Laurens Street.

CTR LLC, a group of local investors led by attorney Ray Massey, has offered $800,000 for the two parcels. The City of Aiken owns both parcels, currently.

The property by the municipal building was initially thought to be used for expansion of that building, but the project was scrapped. For the last 13 years, it has been used as the Public Safety Community Services office, city offices, storage space and by USC Aiken, according to agenda notes.

"While the offer is $180,851 below what the city paid for the property in 2008, the cost of it generating zero revenue for 13 years must be noted as well," the agenda notes read.

The parking lot parcel is adjacent to property currently owned by CTR LLC.

Another topic on council's docket is an amendment to the concept plan for the Village at Woodside to allow construction of 14 multifamily apartments.

Since 2007, according to agenda notes, this area has been indicated as a future development site for multifamily apartments on the approved concept plan.

The 14 apartments would be housed in one building, which would be located to the east of the existing townhomes and across Society Hill Drive from a medical office and pilates studio.

The Aiken Planning Commission reviewed this request during its Jan. 11 meeting and unanimously recommended it to City Council, with a vote of 6-0.

City Council meets downtown in the Municipal Building, 214 Park Ave. S.W. Meetings are open to the public and are livestreamed on the city's YouTube page, youtube.com/cityofaikensc.

A closed-door executive session is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the regular meeting will begin at 7 p.m.