The ‘floodgates’ have opened for new development in this historic Columbia corridor

New investment is pouring into a a busy and historic corridor of Columbia.

New townhouse developments are being proposed on both sides of Millwood Avenue, near the Gervais Street intersection. At the same time, investors are buying up single-family homes, flipping and then renting them. Multiple people have described the corridor, which includes historically Black neighborhoods like Martin Luther King, Lower Waverly and Lyon Street, as the next frontier for building in the city.

That new investment can be positive, said Columbia councilman Tyler Bailey, but there’s also concern about ensuring longtime residents can remain in their communities as they begin to change.

“I think we really have to be real particular and pay attention to how development rolls out over there so we don’t have a population that’s long enjoyed living there no longer being able to live there,” he said, “or not reaping the benefits of the changing neighborhoods.”

Protecting the legacy of neighborhoods

In the early 20th century, the area on either side of Millwood Avenue north of King Street was vibrant with Black-owned businesses, homeowners, doctors’ offices and schools — a success story in the Jim Crow South and in the midst of segregation.

The area, which includes the current neighborhoods of Martin Luther King, Waverly and Lyon Street, was particularly historic for its high number of African American professionals, and their proximity to iconic institutions like Allen University and Benedict College.

But over time the neighborhoods have been bought out, the rate of home ownership has fallen and the area has become poorer. As the neighborhoods changed, residents have tried to preserve that history. In 2005, the city adopted the Waverly Protection Area to preserve historic properties in the community.

But with the loss of homeowners, residents say there’s less commitment to maintaining properties and planting roots. In 2020, just 33% of properties in the tract that encompasses the Lower Waverly and Lyon Street neighborhoods were owner-occupied, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Let’s just say it’s hot,” said Dr. Bambi Gaddist of the current housing environment, who has lived in her home on Oak Street in the Martin Luther King neighborhood with her husband, Bernard, for more than 30 years.

“It’s not rocket science about why it is. We live in a very eclectic community,” she said. Nearby Five Points offers restaurants, music and shopping. And the neighborhood has more affordable property close to the city center, making it ideal for out-of-state buyers who want to own rental properties.

Part of the concern in the MLK neighborhood is out-of-state buyers turning homes into student apartments or building apartments and duplexes geared toward students and other renters who won’t invest in the community over time.

“It’s clear (they are) designed for single people who have a certain income, who want to live close to what’s happening, with no necessary commitment to the legacy of the community that currently lives there,” Gaddist said.

On the other hand, she worries about projects that are geared toward home buyers but that could lead to residents being pushed out because of property tax increases.

Among the new housing projects being proposed in the area are a plan for eight new townhouses at Cherry and King streets in the Lower Waverly neighborhood, and six new townhouses on the other side of Millwood Avenue at Bratton and Tree streets in the Lyon Street neighborhood.

The townhouses in the Lyon Street neighborhood start at $499,000. That project’s developer, Cliff Wilson with The Centric Group, said the energy in the area is one reason his company saw the site as a feasible location for the pricier townhomes. The median home price in the neighborhood is $265,000, according to Realtor.com. He described the forthcoming development boom as the “floodgates” opening.

“This is one of the last true areas getting attention for revitalization,” Wilson said.

That new attention, plus the area’s proximity to major thoroughfares like Millwood Avenue and Gervais Street, the relative closeness to Main Street, the University of South Carolina and the State House, make it ideal for new housing projects, Wilson added.

The Centric Group hopes to attract buyers who want to own property closer to the city center, and potentially newcomers to the city like future executives working for the new Scout Motors plant being built in Blythewood.

Across Milwood Avenue, eight new townhouses are being proposed by developer Long Pointe Investments for a vacant lot at Cherry and King Streets, in the Lower Waverly neighborhood.

Long Pointe Investments also owns two vacant parcels on the other side of King and Cherry streets, but no projects have yet been announced for that site. Pricing for the eventual Cherry Street townhomes has also not yet been shared. Columbia’s Design/Development Review Commission approved the project’s design at a meeting Thursday.

The State attempted to reach someone associated with Long Pointe Investments but has not heard back.

Guarding against gentrification

These two townhouse projects are just the beginning, Wilson and Bailey said. The area needs more housing, Councilman Bailey said, and residents have told him the same. But along with the desire for new investment is worry that longtime residents will get pushed out, a process known as gentrification.

“We don’t want to stop investment, we want investment,” Bailey said, but “If you’re an older African American whose family has owned that property for decades but the value of the plot of the land is so much and you can’t afford to put a $40,000 new roof on it and update the HVAC system so you sell it to investors, that’s a loss for the community. That’s a loss of generational wealth.”

Residents can get priced out of their homes in two ways, Bailey said. Either property taxes increase beyond what someone can afford, or their home needs significant and expensive repairs, making offers from outside investors too attractive to pass up.

Bailey wants the city to look at how to address the latter situation. He hopes to create a city committee specifically designated to address gentrification and increasing home ownership in Columbia by adopting programs meant to help with the cost of maintaining a home, and to help with competition from investment companies that first-time home buyers often encounter when trying to make an offer on a home.

The city already has programs like SHINE, which stands for single-family housing improvements for neighborhood enhancement, which helps pay for home repairs; and loan programs like Uplift, which can help residents get low down payments and closing cost assistance when buying a home.

Bailey hopes to discuss how to create similar programs to help more residents in the city.

People want to see new houses, not vacant lots in their communities, Bailey added. “But they also want their neighborhood to still feel like and be their neighborhood.”

For Gaddist, the problem is about more than new housing. It’s also about seeing investments for the people who already live in her community — things like new speed bumps and playground equipment, and programs that allow young families with children to buy a home in MLK without having to compete with out-of-state house flippers.

“My husband and I could have moved out to the northeast or some other area,” she said. “We chose to stay in MLK because of its historical legacy, and because of the community that we love.”