Richland County weighs a more than $70M effort to house services in this Columbia mall

Richland County continues to move forward on long-considered, multimillion dollar plans to move various county and state offices into the Columbia Place Mall on Two Notch Road.

The latest considerations from Richland County Council include a proposal to issue more than $70 million in bonds that would help pay for, among other things, a new family services center at the mall that would house multiple agencies, as well as separate space at the mall for the county elections office and offices for the Department of Juvenile Justice.

The family services center would be located in the former Dillard’s department store spot at Columbia Place, county documents show. It would house the Richland County hubs for several state agencies.

“That family services center is projected to include the Department of Social Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Health and Environmental Control, as well as our partners who are housed in (parts of) the Hampton Street (county building) location,” Richland County Administrator Leonardo Brown told a County Council committee in a Sept. 12 meeting.

Aside from the county funding that would go into the family services center, there also is about $17 million in federal American Rescue Plan money that can be used for the DSS portion, per county paperwork.

Brown noted the county is required by law to provide office space for agencies such as social services, juvenile justice, health and human services and DHEC.

Meanwhile, office and warehouse space for the Richland County elections and voter registration office, as well as office space for the Department of Juvenile Justice is being planned at the mall on the upper floor of the former Burlington Coat Factory and JC Penney building,

Brown said that space that is now set to potentially house the Department of Juvenile Justice offices and the elections offices was once planned as a sheriff’s department forensics lab. However, he said the cost of that forensics lab was “well beyond what we could do.” Brown said Sheriff Leon Lott was informed, and that other locations for a forensics lab are being sought.

In 2022, the county issued $40 million in bonds for a public safety complex at the mall, which will chiefly include a new E-911 call center. Construction is set to begin on the public safety complex portion, which is being located on the lower floor of the building that formerly housed Burlington Coat Factory and JC Penney, according to county documents.

Richland County has been eyeing facility upgrades for years. Back in 2017, it revealed a massive, sweeping building and infrastructure plan called Richland Renaissance, one that would have spent hundreds of millions of dollars for various initiatives.

However, that plan was eventually shelved, for the most part, though some ideas from it have stuck around, including the county moving various state and local offices into property the county bought at Columbia Place Mall.

District 10 Councilwoman Cheryl English said during the Sept. 12 committee meeting that she is pleased to see momentum on bringing facilities to the mall.

“I am ecstatic and extremely proud of this council, just for making the decision and the staff for carrying this out,” English said. “I am so excited.”

The county’s plans for Columbia Place Mall are just part of what have been dynamic changes for aging mall facilities in the Columbia area.

Over in Forest Acres, development company Southeastern purchased the struggling Richland Mall and plans to completely overhaul the property with a $100 million new development that will include retail, residences, a brewery or taproom, a public park and more. The longtime Belk store in Richland Mall recently closed its doors, and the Barnes & Noble bookstore there plans to move to Garners Ferry Road early next year.

Meanwhile, Word of God Church and Ministries International recently announced it plans to purchase Dutch Square Center mall on Bush River Road. Church Bishop Eric Davis announced during an August sermon that the Dutch Square property was under contract and he hoped the sale would close by the end of the year. Details of the church’s exact plans for the mall have not been announced.