Columbia makes headway in extending Williams Street, with eye on riverfront development

Columbia’s largest piece of undeveloped property soon could be developed.

For almost 20 years, Columbia has waited to finalize designs and find the funding to develop the prime land along the Congaree River as part of the Williams Street Extension Project, according to city documents.

On the other side of the river, Cayce and West Columbia have moved forward with development and given their residents greater access to the waterway.

Now, officials hope it’s Columbia’s turn.

For Columbia, unlike with Cayce and West Columbia, access will begin with a new road closer to the water. The monumental $20.6 million project, announced in August, involves constructing .89 miles of road that runs parallel to the river.

The road is expected to be just the beginning.

“It’s our expectation that that $22 million investment is going to open up over $750 million worth of private investment,” Councilman Will Brennan said. “And with that investment comes all these offerings that we’re talking about – riverfront park, riverfront hotels, apartments, parks and recreation, hospitality offerings and restaurants.”

For now, the undeveloped greenery that sits between the Congaree River and Huger Street and is bordered by Gervais and Blossom streets. Soon it will contain a road, bike share stations and electric charging stations, according to a design document.

The project, when completed, will be a gem of the city, Councilman Tyler Bailey said.

“I think the river is the greatest natural resource we have here in Columbia, and it makes us stand out,” Bailey said. “We’re a city of three rivers. Expanding and developing the riverfront is something that so many people have wanted to do for eons now.”

Clint Shealy, Columbia’s assistant city manager of Columbia Water, is on the project’s executive management team. He said the goal is to increase public river access and outdoor recreation by extending the existing Williams Street from near Gervais Street, south to Blossom Street.

The new roadway is just Phase 1 of the project, and the roadway’s design is about 60% complete, Shealy said. The city hopes to accept bids from contractors for the roadway in early-2025 and start construction in the spring, Shealy said.

“There’s a large piece of undeveloped property right in the urban core of Columbia, 60-plus acres right on the river. And that’s just an unbelievable opportunity to do something really nice and innovative,” Shealy said.

The development of the land only refers to the construction of new roadways right now, Bailey said. He isn’t aware of any land being sold to developers, he said.

“There could be opportunities for public-private partnerships later on, like how Bull Street was where, you know, it was voted on, and the public-private partnerships spurred from there,” Bailey said.

If the land is sold in the future, Bailey said the development will be up to the community and what they think fits the area the best.

Exactly what the private investment would look like is unknown, but officials anticipate access along the river would spur development that would attract residents and visitors.

What took so long?

Columbia first introduced the plan to connect Williams Street in 2007 as part of the “Innovista Master Plan” for the city.

The plan included the idea of a riverfront park along the Congaree River that was described as the project’s “crown jewel.”

But a few years after the master plan came out, coal tar was found in that part of the Congaree. Shealy said the city wanted to remove the coal tar before moving forward with the project. Dominion Energy finished cleaning out the river in 2023.

That wasn’t the only thing keeping the project from progressing, Shealy said.

The city had to collaborate with the primary property owner, the Guignard family, to actualize its vision. The Guignards own a majority of the approximately 80 acres of land along the river – a portion of which can be developed – and they donated 7.5 acres of that land to the city for the project. The family donated the land in March of 2023, according to reports from the Post and Courier.

The family has had input in the engineering work, road design and conceptual planning, which can take some time, Shealy said.

The city also took time to locate funding for the project. Within the past five years, Shealy said Columbia officials applied for multiple federal grants but did not receive any federal funding.

Shealy said they then turned to state money.

The city is using taxpayer dollars to fund Phase 1 of the project.

The s/State of South Carolina is spending $16 million, and the remaining $4.6 million is coming from tax revenue previously generated through Richland County’s Transportation Penny Tax.

Projects completed from the penny tax include – the Greene Street bridge, widening Clemson Road and streetscaping North Main Street.

The Williams Street Extension project will be completed with funds allotted to it from the original 2012 referendum.

What’s next?

Phase 1 is the extension of Williams Street and connecting the existing perpendicular roads to Williams Street.

Phase 2 will be a parkway service road that runs parallel and closer to the river and goes underneath the Blossom Street Bridge. It will connect to University of South Carolina-owned property by the Founders Park baseball stadium, Shealy said.

Brennan described a riverfront park to be completed in later phases of the project. But it’s too early to formally conceptualize a park without knowing the funding source to cover the planning, construction and future maintenance, he said.

The park would be the anchor of the development, Bailey said.

“I think there will absolutely be a park,” Bailey said. “But you got to think who’s going to maintain or have maintenance responsibility of the park 30 years from now, right? Is it gonna be (the) city? Is it gonna be a state park?”

Connecting Williams Street will open up available land parcels along Huger Street. Developing those land parcels and having them as a taxable revenue for the city could be a way for the park and land to maintain itself, Shealy said.

The city has had problems with the upkeep of some parks in the area in the past, most notably Finlay Park.

“If you can build something beautiful, if you don’t program that properly and maintain that properly, it can become a harmful thing, rather than a wonderful thing for your citizens,” Shealy said. “We’re committed to make sure that doesn’t happen with anything that we’ve got control over.”

Bailey said Columbia residents don’t need to worry about the new development being just a skyline of buildings. A park would help protect the riverfront, he said.

“To me it means that the future in Columbia is bright,” Bailey said. “We already are an exceptional standalone city. But developing our riverfront is just going to take us to another level.”