From new baseball stadiums to top-tier hotels to refurbished public parks, transformative redevelopment of downtowns is happening in all corners of South Carolina. And the successful creation and management of these projects often comes down to two words: communication and engagement.
The City of Columbia’s downtown recently experienced the opening of the redeveloped Finlay Park and a new outdoor food hall and entertainment venue in the expansive BullStreet development. Plans were also announced to redevelop the Washington Square office building and parking garage into a luxury Grand Bohemian hotel. Additionally, the city selected the designer for its Riverfront Park, expected to spur development on the adjacent land.
“I think people understand that as we grow as a city, things can't stay static. Zoning regulations have to get updated, the parking rates have to get updated, and that's never comfortable,” said Ryan Coleman, director of Columbia’s Office of Economic Development. “But I've sat through enough city council meetings to know that the more you can get the discussions and engagement going with the public early on, and you take that feedback and figure out where the middle ground is, typically the easier everything is.”
Coleman’s office often works as conduit between developers and the city planning staff, figuring out how developers’ ideas best mesh with city zoning and other regulations.
“It’s taking more of a solutions-oriented approach in saying, ‘All right, tell us what you're doing, and if you can't do exactly that, let's figure out how to get you as close as possible to that.’ It’s bringing people to the table and having a conversation and figuring out what gets you from A to B, or as close to B as possible,” Coleman said.
Coleman praised Columbia’s city planning staff, saying the department has been empowered in recent years by council to help find the best solutions possible. The city’s planning department also regularly holds public information and input sessions to help gain buy-in.
“And whether you do that internally, or whether you hire somebody to facilitate a process, you’re creating a road map off a lot of front-end engagement. We want to be able to point back at the end of this process and say, ‘Hey, here’s what you asked for, and here’s how we’re delivering and meeting those ideas.’ Our planning departments gotten really, really good at that because we've done so many changes recently with [the] unified development ordinance,” he said.
In Spartanburg, the largest developments in the city’s history are under construction or about to get underway – around $800 million of investment spread in the western part of downtown, said Christopher George, communications and engagement director.
Projects include a new 3,500-seat Minor League Baseball park, 250,000 square feet of office space, multi-family residential development, a new hotel, extensive commercial space and a city-county administrative headquarters.
George said the projects are in line with the city’s planning priorities, with the downtown code specifically promoting the type of dense, mixed-use development that is happening in the area.
“It has been a council priority for many years to grow our downtown into an economic engine that can drive our region’s prosperity, and prioritizing this kind of dynamic, multi-functional development is a proven way that other communities have accomplished similar goals,” he said.
Spartanburg leaders have also used messaging to address concerns.
As George said, even when a change is an “undeniable net positive, it is still often felt as a kind of loss for people, and that’s understandable.”
That’s why the city aims to start from a position of understanding the public’s concern, and then works to demonstrate how the changes coming to Spartanburg represent opportunities for residents.
“These changes mean jobs for today’s residents and future generations. They mean new housing stock, which keeps housing prices from spiraling by ensuring we have the supply to meet demand. They mean new ways to enjoy our community that never would’ve occurred to our predecessors,” he said. “Those are all positives, but in the moment, they can feel like future abstractions. We have a tremendous team dedicated to addressing all of the infrastructure impacts we will see as a result of our growth, and it’s tremendously important to highlight their work.”
His biggest advice is to anticipate concerns and get out in front of issues before they materialize.
“It’s so important to demonstrate that your organization is being proactive in periods of expansive growth,” he said. “Also, no matter what chapter of your downtown redevelopment story you’re currently in, there’s a city that has been there before. Look to how they managed those same concerns.”
The City of Aiken was laid out as a railroad town in the early 1800s, with a grid system in its central downtown district where many of its shops and businesses are located. While it didn’t face as much decline as some downtowns experienced in the late 20th century, it did have some properties close or fall into disrepair, including the old Hotel Aiken.
In 2021, the city purchased the property with the idea a developer would be found to renovate the parcel and adjacent property, but the initial effort was unsuccessful.
“I think there was a lot of tension because the first plan called for a major demolition of a lot of older buildings and also encroachment on existing rights-of-way that would interfere with our historic gridded downtown,” said Stuart Bedenbaugh, the Aiken city manager.
Bedenbaugh said Aiken is home to many engaged residents who take pride in their city; many of them didn’t like the way the initial plans would change downtown.
“In the era of social media and instant communication, it created a bit of an uproar,” he said. “But it was the classic case of members of the public who were galvanized that led to changes. I think the council recognized that a reboot was necessary. Going back to trying to get that consensus worked very well the second go around.”
This time, the city is partnering with a developer who will adaptively reuse the properties with plans for a hotel, retail and commercial parcels and a parking deck, Bedenbaugh said, adding that the project is expected to reinvigorate the whole downtown.
“A lesson that was learned with the initial part of the project is the importance of listening and trying to establish a broad consensus in the community. Now, at some point somebody's got to make a final decision, but to get to that point does require a lot of time listening to a lot of people, a lot of different opinions, and then trying to meld that into something workable, that is also fiscally feasible,” Bedenbaugh said.
In addition, because of the city’s proximity to the Savannah River Site, Aiken received about $20 million in state funding to build a location for the Savannah River National Laboratory that will soon house about 100 employees in Aiken’s core downtown.
“That's going to bring so much to our downtown. The building can host conferences related to the mission of the national laboratory,” he said. “Also, we're going to have highly paid professionals working in our downtown who can shop and dine. It is going to expose our downtown to folks from all over the United States, if not the world, and highlight the unique characteristics of Aiken.”