https://southeast.construction.com/yb/se/article.aspx?story_id=id:lUGcz5bAsurJ3pmnbxS8MNaga5O3GoTfhR_CmVoFWYmhLnvndRIOVAG61kHhaJu4

This is just the known items over $1Million each. When they get everything straight with the old state mental hospital land off of Bull St, there is going to probably be close to a half billion in new construction/development there as well.

quote:
Downtown Columbia is in the middle of a billion-dollar building boom that shows no signs of slowing.
A renaissance that began in the early 2000s was stymied when the Great Recession ground development to a halt in 2008. Pent-up demand in an economy that finally has found its footing has led Columbia to its highest-dollar build-out in history.

A study by The State newspaper shows investments in the downtown area have eclipsed $1 billion since 2011. And that includes only major projects of more than $1 million each, not the dozens of smaller renovation and building projects along Main Street and in The Vista.

Private downtown student housing is driving the skyrocketing construction numbers, along with major expansion projects by the University of South Carolina , such as the new $95 million Moore School of Business and the upcoming new School of Law , estimated at $80 million .

"We have never seen the amount of investment that we are seeing now," said David Lockwood , executive vice president of commercial real estate firm Colliers International in Columbia . "And we have projects out there that are still looking for building sites and existing properties. The pipeline is really full. I think 2015 should be another really strong year."

Lists provided by the city of Columbia and the Columbia Development Corp. , which guides downtown development, show 42 projects of more than $1 million have been built, are under construction or have been announced since 2011. They total $1.24 billion .

quote:
All of that housing is being constructed because USC has grown by 25 percent in the past decade, to 32,000 students, at its main Columbia campus. And USC officials are asking S.C. lawmakers for an additional $51.3 million to expand its summer session and its Honors College , which would attract even more students.

But student housing isn't the only university-driven development. USC itself is growing exponentially.

In addition to the Moore School , the new law school and the Holder housing project, USC also is building:

-- A $26.5 million alumni center at Senate and Lincoln streets in the Vista, across from the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center

-- And a $26 million research building in conjunction with IBM and the Fluor construction company at Blossom and Assembly streets.

"It's amazing how Innovista has morphed into something different," Fred Delk , executive director of the Columbia Development Corp. , said of the university's research campus, which until recently had struggled to attract corporate partners. "But it is coming on quickly now, and I bet it will be followed by additional research and corporate buildings."

quote:
-- A five-story, 640-bed student housing complex is planned at the corner of Huger and Blossom streets, a partnership between Manhattan developers Park 7 and Columbia land owner Ben Arnold . Price: $62 million .