![]() The other light-well will be patios for the lower units. The two retail bays will use their light-wells for seating, as will the lobby/fitness area. The center of each light-well will be open to the sky, with skylights around the perimeter of the light-well. To get more light into the building, Garvin is opening up the roof and creating a light-well at the center of each of the eights bays into which the building is divided. So we decided to leave it alone and build on top of it.” You can’t start manipulating that because if you do you mess with the whole diaphragm. ![]() None of the connections are tied, everything is gravity connected,” he said. “You can’t do that with a building that was built in the early 1900s. What other developers who looked at the building kept trying to do was change the structure, to take the slope out of the floors by manipulating the structure, Garvin said. Garvin, along with Caplan, is not afraid to tackle the challenges of historic buildings. To level the floors, Garvin and contractor Triangle developed a wedge-like system of wooden platforms that could support a new floor. The north section, facing Devine Street, was added in 1923.Įach section has sloping floors from the interior to the exterior to facilitate the movement of the massive cotton bales that were stored there. The first section on the south side facing Blossom Street was built in 1917. The huge cotton warehouse was built in two sections. The building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has several features that put off most developers – not the least of those was the building’s sloping floors and small windows that contributed to a very dark interior. “We’ve had a good many coming through,” Webb said. Leasing began to pick up in the last two weeks of April as students at the University of South Carolina began to make living arrangements for the next school year. But Garvin said the parking garage is not required for the project and initial parking for residents will be provided on-site and in an adjacent city-built parking lot under the Blossom Street viaduct.Īs of May 1, 30% of the units have been leased, said leasing agent Mae Ann Webb. PMC also expects to eventually build a 400-space parking garage across Devine Street. Garvin said the building’s lobby also will include a historic display in a nod to the building’s location in Columbia’s Ward One, a largely African-American neighborhood that disappeared as the city grew and the area redeveloped. PMC is in talks with a pizza parlor and a Mexican restaurant to fill those spaces. The building has two retail spaces on the ground floor. ![]() The complex also includes an outdoor pool and amenities building, residential TV lounge and game center, fitness center and access to an adjacent multi-use greenway. PMC has set up an on-site leasing office, and model units are available for tours. Average size is 700 square feet for a one bedroom, 950 for a two, and 1,350 for a three. ![]() The one- and three- bedroom units come in five different floor plans, and the two-bedrooms in seven. Rents start at $1,015 for a one-bedroom, depending on location, $1,500 for a two-bedroom and $1,950 for a three bed-room. When completed, the renovated building will have 56 one-bedroom units, 103 two-bedrooms, and 38 three-bedrooms. Historic tax credits make the project viable, Garvin said. The Palmetto Compress name will remain stenciled on the building’s brick exterior.Ĭaplan paid $6 million for the building and is putting another $30 million into the project. of Greenville is the general contractor for the project. building into a striking residential and retail complex. Together the two firms have turned the Palmetto Compress and Warehouse Co. Since starting his firm 14 years ago, Garvin also has worked with Caplan on projects in Massachusetts and Connecticut.Ĭaplan isn’t afraid of big projects and he has the money to make them happen, Garvin said. It can’t be done.’ ”īut Caplan and Garvin, who has functioned as the project manager, had worked together to convert Columbia’s Olympia and Granby textile mills, another massive project that encompasses 1 million square feet, into residential and recreational space. ![]() “Other developers said this project couldn’t be done, which is the best takeaway for us,” Garvin said. What others developers wouldn’t take on will have been accomplished in less than two years by Philadelphia developer Ron Caplan’s PMC Property Group and local architect Scott Garvin, head of Columbia-based Garvin Design Group. What couldn’t be done was the conversion of the historic cotton warehouse, a massive four-story, 320,000-square-foot building sitting on half a city block at Devine and Pulaski streets, into 197 apartments. When residents start moving into The Apartments at Palmetto Compress this August, it will be the culmination of a project that most local developers said couldn’t be done. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |