Photo: The Central Carolina Community Foundation team in front of the First Base Building.

Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Midlands’ expert on philanthropy, will move in late Fall 2018 to a new, light-filled office in the First Base Building in the BullStreet District in downtown Columbia overlooking the Columbia Fireflies’ baseball field at Spirit Communications Park.

“The Community Foundation is thrilled to join the rapidly growing BullStreet District community,” says JoAnn Turnquist, president & CEO of Central Carolina Community Foundation. “We look forward to calling the First Base Building at BullStreet home."

Central Carolina Community Foundation works with hundreds of donors, nonprofits, and businesses across its 11-county service area to lift up philanthropy in the diverse communities across the region. The Community Foundation inspires local giving through Midlands Gives, a 24-hour online giving event, and improves our quality of life through its Connected Communities grants initiative. In addition, the Foundation helps students achieve their college dreams through its donor funded scholarships and connects the resources of donors, nonprofits, and area leaders to communities in need.

At 6,433 square feet of class-A office space, the new Central Carolina Community Foundation office will be 3,054 square feet larger than the organization’s current office in Middleburg Plaza on Forest Drive, almost doubling its existing space. Architects from the Boudreaux Group will design the space for the Community Foundation.

The new office will include meeting and gathering spaces for staff and constituents. Board meetings, donor, and community events will be held in the new space that features floor-to-ceiling windows. The office will be outfitted with up-to-date technology, including new infrastructure and gigabit internet, 100 times faster than normal web speeds.

Other companies in the First Base Building at BullStreet include Ogletree Deakins law firm, global tech giant Capgemini, and Founders Federal Credit Union, and Bone-In Barbeque restaurant is next door. The SOCO coworking community is across Saunders Street in the historic Bakery Building, and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ Parker Annex Archaeology Center is around the corner on Barnwell.

“Central Carolina Community Foundation is one of the most well-regarded organizations in South Carolina, recognized as a leader in making philanthropy accessible for all,” says Robert Hughes, president of Hughes Development Corporation, master developer of the BullStreet District. “It is exciting for us to partner with them on their new offices and provide them with real estate that offers brand new infrastructure, such as gigabit internet at speeds 100 times faster than normal, right in downtown Columbia.”