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Columbia Business Monthly

The Business Narrative: New Affordable Housing in Columbia

Sep 07, 2022 01:26PM ● By Donna Walker

Midtown at BullStreet to Focus on Attainable Housing

The new Midtown at BullStreet community, which will feature 90 attainable rental apartment units with accompanying amenities, will soon begin construction in the BullStreet District in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.

Midtown at BullStreet will cover approximately two acres located near the recently dedicated Page Ellington Park, a new 20-acre city park.

The development will consist of 18 two-bedroom townhouse units and 72 one-, two-, and three-bedroom garden-style units. On-site amenities will include a community room, computer center, exercise room, playground, and gazebo.

The developer of Midtown at BullStreet is Connelly Development LLC of Lexington, S.C. Kevin Connelly, president of Connelly Development, has more than 25 years of experience in developing attainable housing in both North Carolina and South Carolina.

He is also president of Connelly Builders, Inc., which will be the general contractor for the development. Parks Player Architecture of Greenville, S.C. is the development architect, and Civil Engineering of Columbia is providing civil engineering and surveying services.

Situated a mile from the S.C. State House, the 181-acre BullStreet District, known as one of the largest urban redevelopment projects on the East Coast, is adjacent to numerous historic downtown neighborhoods and major arteries.

“Attainable housing at the BullStreet District helps the city meet one of our most pressing needs because it helps keep workers in Columbia to benefit our workforce,” said Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann.

“Workers are leaving Columbia because the cost of housing is too high. Having attainable housing in one of our most high-profile developments is good for our city and our workforce and addresses a critical need.”

“We have said from day one that for BullStreet to be successful, it must be representative of the entire city of Columbia,” said Robert Hughes, President of Hughes Development Corporation, Master Developer of the BullStreet District.

“The announcement of Midtown at BullStreet brings us one step closer to fulfilling BullStreet’s vision. At this project’s completion, we will have over 1,000 residents living in over 700 units of either attainable housing, market-rate apartments, for-sale townhomes, or senior housing, with plans to develop student housing as well. The variety of housing types is necessary to provide an authentic mixed-use, urban lifestyle experience, and we are excited to work with Kevin Connelly and his team.”

Financing for Midtown at BullStreet will be provided in part by federal tax credits as well as state tax credits, both administered by SC Housing, with Raymond James Tax Credit Fund providing equity through the purchase of the federal and state tax credits.

Truist Bank will be providing the Construction financing, Centrant Community Capital will be providing the permanent financing. The South Carolina Department of Mental Health is also providing funding to support the development.

The scheduled completion date is the fall of 2023.


SC Launch Makes Investment in MitoChem Therapeutics

South Carolina Research Authority’s investment affiliate, SC Launch Inc., has invested in MitoChem Therapeutics.

The $200,000 investment will help the startup continue developing solutions that show promise in the treatment of several eye disorders.

MitoChem Therapeutics became an SCRA Member Company in 2019 and received a $25,000 Academic Startup Grant. It became an SC Launch Inc. Portfolio Company with this investment. MitoChem has also been a long-term tenant at SCRA’s Innovation Center in Charleston. 

Founded at the Medical University of South Carolina, MitoChem Therapeutics was started by two scientists who saw an opportunity to focus on developing treatments to address the effects of cellular and metabolic dysfunction in neurodegenerative conditions, specifically eye diseases. 

“MitoChem identified a key driver in vision loss and developed a new class of small molecules to treat neurodegeneration by protecting mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell. They are pin-pointing metabolic and oxidative stress caused by aging, genetics, or environmental factors,” said Will Cruz, SCRA investment manager.

“Eye diseases represent a significant and growing untreated patient population, and MitoChem’s development will be able to treat many of these patients with a patient-friendly topical delivery,” said Bob Quinn, SCRA executive director.

“MitoChem is simultaneously enabling studies for the treatment of several eye disorders including retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, and glaucoma.”

Southeastern Freight Lines Celebrating 70 Years of Service

Southeastern Freight Lines, a provider of regional less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation services, is celebrating 70 years of “Quality Without Question” service from its service centers in Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia.

Both service centers opened in 1952 and have seen significant growth since establishment. Charleston began operations with five dock doors and six associates and has grown to 63 dock doors and 92 associates.

“This anniversary marks an important milestone for our service center,” said Mark Davis, Charleston’s service center manager.

“While we have experienced seven decades worth of tremendous growth, we don’t have any plans to stop innovating our quality process. Our service center will begin expanding our facility to include an additional 50 dock doors at the end of this year. I’m looking forward to the future development of the Charleston service center and am excited for our team to continue driving success.”

Over the years, the Charleston and Savannah service centers have given back to their communities, most recently through Southeastern Serves, a program dedicated to having associates of all levels volunteer in their local communities to assist needy individuals.

As a part of the Southeastern Serves mission, the Charleston service center has volunteered with organizations such as Samaritans Feet and League of Dreams.

The Charleston service center was the third service center opened since the company’s establishment in 1950. Soon after, the Savannah service center was founded as the fourth location.

Southeastern now operates 89 service centers spanning 13 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico.


First Citizens Bank Launches Middle Market Banking

First Citizens Bank recently announced the official launch of its Middle Market Banking unit to support the financial needs and goals of midsize businesses across the Southeastern U.S.

Headquartered in Charlotte, First Citizens Middle Market Banking is now serving clients across North Carolina and neighboring Southeastern states, including Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, with a full suite of banking services.

Included among the services offered are senior secured loans, cash-flow loans, capital markets services, foreign exchange capabilities, asset-based lending and treasury and payments services. The target middle market clientele is companies with $75 million to $750 million in annual sales.

Launch of Middle Market Banking in the Southeast region follows First Citizens' merger in January with CIT Group, a leading commercial lender with long experience in serving the middle market. The combined bank features a combination of services and expertise uniquely suited to supporting middle market clients.

First Citizens Middle Market Banking builds on existing CIT middle market banking capabilities in Southern California, Nebraska and Texas. Those pre-existing teams remain active and are key parts of the First Citizens growth strategy for the future.

“First Citizens is proud to launch a premier Middle Market Banking business to provide best-in-class relationship banking support in this dynamic market,” said Brendan Chambers, who leads the Middle Market Banking team.

“The middle market segment encompasses some of the top business owners, entrepreneurs and family offices across the regions. We understand their needs, challenges and opportunities. And we're excited to support them throughout their entire business life-cycle – from early growth stages, to sustained operational success, to eventual transition/succession.”

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