Bull Street Commission

BULL STREET COMMISSI ON MEETING MINUTES August 19, 2019 02:00 PM City Hall, 1737 Main Street, Mayor’s Conference Room CALL TO ORDER Chairman Howard Duvall called the meeting to order at 02:07 p.m. Attendee Name Present Absent Late Arrived Howard E. Duvall    Ellen Cooper    Lyle Darnall    John Dozier    Rebecca Haynes    Robert Lewis    Sabrina Odom    PRESENTATIONS 1. Bull Street Development Update - Mr. Robert Hughes, President of Hughes Development Corporation and Ms. Chandler Cox, Project Manager for Hughes Development Corporation Received as information. No action was taken. Mr. Robert Hughes, President of Hughes Development Corporation provided an update on the Bull Street Development to include the REI Co-op Building that is currently under construction. The Bull Street Park is 20-acres along Gregg Street. There is 1,600 feet of new day lighted stream; 1,000 linear feet of restored stream; and walking trails, picnic shelters, a two-acre pond, and other features. The one-acre dog park will be finished soon. The park should draw people to the Bull Street District. He thanked Rebecca Haynes for her input on the stream design. Merrill Gardens is a 196-unit active senior living project. The windows are in and the balconies are being added. They hope to have residents moving in early next year. The new Dominion Energy substation is being relocated to the back corner of the project. We have worked on this agreement for many years. All of the Bull Street District will have underground power. We brought the first draft of the plans for the Babcock Building with us. Everything is progressing as we anticipated. The fifth unit has been sold at Town Park and the next phase should start very soon. There will be 28-two and three story town homes along Calhoun Street. We will begin demolition of two buildings along Harden Street along with a portion of the cinder block wall in preparation for work for the University of South Carolina on the site. A 250-unit multi-family project with over 60,000 sq. ft. of retail will be the first project at Bull Street to apply for the City 1 of Columbia and Richland County’s tax incentive. We are in the early design stages for how the center section of the Williams Building will be preserved and maintained. We are working with retailers for the retail district. We are excited about what is coming. Ms. Rebecca Haynes asked about the location of the future stoplight. Mr. Robert Hughes, President of Hughes Development Corporation said a stoplight is in design at Williams Street. It does not intersect with the neighborhood. Freed Street will be right in, right out with no left turn on Bull Street. Williams Street will have a left turn on Bull Street and a full stoplight. Ms. Ellen Cooper said people coming off of Freed Street will be able to make a right turn on Bull Street and they will be taking Confederate Avenue. That is a big concern. Mr. Robert Hughes, President of Hughes Development Corporation said this was all part of the traffic study that was done when the ballpark was originally designed in 2015. The entrance along Bull Street will enhance the visibility of the Bull Street District. Mr. Lyle Darnall asked if there is a junior anchor or catalytic type of retail. Mr. Robert Hughes, President of Hughes Development Corporation said it is an interesting balance between going after large anchors and throwing a lot of people to your center while also creating that pedestrian feel with more than one shop on a 100’ run with sidewalks. There is a lot of grade change that impacts some of the decisions we are making. Bull Street needs to be authentically Columbia. It cannot serve one demographic. It has to be a nice mix of national, regional, and local. We will never sacrifice time for quality. We want to get this right and retail is the biggest piece of that. Ms. Sabrina Odom asked if there will be a lot of shaded areas, street furniture, and trees for people who like to shop and rest. Mr. Robert Hughes, President of Hughes Development Corporation said absolutely. A lot of the trees are evergreens and live oaks. We are being forward thinking about the trees we plant. Centers that work from a retail perspective are the ones where people come and stay. In March 2018, Bull Street was designated as an Opportunity Zone by the Governor and in June 2018, it was approved by the Federal government. The Opportunity Zone legislation was implemented to enhance development and growth opportunities in low income census tracts. We hope this will drive a lot of development and interest in Bull Street. We have set up an Opportunity Zone Fund. Councilor Duvall said redevelopment of the Medical School seems to be a perfect place to use the Opportunity Zone Fund if the State does not come through with bonds. Mr. Robert Hughes, President of Hughes Development Corporation said if they go the private developer route, any private developer would be looking at programs like that. 2 Ms. Chandler Cox, Project Manager for Hughes Development Corporation explained that Hughes Development Corporation went before the City of Columbia Design Development Review Commission (DDRC) in May with a request to change one of the thoroughfare connections. This allows us to integrate the site back into the fabric of Columbia. There are three connection points along Calhoun Street. We asked the DDRC to consider moving our connection point towards the current hole in the Calhoun Street Wall at Talley Street. The application was rejected by the DDRC and we are in the process of appealing that. Ms. Rebecca Haynes asked why the application was rejected. Ms. Chandler Cox, Project Manager for Hughes Development Corporation said we were not given a reason why it was rejected. It didn’t meet all of the standards. We are asking for clarification. Councilor Duvall said one of the objections was that the offset of Henderson Street created a traffic hazard. Ms. Chandler Cox, Project Manager for Hughes Development Corporation said Kimley-Horn did our traffic study and they looked at this intersection. The width of Calhoun Street allows for better traffic flow in and out of the site at Talley Street. Ms. Melissa Gentry, P.E., Assistant City Manager said there are different perspectives about the historic nature of the wall. Ms. Chandler Cox, Project Manager for Hughes Development Corporation said the goal was to do as little to the wall as possible. We worked with Amy Moore and the City’s Preservation Office to come up with the proposal. In March, we withdrew our DDRC application to work with the City. We hired a historic consultant after that consultation with Amy and her team in an effort to make sure this was appropriate. Council Duvall asked if this is an alternative to the proposal to widening the existing taller fence. Ms. Chandler Cox, Project Manager for Hughes Development Corporation said yes, this was granted in the code and the Bull Street Development Agreement. We proposed giving up this intersection in exchange for going through Talley Street. Our proposal is to widen it to create a 22’ intersection. Ms. Rebecca Haynes said you would not have to remove any trees in this scenario; you are just taking out part of the wall. Ms. Chandler Cox, Project Manager for Hughes Development Corporation explained that Hughes Development Corporation said we propose to do as little as possible. Councilor Duvall asked if there would be any required signalization or turn restrictions on Calhoun Street. 3 Ms. Chandler Cox, Project Manager for Hughes Development Corporation said there would not be signalization at either location. Calhoun Street is wide enough to have a center turn lane. There has been a lot of press recently about Bull Street in the New York Times, WIS, Columbia Regional Business Report, and a realtor news magazine. We are also doing an upcoming podcast. Councilor Duvall said that was an excellent report. Things are moving along much faster than the public realizes. FUTURE MEETING DATES The next meeting will be held on Monday, October 21, 2019. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was closed at 2:54 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Erika D. Moore, CMC City Clerk 4  1.a BullStreet Commission Meeting August 19, 2019 Packet Pg. 5  1.a Current Construction Projects Upcoming Work Opportunity Zone Designation DDRC Application, Denial and Appeal Recent Press Q&A Packet Pg. 6  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 7  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 8  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 9  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 10  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 11  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 12  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 13  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 14  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 15  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 16  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 17  1.a 2015 2019 2035 Packet Pg. 18  1.a 2015 2020+ 2035 Packet Pg. 19  1.a 2015 2020+ 2035 Packet Pg. 20  1.a 2015 2020+ 2035 Packet Pg. 21  1.a Packet Pg. 22  1.a Packet Pg. 23  1.a Packet Pg. 24  1.a Packet Pg. 25  1.a Packet Pg. 26  1.a Packet Pg. 27  1.a Packet Pg. 28  1.a Packet Pg. 29  1.a Packet Pg. 30  1.a Recent: NY Times: Former Mental Hospital to Recreational Hub WISTV: “We’re ahead of schedule,” says BullStreet District… CRBR: Construction begins for first national retailer at BullStreet Upcoming: Realtor Magazine story on “Megadevelopments” “The Rock Doc” Podcast Packet Pg. 31  1.a Packet Pg. 32  1.a Packet Pg. 33  1.b Packet Pg. 34  1.b Packet Pg. 35

BULL STREET COMMISSION MEE TING AGENDA August 19, 2019 - 02:00PM Mayor's Conference Room at City Hall 1737 Main Street Columbia, SC 29201 Bull Street Commission was established when Council voted unanimously to approve the creation of the Bull Street Commission to be comprised of seven (7) members serving in an advisory role to the city in advancing the vision and the goals articulated by this Council in achieving quality development on Bull Street, including funding issues, benchmarks and development activities. The commission will be chaired by a member of City Council and comprised of six (6) other representatives from the following categories: the business community including a minority business owner, the Coalition of Downtown Neighborhoods and the historic preservation community. All appointments will be approved by City Council and appointees will be duly sworn to advise the city and the developer in the discharge of their respective responsibilities. The Bull Street Commission is asked to meet at least every other month and report to Council at least twice a year. Commission Chair: Howard Duvall Commission Members: Ellen Cooper, Lyle Darnell, Dr. John Dozier, Rebecca Haynes, Robert Lewis, and Sabrina Odom CALL TO ORDER PRESENTATIONS 1. Bull Street Development Update - Mr. Robert Hughes, President of Hughes Development Corporation and Ms. Chandler Cox, Project Manager for Hughes Development Corporation FUTURE MEETING DATES  Monday, October 21, 2019  Monday, December 16, 2019 ADJOURNMENT 1