COLUMBIA, S.C. — More than $100 million in affordable housing construction is underway in Columbia.
The Haven at Palmer Pointe consists of 150 apartments for seniors aged 62 plus in a three-story elevator building and about 2,500 square feet of office space. The Oaks at St. Anna’s is at the former Gonzales Gardens site and will have two components: 95 apartments for seniors age 62 and older and 190 two and three-bedroom townhomes for families
Together, they’ll bring more than 400 units online.
Both projects are a part of Columbia Housing’s Vision 2030 plan, aimed at addressing the growing demand for housing in the area.
“It's not your traditional public housing or traditional affordable housing. It's very modern, energy efficient, quality housing that is designed to last a long time,” said CEO Yvonda Bean.
The Vision 2030 plan envisions the construction of nearly three thousand affordable housing units within the next nine years.
Originally slated for completion earlier this year, both projects are now expected to open their doors in July 2024. However, some residents at Oaks at St. Anna’s will be able to move in as soon as December.
“The rise in construction costs where we anticipated project potentially costing $1 amount with the increase in costs, construction costs, materials and so forth. There was suddenly a gap that we needed to be able to feel and so of course, those kinds of things would take you a little bit longer to be able to identify additional resources to continue to move your project forward,” said CEO Yvonda Bean.
For example, Bean said the Haven at Palmer Point faced a $3 million funding gap. The Authority then applied for a $3 million community project funding gap to fill it.
Funding for the project comes from multi-family housing revenue bonds, federal and state low-income tax credits and a grant from the S.C. Department of Mental Health.
The next venture on Columbia Housing's agenda is the $88 million redevelopment of Allen Benedict Court, with an anticipated completion date in the fall of 2025.
“We hope to actually realize almost twice as many units as were there before, and what will be unique about that project is that it'll be it'll include a multifamily component, a senior component, and also a workforce housing component,” said Bean.
Meanwhile, several projects, including Lewis Scott Court, Hammond Village, Rosewood Hills, Celia Saxon, Capital Heights, and Bayberry Mews, are poised to break ground soon.
“We are again, exploring many avenues to be able to realize all of the work that needs to happen within the Vision 2030 effort,” said Bean.
Some of the projects are demolitions, which means some residents will have to move. Bean said there is a relocation expert that helps families identify housing.
“As much of an inconvenience as it might be, it's progress happening and it's a necessary inconvenience and so we want our families to know that we care about them, we want them to know in the general public to know that our processes are always very thoughtful and resident-focused,” said Bean.
Bean said when CHA launched Vision 2030, they conducted a physical needs assessment, which showed over $250 million in deferred maintenance needs.
Columbia Housing reports a waiting list of approximately 4,000 families seeking housing, reflecting a decrease from five thousand families last year.