September 28, 2022

First look: Pittsburgh Yards to expand with ‘Container Courtyard’

Pittsburgh Yards

Expect a village of food and retail options beside the Atlanta BeltLine’s Southside Trail

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022, 4:25PMJOSH GREEN

A year after Pittsburgh Yards cut the proverbial ribbon on its first phase, the adaptive-reuse, community-boosting jobs hub south of downtown is gearing up to add food and retail to its mix.

Pittsburgh Yards reps have shared a first look at the next component of phase-one development on University Avenue in the historic Pittsburgh neighborhood: a BeltLine-adjacent commercial village to be called the “Container Courtyard.”

Tentative plans call for opening the Container Courtyard—positioned between current Pittsburgh Yards workspaces and offices and the first completed section of BeltLine’s Southside Trail—next spring.

The goal is to provide 10 local businesses with a permanent location, with a focus on food and retail in spaces designed by Atelier 7 Architects, project officials tell Urbanize Atlanta.

Source: Urbanize Atlanta

September 23, 2022

A lot of housing … just not the right type? Making the case for affordable options in the CSRA

Columbia Ventures

Editor’s note: This article is the first in a two-part series addressing a gap in affordable housing in the Central Savannah River Area and possible solutions. The second article will examine how redevelopment and reinvestment can aid in growing cities.

Housing. It’s going up everywhere.

North Augusta alone in 2021 had its biggest year in new home builds – both by number of units and by total construction values – since the big Riverside Village project in 2017.

And it seems things are only just getting started: the two largest tracts of land within the city limits are as yet undeveloped but planned for a mix of housing and commercial: the 1,368-acre Highland Springs subdivision development along Palmetto Parkway and the 750-acre Hamrick Farms mixed-use project near Exit 1.

So, why are regional experts saying there’s a housing shortage?

Denis “Denny” Blackburne, senior vice president of business and development for Woda Cooper Companies, a development firm that specializes in affordable and workforce housing, said he believes the U.S. as a nation is currently facing a housing crisis that has largely been brought on by lack of supply.

Source: The Post and Courier

August 31, 2022

Historic Union Terminal Warehouse rehab secures $41.35 million mortgage

Union Terminal Warehouse

Atlanta-based Columbia Ventures plans to transform the property into a residential and commercial space

Atlanta-based developer Columbia Ventures LLC says it has secured $72 million for its planned mixed-use rehab of the historic Union Terminal Warehouse.

The company wants to build-out 228 workforce apartments and nearly 44,000 square feet of commercial, retail and light industrial or “makers spaces” inside the 109-year-old building at 700 E. Union St.

Columbia Ventures Development Manager Ryan Akin posted on LinkedIn that the company closed Aug. 18 on the financing.

Duval County Clerk of Courts records show that Bank United of Miami Lakes issued a $41.35 million mortgage Aug. 12 to the Columbia Ventures subsidiary that owns the warehouse near Jacksonville’s Downtown and Eastside for its plan to transform the building into a mixed-use apartment and light industrial space.

The mortgage, recorded Aug. 19 with the clerk of courts, says the financing was effective Aug. 16.

The bank made the loan to East Union Property Owner.

The remainder of the financing will come from city loans and state and federal tax credit equity.

City Council authorized $8.29 million in forgivable and deferred principal loans in May for the project through the Downtown Investment Authority’s Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program.

Atlanta-based Columbia Ventures LLC is a step closer to breaking ground on its proposed five-story, 341-unit mixed-use apartment community at Park and Forest streets in Brooklyn.

The Downtown Development Review Board voted 7-0 on July 14 to grant final design approval for the residential and retail project at Forest and Park streets that Columbia Ventures co-founder and Managing Partner Dillon Baynes said in an email May 9 will be a $100 million investment.

He said the company “loves the Florida Story, the Sunbelt Story and the Jacksonville Story,” Baynes said in the email.

“We are all in,” he said. “We have an office in Savannah two hours away and have been in the market for almost four years. We hope to find other great opportunities in time.”

Source: Jax Daily Record

Press

News

First look: Pittsburgh Yards to expand with ‘Container Courtyard’

Expect a village of food and retail options beside the Atlanta BeltLine’s Southside Trail

A lot of housing … just not the right type? Making the case for affordable options in the CSRA

Historic Union Terminal Warehouse rehab secures $41.35 million mortgage

Atlanta-based Columbia Ventures plans to transform the property into a residential and commercial space