The BullStreet District is a 20-year, 181-acre development project in the heart of downtown Columbia. BullStreet’s front door is at the intersection of Elmwood Avenue and Bull Street, one mile from USC and the S.C. Capitol Building. It is a mixed-use redevelopment of the former South Carolina State Hospital campus, with an anticipated $1.2 billion annual economic impact. Hughes Development Corporation (HDC) is serving as the project’s master developer, and we are deeply invested in working with the Midlands community to build a one-of-a-kind new neighborhood – a city within a city. At completion, we expect this project to be full of an engaging mix of local and national shops and restaurants, high-quality entertainment, comfortable residences, public art and beautiful parks. Over a 20-year period, we anticipate over 3 million square feet of commercial development and up to 3,558 residential units on the site. It will become a new downtown neighborhood, filled with spaces that maintain the integrity and authenticity of the historic district; mix commercial and residential uses; create a walkable and bicycle-friendly place; provide parks and open space; maximize economic impact and increase the City and County’s tax base; and connect to the Midlands community. This is the vision that HDC has set out to accomplish, and it is our job to create this as master developer. Developments within BullStreet will be handled by several different development firms, each with unique branding opportunities under the “BullStreet” name. Notably, the name, “The Commons at BullStreet,” has been discontinued since we adjusted plans for retail development at BullStreet in Summer 2017 in response to shifts in the national retail market. Now, instead of approaching retail development as one massive endeavor, we are addressing retail opportunities in smaller, more flexible parcels, enabling us to respond more nimbly to what local, regional and national retailers and developers need in the changing marketplace.

BullStreet is a 20-year project because it’s 3.3 million square feet of space (roughly the same size as the entire office market in the central business district of Greenville, S.C.), and no city in the country the size of Columbia is growing quickly enough to absorb that much area in any timeline shorter than that. Our aim is for BullStreet to be a catalyst to grow Columbia even more rapidly than the current yearly average. A lot can change over a 20-year period, especially in a growing city like Columbia, S.C., so it’s hard to imagine diving into a public-private partnership over such a long timeline. However, we all agreed it would be worth it if the result is transforming an abandoned site of this size into a new downtown district.

Although it is hard to see its extent in places, incredible progress has been made at BullStreet. Districts the size of BullStreet take decades to develop. Luckily, we are uniquely positioned to outperform other districts in similar-sized cities because of the work done before development officially began. For five years prior to April 2014, we worked through some of the more difficult parts of the development process (land take-down schedule, zoning, infrastructure agreements, etc.) and created a strong public-private partnership with the City of Columbia. As the master developer, we are committed to seeing the BullStreet neighborhood become a one-of-a-kind destination in South Carolina and have a great working relationship with the City of Columbia, which is key to making that happen.

About 20 years ago in the Upstate, our company’s chairman, my father Bob Hughes, joined with a lot of like-minded local leaders and businesspeople to focus on transforming downtown Greenville, S.C., from a blighted, desolate area into what it is today: a bustling, vibrant urban core. Some unfamiliar with Greenville might think the change happened over the course of a few years; however, it took more than two decades, and it required that the entire community pull in the same direction for Greenville to become a case study on downtown revitalization and the effectiveness of strong public-private partnerships. We understand that Greenville is not Columbia, and Columbia is not Greenville, but with broad support and collaboration, we are confident we can emulate what happened in Greenville at BullStreet. We are committed to Columbia for the long haul, just as we have been committed to Greenville. Our model must be financially viable, but we are not here to make a quick dime – we are here to create a destination neighborhood that reflects the authenticity of the Midlands – a place that builds municipal and county revenue and contributes significantly to livability in this region.

When we first started exploring the possibility of developing BullStreet in 2008, it was completely off the grid. Not only was it not connected in an economic sense, because there was no tax base there, but it also was not connected physically to the daily operations of the city or the county. It didn’t have modern roads, nor did it have anything resembling an up-to-date water and sewer system or power network. BullStreet had been an independent community, with its own ice house, bakery, laundry and more, as well as an enormous steam plant – the Central Energy Facility – that heated and cooled the entire facility. The majority of the campus was decommissioned by the S.C. Department of Mental Health in 2005, but the steam plant continued to run until the last building was vacated in 2014. More than a mile of trellis carried a network of elevated steam pipes, in addition to underground steam pipes, across the campus to nearly every building on the site. We had to cut the steam lines to build the stadium; in fact, underneath much of that warren of underground pipes, we found multiple, deeper layers of pipe systems that then had to be addressed. Notably, supplemental HVAC had to be brought in to run the Hall Institute while the ballpark was under construction, until a proper power grid could be initiated. As for the roads, it’s not as simple as putting down pavement. We have had to run all utilities – water, sewer, electricity, gas, and telecommunications – under the roads before even thinking about asphalt. This is the major reason why the city is contributing to the project. An existing business district has all of its infrastructure already in place, including road networks, sidewalks and streetlights. None of that existed at BullStreet when we started, and we have already laid two miles of new roadways with a lot more to come. All of these improvements will ultimately be owned by the City of Columbia, which is consistent with every other urban district we have studied in the country. We still have a long way to go, but we are excited to be bringing 181 acres back on the grid as a partnership with local government. Notably, BullStreet is S.C.’s first urban gigabit community, thanks to an infrastructure partnership with Segra. What does this mean? The hardwired internet service at BullStreet is lightning fast, making life easy for the high-tech startup companies using the SOCO coworking space for their high bandwidth activities.

When the State of South Carolina decided to sell BullStreet, they wanted someone to serve as the master developer and purchase the entire Dept. of Mental Health campus. They received a lot of interest for different parcels within the site, but only one offer – ours – for the entire parcel. In December 2010, Hughes Development entered into a contract with DMH to purchase the entire parcel over a 7-year period (this was extended to 8 years when we added the 16-acre Hall Institute parcel to the development plan in 2015). As master developer, we are charged with setting the vision for the entire site and seeing it through to fruition. In order to accomplish this, we have identified two main responsibilities. First, we seek out other developers with deep domain expertise, such as Clachan Properties (who has completed over 54 historic renovations) for projects like renovating the Babcock Building – the red-domed building seen from Elmwood Avenue. Our second responsibility is to step up and fill in when a project needs to be completed, like the First Base Building, which could not have been built later because of its necessary integration with the ballpark. The First Base Building is the largest private office building constructed in Columbia, S.C., since 2009. For another example, we sold the historic Parker Annex building – located at the intersection of Barnwell and Calhoun – to the local company, Diversified Development. They have done a phenomenal job preserving the building’s historic features while creating 9,000 square feet of prime office space at Barnwell and Calhoun. Now, the S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources has transformed it into the first-ever home for their statewide Heritage Trust program, naming it the Parker Annex Archaeology Center. For the planned USC Health Sciences Campus, Hughes Development Corporation is donating 16 acres of land to the University of South Carolina. To make up for the 16 acres’ worth of property tax revenue on that site, we arranged to buy an additional 16-acre parcel to add to BullStreet, above and beyond our original agreement for 165 acres. USC’s investment will spur additional development on BullStreet and into the surrounding areas. For the TownPark at BullStreet townhomes, HDC sold the land for 28 townhomes to developer TerraNova Group, and The Moore Company has been experiencing great success with advance sales of these two- and three-bedroom residences near Calhoun and Barnwell Streets. In some cases, Hughes maintains property ownership and does the development work in-house, then rents space to tenants. Examples of this model are the aforementioned First Base Building, home to Ogletree Deakins, global tech giant Capgemini, and Founders Credit Union; the Bakery, where businesses like the SOCO cowork are leading the way for the BullStreet Technology Village; and the Ensor Building, where the top floor houses 3,600 sf of renovated historic office space, and the bottom floor and outdoor patio is outfitted for a restaurant and bar with great outdoor views.

Announced in Spring 2017, Hughes Development Corporation is donating the 12,731 square-foot Central Energy Facility building to Downtown Church, which is investing roughly $2 million for the renovation. Some have asked if having a church on site will hurt our ability to build restaurants/retail given some of our state’s liquor laws, but many of those laws have changed, and churches can now waive this restriction. Downtown Church is a lot more than just a group that meets on Sundays. They are engaged community leaders who understand what we are trying to accomplish at BullStreet and will bring a cross-section of Columbia to the neighborhood, hosting a mix of church events and public events. We are very excited to have them as a partner and are strong believers that every great neighborhood has a great church.

For a quick refresher on the ballpark, Hughes Development Corporation donated the land for the stadium and its entrance plaza to the City of Columbia as part of a partnership to get BullStreet off the ground. Segra Park, owned by the City of Columbia, is leased and managed by Hardball Capital and is home to the Columbia Fireflies Minor League Baseball team. In its first year, the stadium was awarded Ballpark of the Year by Ballpark Digest magazine, welcomed more than 762,000 visitors to the site and has exceeded all expectations. The Fireflies lease guarantees that Minor League Baseball will be played in Columbia for the next 30 years in a world-class stadium. Another 20 acres of land is being developed into a city park, which will feature walking trails, public art and a dog park. The city will own and manage the park, just as it owns all of the public improvements throughout BullStreet.

Announcements of any future BullStreet retailers or tenants will come directly from tenants according to their own schedules. This is often required in leases for competitive reasons, but this is also a long-standing practice in our office. We are hopeful for more announcements, but there is no way to provide a timeline without the risk of setting false expectations. No one wants to see more tenants at BullStreet than we do. There are multiple development firms working tirelessly to create the district we know BullStreet can become, but we are taking the long-term approach that we believe will fulfill the vision that began when we broke ground in 2014.

This city is a remarkable place, a quintessentially real Southern city where people love where they live, and where volunteerism, creativity and community involvement are remarkably high. We are committed to building a community at BullStreet that reflects the authenticity that has helped Columbia rank as the most livable city in South Carolina. We want to retain more of the talent Columbia creates and bring companies to the market that may have overlooked Columbia in the past. We are grateful for your patience, trust and interest in BullStreet. We are just as eager as you are to see BullStreet become the beautiful place that all of Columbia knows it can be. In the interest of increased transparency, we have brought back the Bull Street Commission and are developing a regular email newsletter as part of our reinvigorated communications strategy. This project is on its way to becoming what we all want it to be, and we hope that you will work with us to see it happen.

The BullStreet District is a 20-year, 181-acre project to transform the historic S.C. State Hospital site into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood district in downtown Columbia, S.C. The state’s first urban gigabit community, BullStreet is home to the award-winning Segra Park, where the Columbia Fireflies Minor League Baseball team has hosted more than 762,000 guests since launching in April 2016. Connected to the ballpark, the First Base Building is the largest private office building constructed in Columbia, S.C. since 2009 and is home to Ogletree Deakins law firm, global tech giant Capgemini, and Founders Federal Credit Union.  The first 120 units of the 196-unit Merrill Gardens senior living community are complete, as well as 28 residential townhomes at TownPark at BullStreet, adjacent to the S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources’ Parker Annex Archaeology Center, a historic renovation. The award-winning historic Bakery at BullStreet building is home to the SOCO cowork and event space, the hub of the BullStreet Technology Village. The Central Energy Facility is the home of Downtown Church, and plans are underway for a new UofSC Health Sciences campus. A 20-acre public park with a dog park, trails, and pond is under construction, restoring 2,000 feet of natural habitat along Smith Branch Creek, helping to mitigate flooding downstream. BullStreet contains 125,000+ square feet of commercial/office and retail space and is zoned for up to 3.3 million square feet of commercial use and 3,553 residential units. Follow @BullStreetSC on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and learn more at https://bullstreetsc.com. Website: bullstreetsc.com Facebook: BullStreetSC Twitter: @BullStreetSC Instagram: @BullStreetSC Hashtags: #BullStreetSC #BullStreet Contact: info@bullstreetsc.com, 844-285-5787