The BullStreet District—S.C.’s first urban gigabit community—celebrates global tech giant Capgemini’s addition of at least 200 more jobs in the district, which constitutes the largest announcement of tech jobs in Columbia, S.C., in the last 10 years, per the S.C. Department of Commerce. Capgemini is a $14 billion, international technology leader with 200,000 employees in more than 40 countries worldwide, serving Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 clients such as GE and NBCUniversal. Learn more about the BullStreet District at https://bullstreetsc.com.

“The largest private office building constructed in downtown Columbia since 2009, the First Base Building was tailor-made for this type of high-tech, high-talent business,” says Robert Hughes, president of Hughes Development Corporation and master developer of the 181-acre BullStreet District, known as the largest urban redevelopment project east of the Mississippi River. “Capgemini brings extremely sophisticated and leading-edge technology to some of the biggest brands in the world, and we’re honored to provide their team here in Columbia with the company’s first South Carolina office, with room to grow.”

In 2018, four years into its 20-year development timeline which began in 2014, the BullStreet District has hit many milestones in addition to this landmark jobs expansion. The first resident moved into the TownPark at BullStreet 3-bedroom townhomes in August 2018; the district’s first restaurant, local chef Scott Hall’s Bone-In Barbeque, opened in April 2018; and renovations are nearing completion on the Central Energy Facility, which will serve as Downtown Church’s new home as well as a large, contemporary event rental venue with beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces for weddings, festivals and more. Phase one of the 20-acre public park at BullStreet is approaching completion, and aggressive construction is underway on the Merrill Gardens active senior community. Additionally, the City of Columbia recently announced that a Blue Bike share station will be located outside of Spirit Communications Park in the center of the BullStreet District.

Capgemini’s expansion is part of a worldwide, connected network of advanced technology and development centers where Capgemini will partner with clients—many of which are among the most recognizable brands in the world—to develop and deploy technology that will radically change how those clients do business.

Capgemini opened its first South Carolina office with 125 jobs in the First Base Building in the BullStreet District in downtown Columbia in Dec. 2017. While those first 125 Capgemini jobs were focused on the insurance industry, this new wave of jobs expands focus to the entire range of Capgemini’s client base, which includes major international leaders in telecommunications, retail, automotive, energy, consumer products and more.

“The BullStreet District is becoming the center of high-tech growth and development in the Midlands, which is why a massive international tech leader like Capgemini has chosen BullStreet for a key outpost in its global network of advanced technology and development centers, notes Hughes. “Capgemini could have gone anywhere in the state, so the fact that they chose BullStreet reinforces the district’s position as a place where a business can forge its own path in our state. Because we are able to offer brand new infrastructure, gigabit internet and world-class buildings, one mile from the South Carolina State House, companies like Capgemini are finding the BullStreet District to be the perfect place to attract and retain the best talent in the country.”

Capgemini’s new job openings at BullStreet provide the next generation of talent the opportunity to work in industry 4.0, digital strategy, cloud, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, customer experience innovation and other emerging areas–right here in Columbia, South Carolina.

Formerly, one would have to move to San Francisco or New York to work in these types of jobs on behalf of global companies, but now employees can enjoy the affordability and livability of the Midlands region while preparing early to excel in the future world of work. These are the most in-demand skill areas available in high-tech employment—anywhere.

“We have an opportunity in Columbia to shift the model of how we develop talent in deep-skill areas and deploy leading edge capabilities in innovation, transformation and business operations for clients across the globe,” says Paul Naquin, Director of Operations, Capgemini’s North America Business Unit. “We designed the space to be highly collaborative, where our newest hires are able to work directly with senior experts in emerging technology and business consulting and quickly develop skills in a condensed amount of time.”

“Growing and harnessing our state’s high-tech talent is an integral part of the BullStreet vision,” says Hughes. “We’re proud to provide the best opportunity available for innovative, national and international businesses to make a footprint in a region that is rapidly growing, with a mix of affordability and high quality of life for young, up-and-coming workers. The BullStreet District is right in the middle of it all, with leading-edge new infrastructure, including gigabit internet, offering an immense opportunity for businesses to locate and expand in the heart of South Carolina’s capital city.”

Learn more about the BullStreet District in downtown Columbia, S.C., at https://bullstreetsc.com.

About the First Base Building at BullStreet

With 108,541 square feet of class-A office and retail space, the five-story First Base Building is integrated into the new, award-winning Spirit Communications Park, where office workers enjoy an ideal view of the Columbia Fireflies Minor League Baseball team’s games, practices and events. A fifth-floor, outdoor roof deck for tenant events overlooks the ballpark, and new, high-ceilinged ground floor spaces that are ideal for hospitality and other retail businesses open directly onto the stadium concourse. Other tenants include Ogletree Deakins law firm, Founders Federal Credit Union and Central Carolina Community Foundation, which moves into the building in early 2019. Selected office space and retail space connected to the ballpark concourse is available now. Learn more at https://bullstreetsc.com/projects/the-first-base-building.

About the BullStreet District

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 Spirit Communications Park, where the Columbia Fireflies Minor League Baseball team has hosted more than 915,000 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, Founders Federal Credit Union and soon, Central Carolina Community Foundation. Bone-In Barbeque restaurant opened in the historic Ensor Building in Spring 2018, and work is underway on the 196-unit Merrill Gardens senior living community. The first resident has moved into the first phase of 28 residential townhomes at TownPark at BullStreet, and historic preservation awards have been garnered by both the S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources’ Parker Annex Archaeology Center and the historic Bakery at BullStreet building, home to the SOCO cowork and event space, the hub of the BullStreet Technology Village. The Central Energy Facility is soon to be the home of Downtown Church and its new event rental venue, and 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 real estate and 3,553 residential units. Follow @BullStreetSC and #BullStreetSC on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and learn more at https://bullstreetsc.com.

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Aerial photo of the First Base Building at the BullStreet District by Burton W. Fowles