In the six years since Matthew Congdon unveiled plans for Killian’s Crossing — a $750 million lifestyle center — the nearly 400 acres on Killian Road at Farrow Road in Northeast Richland have done little more than sit vacant.

But in recent weeks, workers have started moving 750,000 yards of dirt to prepare the site for a mix of retail, residential and office space — similar to the nearby Village at Sandhill.

Retailers and developers held off on making commitments as the project lingered in the planning and permitting stages after Congdon made costly mistakes early on in the process. Now, with final permits in hand, “we’re moving forward,” Congdon said. “There’s been a lot of interest.”

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The historic portion of Columbia’s Vista is slated to get a six-story Hyatt Place hotel, the third hotel in the core of the entertainment district.

An Atlanta-based developer has begun the approval process for a 130-room hotel facing the 800 block of Gervais Street.

The Hyatt Place would serve visitors to the convention center and fill in a street-front gap on a prime piece of Gervais property — between the SakiTumi restaurant and bar and Jason’s Deli, on land now being used as a parking lot.

A long, 62-space parking lot will sit behind the hotel, stretching to Lady Street. The lot will sit where, about a century ago, a company manufactured and sold gas to city residents. Sidewalks will run the length of the hotel on both sides of the building.

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One building and a section of land at the former Northside Baptist Church location on Sunset Boulevard in West Columbia has been sold for $1.4 million, NAI Avant announced.

The commercial real estate firm said Park Street Church of Christ purchased the approximately 40,000-square-foot sanctuary and three acres at 1303 Sunset Blvd. Four buildings totaling 56,000 square feet and nearly eight acres of land at the Sunset location remain for sale, NAI Avant said.

Ben Kelly and Patrick Chambers of NAI Avant represented the seller in the transaction.

Columbia’s commercial and industrial real estate markets posted mixed results for the third quarter of 2011.

The vacancy rate for Columbia’s industrial real estate market improved, while the office market took another hit, according to a report by NAI Avant.

The vacancy rate for the industrial space dropped to 10.7% due to a net absorption of 149,827 square feet of manufacturing and distribution space, the firm said. That compares with a vacancy rate of 11% at the end of the second quarter and 11.1% for the first quarter.

Key sales transactions for the quarter included Spirax Sarco’s acquisition of 35,800 square feet at 1101 Carolina Pines for $1.9 million. SC Liquidators’ move into a former 54,000-square-foot warehouse at 1215 Shop Road topped industrial leases.

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Fred Delk, Executive Director, Columbia Development Corporation / Congaree Coalition has won the 2011 Brownfield Renewal Person of the Year Award.  According to Brownfield Renewal magazine, the winner of this award is “an individual who has demonstrated the ability to innovate, collaborate across multiple industry disciplines, executed the plan and deliver the goods. Someone who has captured a unique vision of how to effect real change and generate positive results in our industry.”

Congratulations Fred, from SCREnews.com!

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There may be as many as three new, smaller-scale Walmart stores coming into the heart of Columbia, an official familiar with the retail giant’s plans for expansion into the city said Thursday.

One of the sites getting the company’s attention is the former Jim Moore Cadillac dealership on North Main, near the Elmwood Park and Cottontown neighborhoods, according to the official as well as the executive director of Sustainable Midlands, a coalition of environmental groups active in the debate about Wal-Mart’s interest in downtown.

Mayor Steve Benjamin and Councilwoman Belinda Gergel said they, too, have heard about Wal-Mart’s multi-store plan.

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Real Data has released their November 2011 Apartment Index Report for Columbia. Highlights of the study include

• Overall occupany improvement to 90.5% – up from 88.1% in May 2011
• The average montly rent is $774
• There are currently four communities under construction

PricewaterhouseCoopers plans to move its 400 workers who handle IT, data processing and administration functions to the former Verizon customer support center in Richland Mall.

The move, which will take place in waves over the next year, will consolidate the company’s operations in Columbia under one roof and on one floor, said Steve Silber, PwC spokesman.

Services provided by the Columbia office support “the entire firm across the country,” he said.

The move also will provide PwC, which four years ago launched the back-office operation in Columbia with a “relative handful” of workers, room to grow, Silber said. “One of the reasons we chose this space is that it can accommodate potential growth over the years,” Silber said, adding that the company is continuing to grow.

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Palmetto Health finally is ready to break ground on its long-discussed new hospital in northwest Columbia.

The first shovels of dirt will be turned during an 11 a.m. ceremony Thursday at 190 Parkridge Drive. The public is invited.

The new $99 million Parkridge facility will be a 76-bed, full-service hospital with emergency care, a labor and delivery unit and six operating rooms.

NAI Avant announced Tuesday that Spirax Sarco has bought a 35,800-square-foot industrial office building and warehouse in Blythewood to serve as its future home. NAI Avant, which brokered the sale of 1101 Carolina Pines, represented the seller, ALD Thermal Treatment Inc. The deal was valued at $1.95 million, NAI Avant said.

One of Spirax Sarco’s four training centers in the United States is in Blythewood. The northeast Richland County community also serves as the U.S. headquarters for the company, based in Cheltenham, United Kingdom.

Spirax Sarco specializes in developing controls for the efficient use of steam, air and other fluids for industrial and commercial users.

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LOOPNET LISTING HERE

Landlords willing to reduce rents or fix up their office buildings are landing tenants in the Columbia market, according to a market report released Wednesday by Colliers International.

The report, which surveyed rental activity for the third quarter of 2011, found that the leasing volume “was largely among existing tenants relocating to take advantage of market conditions.”

The continued downsizing of state government largely offset any new growth, the report added, noting that in the past 18 months the market has turned in a lackluster performance in absorbing 26,086 square feet of office space.

“Landlords who had the ability to aggressively pursue tenants with lower rental rates and those landlords which made capital investments to improve their properties have experienced the greatest amount of leasing volume,” the report said.

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