VOLUME 15 NUMBER 2 ■ COLUMBIABUSINESSREPORT.COM
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FEBRUARY 14-FEBRUARY 27, 2022 ■ $2.25
Strike up the band Grammy winners to play 40th St. Pat’s festival. Page 4
City salespeople
Experience Columbia names new class of ambassadors. Page 7
SEEKING SANCTUARY
Card convenience Initiative aims to simplify farmers’ purchases. Page 9
The redevelopment project transforming the former Rosewood Church is on pace to welcome residents to its luxury apartments later this year. (Photo/Melinda Waldrop)
Future investment Governor allocates millions for workforce scholarships. Page 11
INSIDE
Upfront................................. 2 SC Biz News Briefs................. 3 In Focus: Architecture, Engineering and Construction .......................................... 13 List: Engineering Firms....... 16 At Work............................... 21 Viewpoint............................23
Transformation of church into luxury apartments nearing completion By Melinda Waldrop
M
mwaldrop@scbiznews.com
ost churchgoing children of a certain age no doubt once sat in Sunday school class, hands laced together, index fingers pointed skyward and thumbs touching, while reciting: “Here’s the church and here’s the steeple. Open the doors and there’s the people.” That child’s game is more or less the challenge faced in an ambitious collaboration between Garvin Design Group, Cason Development Group and Boyer Construction that is transforming a central section of Columbia’s Rosewood neighborhood.
The Columbia-based architecture firm, real estate development group and contractor are renovating the former Rosewood Church into a mix of 52 apartments, retail property and a restaurant spanning more than 57,000 square feet on Rosewood Drive in the heart of the downtown enclave. Scott Garvin, president of Garvin Design Group, has fielded many phone calls from Frank Cason, president of Cason Development Group. When his phone rang around a year ago, Garvin listened to a proposal that struck him as “radical” but also “a really cool idea,” he said. “It’s a trend around the country, especially in bigger cities or metropolitan areas where some of these older churches that have
Family affair
The Strudel Shop joins businesses in Columbia’s Main Street district. Page 5
been around for a while have not transitioned to the new demographic. We’re seeing more and more of these big, empty churches that can’t afford their real estate.” Rosewood Church, which had occupied 2901 Rosewood Drive home since 1937, put the property up for sale in 2019. Soon after, the site landed on Cason’s radar. “We had a local broker call about two years ago now,” Cason said. “He said, ‘Hey, this old Rosewood Baptist Church property is coming available. Would you be interested?’ I pulled it up on Google Earth and was like ‘Yes. When can we go? Can we go tomorrow?’ … I don’t See CHURCH, Page 14