An old motel along a busy Columbia corridor is getting a second life as housing for working families.
Homeless No More broke ground Oct. 13 on Grand Village, a $12.8 million project at the former Grand Motel site, WIS reported. The project will combine rehabilitation of parts of the motel property, which dates to the 1950s, with new construction.
Plans call for 30 one-, two- and three-bedroom rental homes for families with children, along with the James E. Christopher Community Center.
Mixed incomes, mixed funding
Homeless No More CEO Dr. Lila Anna Sauls describes Grand Village as attainable housing, a mixed-income model meant for working families, including some who earn too much for more intensive assistance but still can't comfortably afford market-rate rent.
"We have created a mixed-income model that will put vulnerable families who are working next to firefighters and teachers," Sauls said. "These rents, because it's considered mixed income, will range from $450 a month to $1,100 a month for a three-bedroom."
She told South Carolina Public Radio that units will be set aside at different income levels, from 30% of the area median income for the most vulnerable families up to 50% and sometimes 70% or 80%.
The money comes from several places. Jennifer Cogan, SC Housing's director of community development, said the new-construction portion is funded through the agency's Small Rental Development Program, while the rehab portion is funded through the South Carolina Housing Trust Fund's Supportive Housing Program.
Partners named at the groundbreaking include United Way of the Midlands, Richland County, the South Carolina Community Loan Fund, Dominion Energy, First Citizens Bank, Central Carolina Community Foundation and Progress Carolina.
Cogan said SC Housing and Homeless No More have worked together since 2013, starting with Live Oak Place, and have produced six developments and 69 affordable units in that time. Grand Village is part of Homeless No More's Live Oak initiative, which focuses on families with children. The nonprofit bought the motel property in 2023.
"$200 a square foot to build anything"
Sauls was blunt about costs. "Right now, it's $200 a square foot to build anything. And as a nonprofit developer, we don't make any money doing it. This is mission based," she told SC Public Radio. "We've got to come to the table with something. Incentives, tax credits, anything that would allow more people to do this."
Dominion Energy South Carolina President Keller Kissam said the property had been "blighted" and "ignored," and that the project is about "transition and transformation."
The site sits on a bus line, which state Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine said matters for families trying to get to work and child care. Devine said lawmakers are considering a more formal effort on housing next session, possibly a special committee, and are looking at ideas like inclusionary zoning, better building regulations and encouraging density.
United Way of the Midlands President and CEO Sara Fawcett said the Midlands faces a shortage of an estimated 50,000 attainable housing units.
The community center will offer after-school programs, mentoring, financial literacy classes and gathering space for residents and the surrounding neighborhood. Diane Wiley, president of the nearby Belvedere community organization, said her group currently meets at a water treatment facility and needs the space.
Homeless No More also has two more projects in the works, Edgewood Village, a family shelter campus, and Andrew's Village, a transitional shelter. Sauls told SC Public Radio she expects Grand Village to open in about a year. No general contractor was named.
Why it matters for Contractors
Grand Village is small, but it's a useful kind of job: part renovation of a 1950s motel, part new construction, plus a community center, all on one site. Rehab of an older building like this can turn up surprises, so contractors who know how to work with existing structures, and who can price that risk honestly, have an edge. Sauls' $200-a-square-foot figure is worth noting too. Nonprofit developers are stretching every public dollar, and they need contractors who can value-engineer without cutting quality. SC Housing's Small Rental Development Program and Housing Trust Fund money keep projects like this moving across the state. With Homeless No More planning two more projects and lawmakers talking about a housing push, Midlands contractors who do this work well could see more of it.