From Grant Jackson, GrantJax Communications – Would you like to live and work in your own home in the heart of the booming West Columbia River District?

Spring Street Partners is planning West Columbia’s first live-work unit at 509 Center St. as part of St Anns Alley (www.stannsalley.com), an in-town community of quality, single-family homes bounded by Center, Spring, Herman and Augusta streets.

The two-story, mixed-use building at the entrance to the development at the corner of Center Street and St. Anns Alley will have 948 square feet of heated and cooled office/retail space on the first floor, with a 754-square-foot living unit to include one bedroom, kitchen, great room and bath above. Construction is expected to start later this summer, and should take approximately six months to complete. If the building is purchased before or during construction, the lower level commercial space can be upfitted to the purchaser’s specifications.

The unit “will set a new architectural standard for commercial construction along the Center Street commercial corridor,” said developer Joe Taylor. “The unit is designed to not only project a quality commercial building but also to fit in with the surrounding neighborhood.” Spring Street Partners includes Taylor and developers Tyler Baldwin Jr. and Mark James.

“The commercial component will lend itself well to a variety of neighborhood retail or office uses be they creative, trade or professional businesses,” said Tyler Baldwin III, who is handling the sale of the live-work unit for Cypress Commercial and Investment Real Estate. “With its location at the entrance to St. Anns Alley, convenience is the driver for this live-work unit, not only for the owner and all the residents of St. Anns Alley but also for the entire growing, vibrant West Columbia River District,” said Baldwin, who has been involved with the development of St. Anns Alley since its inception.
509 Center St. will be the only live-work unit in the planned 34-home development. All 11 of the homes in Phase I of the development are either under contract or sold, closed and occupied, and 10 of the 15 lots in Phase II have been released for sale, with five homes under construction and expected to be ready for occupancy in July. Four homes in Phase II have already been purchased. Five additional homes will be ready for occupancy later this summer.

“St. Anns Alley is a perfect blend of old and new in West Columbia,” said Mayor Tem Miles. “We have always believed West Columbia is the best place you can live and work. I am so excited that this project will provide an opportunity for folks to do both in the same setting.”
St. Anns Alley is an easy walk to some of West Columbia’s biggest attractions including restaurants, the West Columbia Riverwalk & Amphitheater; Carraway Children’s Park, and the Interactive Art Park, site of the Saturday morning Meeting Street Artisan Market.

As with all of the homes in St. Anns Alley, Allison Ramsey Architects of Beaufort (www.allisonramseyarchitect.com) is the designer for the live-work unit, Mungo Construction, Irmo, is the builder, and Civil Engineering of Columbia is handling the site work.