^ I think Ameren is putting in a solar farm out that way...but I think it was closer to Montgomery City than Columbia. Wonder if it's someone else's?
My memory is hazy, but I thought I remember seeing a sign that said it was a research station or university related. Didn't see mention of Ameren on it.
JBS subsidiary Swift is building an Italian meats and charcuterie production facility in Columbia. The $200M plant will employ 250 people with average salaries of $52.5K. The total incentive package is a little of $11 million for 10 years. That's a nice investment for the working people in CoMo.
I'm a graduate of the University of Kansas, so it's not like I care that much, but I am curious and would like to know: does Columbia have any major developments going?
I'm going to be meeting someone in Columbia in a few weekends, so that's where the curiosity comes from.
The last time I was in Columbia, it felt like the downtown had some major potential and was begging for a new tallest in town.
As far as I know, there really isn’t much going in terms of development downtown. The new Missouri historical society building has opened, some restaurants have opened and closed downtown, Mizzou broke ground on the new Children’s hospital, and the new gateway plaza with giant letters spelling COLUMBIA are really the only things that come to mind. Haven’t heard of any apartments being planned for downtown in awhile.
The Broadway hotel has been talking about doing an expansion with another tower for years, but I don’t believe that has started yet either. Columbia is still booming, but most of the growth right now is in the new suburban developments that are popping up on the outskirts of the city.
There was a huge boom of downtown development while I was in school there between 2014-2018. Unfortunately the town elected a NIMBY mayor who put a moratorium on new apartment development downtown. I don't know the status of the moratorium these days but he is still mayor so I doubt it's gone anywhere. Downtown is still super vibrant and walkable though, you will have a good time exploring it.
The most progress in the downtown area lately has been in the industrial area to the NE near Logboat Brewing. Lot's of old industrial buildings have been turned into new businesses, restaurants, and bars. Probably where you will eventually see the next wave of student apartment developments.
There was a huge boom of downtown development while I was in school there between 2014-2018. Unfortunately the town elected a NIMBY mayor who put a moratorium on new apartment development downtown. I don't know the status of the moratorium these days but he is still mayor so I doubt it's gone anywhere. Downtown is still super vibrant and walkable though, you will have a good time exploring it.
The most progress in the downtown area lately has been in the industrial area to the NE near Logboat Brewing. Lot's of old industrial buildings have been turned into new businesses, restaurants, and bars. Probably where you will eventually see the next wave of student apartment developments.
There may be good news ahead: "Columbia mayor Brian Treece not seeking re-election next year"
I was fairly impressed with downtown Columbia when I was there the last time, though I did notice loads of surface lots that seemed ripe for apartments. It felt like a place that could realistically build up a small skyline and elevate its status.
I wonder how the locals would receive a few building proposals downtown in the range of fifteen to twenty stories.
Not sure if it's still planned or what, but there was an AC Hotel proposed, and approved, for the site at Cherry and Hitt Streets in downtown Columbia.
This is the last thing I can find -- two hypocritical downtown Columbia hotel owners complaining about the new AC Hotel taking up spots in an existing downtown garage ahead of a city council vote. I can't find the results of what was decided in the August 16 city council vote for the hotel's parking situation.
This is the last thing I can find -- two hypocritical downtown Columbia hotel owners complaining about the new AC Hotel taking up spots in an existing downtown garage ahead of a city council vote. I can't find the results of what was decided in the August 16 city council vote for the hotel's parking situation.
I'm not sure I'd call them hypocritical. The Broadway basically funded the simultaneous construction of the Short Street Garage and the Tiger is a historic building that's been supremely complicated to rehab, and which predates most of Columbia and all the garages by quite a lot. They've each had to pay their freight. Each placed a substantial bet on Columbia when the upside was less obvious. And a new hotel renting a large block of spaces without increasing the supply will doubtless run the costs up on spaces that they both rent from the city, unless they've got rates locked in indefinitely. (Which seems unlikely.) Maybe their complaints are unreasonable, but it's good business sense to lodge them. Unless the market keeps growing at the present spectacular rate (which honestly seems a tad unlikely) the new hotel will cut into their profits. You may not like it, but I guarantee whoever owns the AC would do exactly the same thing were the situation reversed. Nobody likes the competition. I expect they'll lose, but I don't think it's unreasonable to raise the objection. This hotel is planned to replace the Stephens building at 15 Hitt, right?
Current Mizzou student and downtown Columbia resident here. That lot at Cherry and Hitt has been fenced off for awhile now. Months maybe even years have passed with no movement whatsoever. In terms of development in the downtown area, there isn't much. MyHouse bar/club is undergoing substantial renovations as of right now adding a second floor after being closed for the past two years. Other than a few bars/restaurants coming and going its been quiet.
Why would anyone put a moratorium on new apartments? I'm afraid the answer is going to be parking concerns...
"My family can't find a parking spot when we go Downtown for ice cream!"
"Downtown is already full of students and they are always causing trouble"
"Our sewer infrasturcture can't hande the new residents" -said while city was already overhauling entire downtown system
"These buildings are ugly and I hate changing the Columbia skyline I know and love"
"I saw puke in the street once, puke!"
Meanwhile the other alternatives to student housing largely involves these massive cheaply built apartment developments in the suburbs that require a car or shuttle to go anywhere. Enjoy your DUIs
^Could you imagine if Nashville stopped building because of puke in the streets?
Nashville's mayor (John Cooper) wanted to halt some new construction projects because he compared the neon signs and tv screens to a circus. I remember reading about that on Nashville's UrbanPlanet forum and people made a mockery of him. That's almost as ridiculous as not building because of puke in the streets.
Hahaha, that is amazing. Funny how the thing that makes and made Nashville appealing - nightlife, Broadway, central/condensed downtown (puke and neon) - is often so vilified locally.
Cheap digs aside, Columbia is a darned different ballgame. There's a strong town/gown divide with a whole lot of older townies recalling the days when CoMO had 30K people fondly. When you could figure out the local politics at the diner in front of the cattle auction, or do business with a handshake with more or less anyone. Some of that was still there if you knew where to look when I left, but it was getting a little harder to find. The spectacular growth of the 00s replaced entire neighborhoods of modest frame houses with mid-rise apartment complexes. It was pretty stunning to behold. (Several of my old haunts fell victim to the change and a couple of my friends were displaced by it.)
I won't say folks should go full NIMBY, but I can kind of understand it. The whole town always breathed a sigh of relief when they left in June. Maybe the difference is that with a legitimate entertainment destination its year round and people that like that sort of thing know its there going in, but with Columbia the worst of the loud and violent drunkeness was always oddly seasonal. (And you could easily end up in a neighborhood that seemed fine in July or December but ended up covered in party tents and puke in March or September.) It's just not Nashville, and most of the full-time residents I knew were pretty happy about that. Of course . . . I moved out. (Not particularly because of the puke, but I admit, I did not like it when I got off a job late one night and found my car covered in puke. Or when drunken students hurled their drink from a passing car at me, or shouted at me from a balcony four stories overhead.) It's a change that looks nice from a distance, but can be decidedly unpleasant when you're living in the middle of it as it happens. I was generally in favor of it at first. I was still mostly okay with it when I left. (Heck, I helped to build a little of it.) But there were definitely some hiccups that made me think.
Some people there seem to think it's destined to become a bit of a boom town; others want it to stay exactly how it is.
I thought their downtown was begging for more development when I was there, but I don't live there, never have, and don't really understand the town dynamics.
Lawrence, Kansas is full of NIMBYs, though. Full of that type that fondly remembers when half the town was fields.
I get it, but I prefer to see downtown surface lots turned into better uses.
One of the main issues is that 95% of housing downtown is for the largely transient student population, while the vast majority of people who actually live in Columbia live in the surrounding suburbs and can only access downtown businesses via car or COMO's abysmal bus system. My hope is that future development will cater to permanent residents who live and work in and around downtown. A few glassy condo towers would do nicely, throw in some townhouses are we are cookin.
Edit: The Columbia has great bike infrastructure for city of its size and location (Missouri) Continuing to build this out should continue to be a huge priority to connect the inner suburbs with downtown.
As this thread has not been updated in over a year, I will provide a summary of urban developments between the last post (Feb. 2023) and today:
The Broadway Hotel expansion has been permitted and is underway. It will add 80 rooms and some meeting space for a total of 75,000 square feet. This is especially great because the building replaces an underutilized surface parking lot. Link
The mixed-use building at 10th and Cherry replacing the ugly bank and surface parking lot is going up currently and it actually looks really nice. It will have street level retail as well. Link
The hotel that was planned for Hitt and Cherry seems to be either stalled or dead because of the city's rejection to allow the hotel to skip in line and reserve 99 parking spaces in the already-full garage across the street. The lot is still empty today. Link
The city bought a vacant and historic building on Broadway important to Columbia's historic Black community and has formed a 15-member task force that includes "historians, preservationists, musicians and community leaders" to determine what the city should do with it (most likely some sort of community center, museum, or landmark). Link
The city also bought a vacant, former industrial, 2-acre lot adjacent to the Arts District and is using state grant money to turn it into an outdoor park with a music venue. Link
The Shops at Sharp End, a marketplace and business incubator catering to low-income and minority owned businesses has opened up on Walnut street with 40 unique vendors (half already have shops opened inside). Link
These are not all of the developments during this period but cover the biggest ones within the urban core of the city. It's been great to see the city continue to grow, especially downtown. Every resident and business owner I have talked to has been excited as well. It's really a great time to be in Columbia. I can add construction progress photos if this thread generates any interest.
One of my favorite aspects of this city is the dynamic food scene. Every month we hear about new restaurant ventures from the best chefs in the city. All of the local restaurant owners seem to collaborate; a given local restaurant will serve a sandwich with the local bakery's breads, local butcher shop's meats, and have local beers on tap, all with local artists' art for sale on the walls. This, combined with the wonderful COMO Farmer's market and the thriving pop-up and food truck scene make Columbia ideal for the foodie. I've lived in Columbia for only 2 years but have already tried around 50 local restaurants without going (completely) broke.
Great to hear about the growth downtown. I have not been there in a while, but for a very large collage city I always felt Columbia was underwhelming giving the cities population. What I have read about the new airport and it service expansion (from way back) also appears promising for Mid Mo.
