Fire will not cool down Richland Mall redevelopment in Forest Acres. So what's next? (2024)

FOREST ACRES — A July 10 fire at the under-demolition Richland Mall did not significantly hinder plans to redevelop the site with apartments, retail and a public park, officials said.

City Administrator Shaun Greenwood said the city’s small Forest Acres fire is not expected to delay the demolition, which began in March. At that time, demolition crews said the process would take around 12-14 months, but things have been moving faster than expected, Greenwood said.

The fire broke out on the roof of the mall on the afternoon of July 10 as crews were demolishing the former Regal movie theater. No one was injured, and the flames were put out in about half an hour, the Columbia-Richland Fire Department said.

The fire came as crews from Demolition Environmental Company have removed large sections of the 1 million-square-foot structure, including large portions of the central and southern end of the structure, where the former Parisian department store, Belk, Barnes & Noble and Regal space were located.

Next steps

The mall, which had been vacant since September 2023, will be knocked down to pave way for an over $100-million-redevelopment of apartments, retail and a 6-acre city park, which is currently in the design phase.

The next major step for the redevelopment will be for the park’s landscape architects, The Landplan Group, to submit a plan for the city to approve, Greenwood said. The city expects the plan will be presented in about a month, he said.

“We asked the council and community for their ultimate wish list,” he said. “Our landscape architects have drafted a plan based on those ideas. Now, part of the next phase of the process will be refining that wish list based on costs, site logistics and overall efficiency of space utilization.”

At a May meeting discussing potential design items, Landplan presented possible park features, including various open green space, playground equipment, seating areas, artwork, water features, performance and event spaces, and interactions with Pen Branch stream, which runs through the site.

Aside from nailing down the final design, city and landscape architects will also have to contend with variables in site elevation changes, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and issues stemming from the demolition of the mall on the park site, city spokesperson Lynnsey Baker said.

Landplan has previously designed Lexington’s recently reopened Virginia Hylton Park and West Columbia’s Interactive Art Park, according to the firm’s website.

Forest Acres will host meetings to receive public feedback on the park design submitted to the city.

“It will be a lengthy process,” Greenwood said. “Once our designers have a concept they believe can work, we look forward to unveiling it to the public and gathering public feedback.”

Final project

Augusta-based Southeastern Development bought the 32-acre mall property in an $18.6 million deal in early 2023 before selling the 6-acre park plot to the city for $3 million. The park plot currently contains a surface parking lot behind the mall building.

Southeastern has yet to finalize the design for the redevelopment. Preliminary proposals for the mixed-use development include more than 500 apartments, restaurants and retail space, a grocery store and a brewery. Current plans call for a portion of the parking garage to remain for use in the future redevelopment.

Southeastern has received $23 million in tax breaks from Richland County and Forest Acres, The Post and Courier previously reported. Property taxes on the site will be waived for 20 years, or until the tax value meets that amount.

Southeastern previously forecast the development could take close to a decade to be completed once demolition began, according to a press release on the city’s website.

The first phase featuring the brewery, grocery store, park and some apartments is expected to be finished first, in three to four years, with a second phase of more retail and apartments coming after, taking another four to five years.

The final development will reduce the 930,000-square-feet of retail space in the former mall to around 215,000 square feet in the new development. City officials expect traffic concerns to be muted by the reduction in square footage.

Richland Mall originally opened to the public as an open-air mall in the 1960s before being enclosed in the ‘80s with the three-story building now being demolished.