Forest Drive rising 🏗

New housing, restaurants + shopping for Forest Dr. in 2018-20.

All the time, we hear about developments throughout and around downtown Cola, like the revitalization of Main St., the up + coming Cottontown, the 181-acre Bullstreet Neighborhood project, the 25-acre CanalSide project in conjunction with the $58 million Sola Station riverfront living project + the Brookland development in West Columbia.

But DYK? There’s a ton of new development projects planned for Forest Drive in Forest Acres (home of Trenholm Plaza and Trader Joe’s) – just ~10 minutes from downtown Cola.

Here’s a look at some of the things planned for Forest Dr. in the next three years:

The Cardinal + Cardinal Crossing | coming early 2019 + 2020 | 4701 Forest Dr. (next to Forest Park shopping center)

The 12.5-acre site of the former Cardinal Newman school (which moved to Alpine Rd. Jan. 2016) is being redeveloped into what will be known as The Cardinal (246, 1-3BR luxury apartments + 10 townhouses) + Cardinal Crossing (42,000 sqft. of retail space) with 660 parking spaces + a parking garage with an additional 389 parking spaces. This “lifestyle center” development is one of the three largest infill projects in the Midlands (infill = developing vacant spaces in urban areas already largely developed), along with BullStreet + CanalSide.

Lowes Foods | coming Summer 2018 | 4711 Forest Dr. (Forest Park shopping center)

Construction on the third Midlands’ Lowes Foods location (12th location in S.C.) is underway in the former Bi-Lo grocery store, which closed Sept. 2016. The 50,000-sqft. space is getting a full facelift to look very similar to both Lexington locations – which reflect Lowes Foods’ new branding. We cannot wait to have a close-by Pick ‘n Prep, Beer Den + Cakery.

Eggs Up Grill | coming January 2018 | 4711 Forest Dr. (Forest Park shopping center)

The Forest Acres Eggs Up Grill will be its fourth Midlands location. (There’s one on Devine St. + one in Lexington.) This location will be 2,900 sqft. + seat ~100 people; open 6 a.m.-2 p.m. daily. The Pawley’s Island-based all-day breakfast + lunch eatery is franchised by the same person who owns + operates the Groucho’s Deli on Forest Dr.

This Cardinal Crossing development sounds awesome, but it also sounds like it’s going to bring a lot of traffic to an already busy road. BUT. Developers have a plan for that. 👇

The Department of Transportation has agreed to ~$750,000 worth of “smart signals” (a.k.a fancy, high-tech traffic lights) along Forest Dr., all the way down to I-77 + Two-Notch Rd. 🚦 These aren’t said to be the end-all of traffic problems, but it will definitely help the flow during off-peak times + improve safety. (As will the turn lanes being added for both the Cardinal Development + the Lowes Foods shopping center.)

And another win for safety: COMET is rerouting their stop by the Forest Dr. Walmart (and adding a 30-ft. bus shelter to the stop) to make it easier for riders to hop on + off, without having to cross the busy street. No more playing Frogger across 4 lanes of traffic. 🙌
–Sam