Low-income seniors told to move as developer buys historic Columbia school-turned-apartments
An affordable housing complex serving seniors in downtown Columbia has been sold, forcing its low-income residents to find new homes..
The buyer is pitching a $1.4 million restoration of the historic building, but the residents living at the Wardlaw Apartments at 1003 Elmwood Ave. will have to leave.
Florida-based developer Jay Biggins of Multihousing.com purchased the property in September under the name Campus Lofts, LLC, according to documents filed with the city of Columbia. In an interview with The State, Biggins said the building will remain affordable senior apartments after the renovation is completed.
Biggins will spend up to $1.4 million to renovate the apartment building, according to the city documents.
The property was built in 1927 as Wardlaw Junior High School. The school was the first freestanding junior high in South Carolina so in 1984, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It was repurposed as apartments in the early 2000s. The 66-unit apartment complex currently serves low-income seniors, including John “Soul” Hackett.
Hackett, who has lived at the Wardlaw Apartments for a little over a year, described dire conditions including water leaks, doors that don’t lock and incessant bed bugs.
“It’s been a difficult, difficult time here,” Hackett told The State.
A few weeks ago, Hackett and other residents received a letter informing them that the property had been sold. When The State interviewed Hackett, residents had not yet been told to vacate the property.
Biggins said the residents were given a 60 day notice to move out last week.
Other residents at the apartments have taken to the social media platform Nextdoor to ask for help moving out of the apartments.
Biggins said the apartments need a lot of work but that his company’s mission is to provide nicer apartments than what is usually associated with affordable housing, a goal Biggins said comes from his own childhood growing up in run-down conditions.
“I would like to deliver something better,” he said.
Hackett said his current rent is $800, with $200 being covered by a federal housing program for veterans.
Biggins declined to say what the rents will be once the renovation is complete but said “it will remain affordable.”
The 66-unit apartment complex is already largely vacant. Biggins said the apartment is about 25% full, and Hackett confirmed more than half of the apartment units are empty.
Biggins said a goal for the property is to raise the occupancy rate — he hopes to 100%.
The property’s historic exterior will remain intact, Biggins added. He is asking the city’s Design/Development Review Committee to certify the property for the Bailey Bill, which allows historic renovations to receive a special tax assessment.
