Posted on March 30th, 2016

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The historic Parker Annex building, located on the BullStreet property in downtown Columbia, S.C., is now under renovation by the team at Diversified Development, the commercial real estate brokerage and development firm founded by Charles Small in 1998. Located on Barnwell St. at Calhoun, the 9,300-sq. ft. Parker Annex building will have roughly 4,000 square feet available for lease in late Spring 2016 as office space, combining original, historic features with modern amenities.

Will Batson, chief development officer at Diversified Development, is leading the renovation with development partner Bowen Horger. The first Columbia, S.C.-based commercial real estate brokerage and development group to acquire property in the BulllStreet complex, Diversified Development is working on the project with Studio 2LR Architects and Hood Construction, with input from Historic Columbia.

“We believe in the leadership of Hughes Development Corporation, the master developer, and we felt it important to be involved with BullStreet,” notes Batson. “It is going to be a catalyst that further enables Columbia to compete with other Southern cities for quality of life.”

The building is more than 100 years old and served as the mental health facility for African American patients when the S.C. State Hospital was in full operation. While the Parker building burned, the Parker Annex survived.

“We saw this as an opportunity to preserve a building with phenomenal bones,” says Batson. “Since it has such a beautiful, open floor plan, the space will be perfect for a professional services or creative firm.”

Renovations commenced in October 2015, and the building is expected to be ready for tenant move-in by late Spring 2016. The building occupies 9300 sq. ft. total, with roughly 4000 sq. ft. of usable space on each of the two floors. One floor will be owner occupied for office use.

Historic features at Parker Annex have been preserved, such as the original windows and exterior doors, 13.5-foot ceilings with exposed beams and rafters, and a 10-foot brick wall, which originally served as part of the perimeter of the campus.

Rustic interior masonry walls will be preserved to contrast with modern interior amenities, along with unique stairwells with original doors. Tenants will enjoy adjacent surface parking, a landscaped courtyard with decorative gates and a bocce court, and an original covered balcony with shuffleboard and a living privacy screen. The building faces a planned grand boulevard along Barnwell Street and is within immediate walking distance of the new Spirit Communications Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies baseball team.

Diversified Development’s past and current projects in the Midlands include the South University campus, Occo Luxury Spa and TD Ameritrade in the Vista, Nicky’s Pizza and Pure Barre in Five Points, the Whaley Row townhouses, the DHL facility near the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, the former C&S operations center for Palmetto Health on Greystone Blvd., and numerous Rite Aid and MEDcare facilities throughout South Carolina.