North Carolina Construction News staff writer
The University of South Carolina has selected Gilbane to lead the planning, design, development and construction of the university’s health sciences campus in the BullStreet District in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.
“Gilbane has assembled a world-class design and construction team that will provide innovation and expertise to develop a health sciences campus to serve USC and the state of South Carolina for many generations into the future,” said Derek Gruner, university architect.
Gilbane, which has a local office on Devine Street in Columbia and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, will serve as the primary developer. The company has successfully collaborated with USC for 17 years, with seven projects on campus since 2005.
“Gilbane understands the meaningful impact this project will have within the local community and throughout the state,” said John Keegan, vice president of Gilbane Development Company. “Embracing a spirit of partnership and collaboration, we look forward to helping realize the vision for the health sciences campus within the BullStreet District, achieving exceptional outcomes for USC and the greater Columbia community.”
The university’s health sciences campus will create new space for clinical education with the initial stage including a medical education building for the School of Medicine Columbia and a multidisciplinary research building with about 292,000 square feet. Current plans call for construction to begin in 2025 and to be completed in 2027.
Overall, the health sciences campus represents a $300 million investment.
Long-term plans for the campus include a brain center that will build on the university’s McCausland Center for Brain Imaging and offer South Carolinians more options for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, dementia and other brain-related conditions.
Other key contractors include lead design architect The SLAM Collaborative (Atlanta, Georgia, and Glastonbury, Connecticut) collaborating with local architect BOUDREAUX (Columbia, South Carolina), construction manager Cummings (Columbia, South Carolina), operations manager Honeywell (Wabash, Indiana), construction manager and minority business Brownstone Design and Construction Group (Columbia, South Carolina), and development consultant and minority- and women-owned business Restoration 52 (Greenville, South Carolina).
The university is committed to including minority and women-owned businesses in its contracts; its goal for subcontracting participation is 30 percent for design and construction entities.
The 181-acre campus is the largest city-center development east of the Mississippi River. It is already home to Segra Park and the Columbia Fireflies minor league baseball team; residential developments TownPark and The Babcock; outdoors retailer REI; law firms Ogletree Deakins and Robinson Gray; web developer truematter; and more.
“We are excited to welcome the USC health sciences campus in the BullStreet District,” said Robert Hughes, president of Hughes Development Corporation. “All of the students, faculty, and staff will be a great addition to the vibrancy of the district. The training and research conducted here will extend throughout the community and state to produce a better quality of life for our people through better health care. We are honored to be a part of it.”