In partnership with the City of Augusta, Columbia Ventures created a landmark project in a disinvested but historic neighborhood of Augusta, Georgia.   Featuring 221 units of premier housing and with related retail, the project indicates the resurgence of intown and downtown in the Garden City.  “We could not have assembled the land or constructed the project” said Columbia Ventures’ partner Jake von Trapp, “without the instrumental leadership of the City, especially that of Department of Housing & Development Director Hawthorne Welcher and that of the Urban Redevelopment Agency of Augusta.”

“Community supporting projects like this in a historic neighborhood, located just steps away from Augusta University, the University of Georgia’s public research university and medical center don’t happen by accident. They are intentional and planned to provide opportunity for the residents here,” according to Dillon Baynes, Columbia Ventures’ managing partner. Years of planning with the City yielded a unique public private partnership accruing benefits to both parties.  At the end of the day, Augusta now has an activation in a key node while Columbia Ventures continues to burnish its impact resume.  The sale fully paid off the City’s investment in the project and the funds it expended on the land beneath. 

URA bonds dating from 2018 representing the City’s financing were scheduled to be retired after seven years, but now will be retired four years ahead of schedule. RADCO Ventures of Atlanta provided equity capital alongside Columbia Ventures to complete the $32 million capital stack for the project.

Columbia Ventures develops residentially anchored mixed-use projects of scale in Atlanta and Denver, and soon will add Jacksonville and Savannah to its roster.