A sprawling, nearly 20-year-vacant sign factory in the geographic center of West Columbia is finally headed toward new life. Plans call for transforming the historic Colite manufacturing facility at 228 North Parsons St. into a mixed-use hub for living, working, eating and shopping, with the first phase targeted for completion by the end of 2028.
Rezoning Clears the Way
The project, dubbed Colite City, has a three-phase development plan and will sit within three blocks bordered by North Brown, Shull, Senn and Meeting streets, near Triangle City. According to the Post and Courier, West Columbia City Council approved rezoning for almost 10 acres of land on Oct. 19, 2026, though WestMetroNews reported the council took that action two weeks earlier, on Oct. 6. Cola Daily reports the rezoning covered five parcels along those streets, shifting them from light and heavy manufacturing designations to planned unit development, commercial.
West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles said phase one has been fully approved and does not expect further city involvement until the project's next phases begin. Miles described the site as an abandoned industrial area sitting in the geographic center of the city, and said the project could transform some of West Columbia's worst areas into its best. “It represents a first large step away from development located solely in the River District,” Miles told the Lexington Chronicle.
From Sign Factory to 'City Within a City'
Colite once manufactured signs for businesses around the world out of its 300,000-square-foot headquarters, before the company departed for a new Columbia home in 2008, per The State. The building and its still-striking signage were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018, the outlet's report notes. Jams and Stark first announced plans for the redevelopment in 2022, and the project's planning documents describe the vision as a desirable Midlands place to live, work and play, featuring breweries, flex spaces, restaurants, companies and green spaces.
Developers have said Building 60 — the current brown warehouse shell of Colite's former headquarters — will serve as the center of activity for the development and is being renovated as the first phase-one building. The 52,000-square-foot structure will be transformed into two new spaces: a first floor designed as maker and designer flex space for creators and innovators from metro Columbia, and a second floor expanded into a 55,000-square-foot convention center. Developers describe that convention center as the only venue of its kind in metro Columbia and the only space of its size in Lexington County.
What's Inside Phase One
Construction on phase one is expected to begin soon and wrap by the end of 2028. Per Cola Daily, planning documents call for roughly a 24-month construction period for that phase. Phase one is expected to include approximately 30 small commercial units, 40 to 46 residential units and 267 parking spots. Back in 2022, Jams and Stark described the 150,000-square-foot first phase as including an event space, brew hall, food hall, maker and designer spaces, studio spaces for artists and designers, and flex-spaces for offices, according to the company's own announcement.
Phase two is anticipated to begin in mid-2029, with the third and final phase slated to follow in 2031, according to planning documents cited by Cola Daily. Altogether, the full Colite City build-out spans roughly 9.95 acres developed over about eight years.
A Bigger Shift for West Columbia
Mayor Miles has called the project potentially the most transformative improvement effort in West Columbia's history if it's completed as planned. The ambition fits a broader local building boom: The State reports the city has issued 117 permits for new residential construction and 37 for commercial construction since 2022, compared with about 11 new-home permits issued over the same period in neighboring Cayce.
Colite's own planning documents reach for lofty comparisons, likening the project to other catalysts for urban change such as Starbucks in Seattle and SoHo in New York City, per Cola Daily. Developer Wade Caughman pointed to Industry City in Brooklyn, Camp North End in Charlotte and American Tobacco in Durham, N.C. as inspirations for the approach, he told the Lexington Chronicle, and developers have said they hope Colite City delivers an impact similar to those reclamation projects in Durham and Charlotte.
