By Mike Fitts
mfitts@scbiznews.com
Published May 19, 2010

Columbia already has the right major tenant to go into the former SCANA Corp. space on Main Street, according to mayor-elect Steve Benjamin: He wants the building to be the new home of the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Benjamin hopes the school could work out a long-term lease with the Palmetto Center, the building that now has about 450,000 vacant square feet in the heart of downtown. A long-term tenant such as the law school should be appealing to the owners, Benjamin said, and would keep the building in private hands and on the tax rolls.

“I want the law school in that building. I really do,” Benjamin said.

If the school were there, it would be surrounded by the offices of many of the state’s biggest law firms and several courts, including the S.C. Supreme Court, Benjamin said.

“It’s a perfect place for law students,” he said.

Benjamin said he has met with the building’s owner and real estate agent to pitch the plan. The building could be bought by a new owner and renovated for substantially less than it would cost USC to build a new school, he said.

Moving it there “would mean giving Main Street a big old shot of adrenalin,” Benjamin said. He compares the potential impact on downtown to what the Savannah College of Art and Design has brought to that city.

Columbia has been supportive of USC, such as building new parking for the Innovista project, Benjamin said. This would be an opportunity for USC to boost the city’s downtown, he said.

USC officials have not responded to the idea, Benjamin said. Some have seen only the obstacles to the plan, he said, but business leaders have seen the possibilities and like them.

Read more about Benjamin’s transition into the mayor’s seat in the May 17 Columbia Regional Business Report.