BY: Mayor Rick Osbon

As plans advance to bring a new mixed-use office building to downtown Aiken, my City Council colleagues and I are excited about this project’s potential to build on the progress made within the city in recent years.

The addition of a mixed-use space in downtown Aiken is one compelling piece of a larger strategic vision for enhancing our community. Since 2020, city leaders have collaborated with different groups to explore smart investments that align with a bold vision for the future. When state leaders expressed their support for locating this project in downtown Aiken and agreed to fully fund it with $20 million from the plutonium settlement, pieces began falling into place to make this vision a reality.

This initiative is poised to deliver on the governor’s 2021 recommendation of having a space to develop workforce training programs designed to fill engineering, science, research and management positions for Savannah River National Laboratory. While it is still in the conceptual phase, all working on this project are committed to utilizing this unique opportunity to better our community.

There have been, and will continue to be, opportunities for public input as the project moves through the many steps of development and review before a final site for the building’s footprint is approved and work on actual design begins. All involved in these initial planning stages have been clear that any local businesses potentially impacted, if the current preferred site being considered is selected, will be fully protected and made whole. Those highest of priorities include the Taj Aiken Restaurant, Warneke Cleaners, Newberry Hall and the preservation of the C.C. Johnson Drug Store building at the corner of Richland Avenue and Newberry Street.

While much work and some questions remain, what we do know is that SRNL is very interested in being the primary tenant of the downtown mixed-use office building. The intent is to incorporate retail space, public meeting space and office space (leased to SRNL) within the existing city-owned footprint in and around the new mixed-use building. SRNL plans to bring about 100 SRNL employees to the building. Having those employees working downtown Monday through Friday will have a positive economic impact on surrounding businesses and will be a strong asset for workforce development, K-12 STEM education and higher education in our area.

Plans regarding which specific programs will be housed in the building are still in the early development stage, but we can commit that it will not include any actual “laboratory” space, and absolutely no work involving radioactive material, biohazards or hazardous materials.

The Savannah River Site is one of the largest employers in the region and will continue its commitment to the area with the new SRNL offices. This location will be a safe, state-of-the-art, professional building for administrative roles and learning opportunities.

The budget for the mixed-use office building has been carefully analyzed. We are confident that the state funds secured from the settlement will be sufficient to construct the building. This is a smart investment in our city’s future, the construction of which comes at no direct cost to city taxpayers. The construction of the building and planned occupancy by SRNL will be an economic driver in our thriving local economy and will cement Aiken’s stature as a hub of innovation and education.

SRNL will create a pipeline for new talent and develop the existing employee base. It will offer more than jobs, but also training for faculty, graduate students and interns. A recent economic impact study shows that these new jobs and higher incomes will increase total expenditures per person across all retail categories, equaling more than $3.3 million of new spending annually – providing a welcome boost to our existing small businesses and driving the establishment of new ones.

All of us concerned about preserving the look and feel of downtown should know the city is steadfast in its commitment to maintaining Aiken’s small-town charm. We can ensure, through a rigorous design review process and public participation, that the familiar aesthetics are maintained while welcoming vibrant new additions to downtown.

Long before the city began planning for the mixed-use office building, we started planning for a comprehensive parking solution for downtown, including structured parking and other improvements. It is important to understand the city is taking a holistic approach to enhancing the downtown area over the next several years, and the mixed-use office building is just one of the appealing projects under consideration. Work to stabilize the Hotel Aiken property and take it to market continues, and negotiations to sell the former Municipal Building to Aiken County are on track.

We believe that as the details of each of the planned projects evolve, the long-term benefits of them will be recognized and supported. We look forward to bringing you further updates on efforts to move Aiken’s local economy forward.