Legal Questions Emerge Over Core Spaces Project Approved in Columbia

Credit: Dwell Design Studio/Core Spaces/City of Columbia

By Javar Juarez | - CUBNSC Columbia, S.C

In a move that reeks of short-sighted opportunism and political dereliction, the City of Columbia and Richland County Council have rubber-stamped a development that should have raised every red flag imaginable. The approval of a high-density dormitory and market-rate housing development by Core Spaces—a company with well documented allegations of tenant mistreatment and questionable housing practices—is not just a policy failure. It is a moral one.

On May 1, 2025, the City of Columbia's Board of Zoning Appeals voted to approve Core Spaces’ special exception request to erect a towering complex on a parcel of land once central to Columbia’s Black community. This property, located at 1415 Main Street, 1104 Hampton Street, and 1400 Assembly Street, is now being offered to a demographic described not in financial terms, not in housing need, but by age.

During the hearing, Leighton Lord—attorney for Core Spaces and President of Maynard Nexsen—identified the market-rate segment of the development as “for young professionals.” In Columbia, where age-based discrimination is illegal under both local ordinance and federal law, this should have disqualified the project on its face.

Legal Violations Hidden in Plain Sight

Core Properties 91 Million Dollar "Renoviction" CBC & The Sweeps Isla Vista, CA

The City of Columbia’s own Fair Housing Ordinance clearly states that discrimination in housing based on age is unlawful. And yet, here we are—listening to developers and their legal teams describe in plain terms that this development is not meant for families, seniors, or long-time residents. It is for the young, the mobile, and implicitly, the white-collar elite.

Federal protections under the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and Fair Housing Act further underscore this point. If Core Spaces had said their housing was “not for women,” the outrage would be deafening. Yet when they say it’s not for older adults, our local leadership is silent.

Core Spaces Tenant Association

A History of Questionable Conduct Overlooked by Leadership

Core Spaces is no stranger to controversy. The company has faced:

• Mass evictions of low-income tenants and elderly residents under the guise of "renovations."

• Misleading communications around tenant rights and legal protections.

• Maintenance failures including unsafe conditions at multiple locations.

• Accusations of retaliatory behavior against tenants who organize or speak out.

  
  
  
  

In Isla Vista, California, Core Spaces forcibly evicted hundreds, prompting the formation of a tenant association. In Madison, Wisconsin, their developments are seen as engines of displacement. Their business model, based on rapid expansion and demographic targeting, has led to legal complaints and community outrage across the country.

Why, then, would Columbia roll out the red carpet?

A rendering of one of the planned student housing complexes by Core Spaces near the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus, featuring modern architecture and accommodating 910 beds at the intersection of West Johnson and North Bassett streets.

Gentrification Repackaged as Progress

This isn’t about housing. It’s about image. It’s about courting favor with the University of South Carolina and appeasing developers who promise economic return while gutting community integrity.

Let’s be clear: This development will not solve our affordable housing crisis. It will not attract families to downtown. It will not stabilize neighborhoods or boost homeownership. It will deliver nearly 2,400 beds—nearly half of them targeted at transitory student populations and the other half cordoned off for a vaguely defined class of “young professionals.”

And once again, those most impacted—working families, aging residents, and Black Columbians—are pushed further out.

The Fight Ahead

We must ask: What does “young professional” even mean in zoning terms? Who decides who qualifies? The answer: It’s not about legal definitions. It’s about marketing. It’s about exclusion by design.

This project is an affront to Columbia’s stated values, its ordinances, and its residents. It violates both the letter and the spirit of fair housing law. Worse, it signals to the public that our leaders are unwilling to challenge developers, no matter how egregious their records.

It’s time for a serious reckoning. We demand:

1. Immediate legal review of the May 1 zoning board decision.

2. Rescission of the special exception granted to Core Spaces.

3. A citywide audit of all housing projects for age, race, and income-based exclusions.

4. A moratorium on any developer receiving incentives who has been credibly accused of tenant abuse.

   
   

Columbia’s future should not be built on exclusion, evictions, and elite-only enclaves. If this city truly wants to be a place “for all people,” then it must prove it—not with slogans, but with action.

Because this isn't just a bad deal. It's a betrayal!

Reference Material:

Alfred, Mark. “Core Spaces Tenant Association Forms in Retaliation to Mass Eviction.” The Daily Nexus, 13 Apr. 2023, https://dailynexus.com/2023-04-13/core-spaces-tenant-association-forms-in-retaliation-to-mass-eviction/.

“BBB Complaints for Core Spaces.” Better Business Bureau, https://www.bbb.org/us/il/chicago/profile/business-services/core-spaces-0654-90023025/complaints.

“City of Columbia Public Accommodations Ordinance.” Municode Library, Columbia, South Carolina, https://library.municode.com/sc/columbia/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH11LIPEMIBURE_ARTXEQENPRPUAC

“Core Spaces Partners with Blue Owl’s GP Strategic Capital Platform to Accelerate Growth.” Business Wire, 20 July 2023, https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230720396714/en/Core-Spaces-Partners-With-Blue-Owls-GP-Strategic-Capital-Platform-to-Accelerate-Growth.

“Core Spaces Tenant Reviews.” ApartmentRatings.com, https://www.apartmentratings.com/management/core-spaces_21191/.

“Core Spaces: About Us.” Core Spaces, https://corespaces.com/team/.

“Core Spaces Misleads Isla Vista Tenants to Get Them to Move Out.” Santa Barbara Independent, 5 May 2023, https://www.independent.com/2023/05/05/core-spaces-misleads-isla-vista-tenants-to-get-them-to-move-out/.

“Core Spaces Says It’ll Do Better as Complaints About The Hub Mount.” East Lansing Info, 1 Oct. 2019, https://archive.eastlansinginfo.org/content/core-spaces-says-itll-do-better-complaints-about-hub-mount.html.

“An Open Letter: Nationwide Developer Core Spaces Is Bad for Tenants and the Future of Affordable Housing in Madison.” Red Madison, 2 Aug. 2023, https://redmadison.com/2023/08/02/an-open-letter-nationwide-developer-core-spaces-is-bad-for-tenants-and-the-future-of-affordable-housing-in-madison/.

Yamamura, Jean. “Core Spaces Opens Up About CBC & The Sweeps.” The Santa Barbara Independent, 17 Apr. 2023, https://www.independent.com/2023/04/17/core-spaces-opens-up-about-cbc-the-sweeps/.

Abraham, Roshan. “Tenants Formed a Union to Fight the ‘Google of Student Housing’ Trying to Evict Them.” Vice, 7 June 2023, https://www.vice.com/en/article/tenants-formed-a-union-to-fight-the-google-of-student-housing-trying-to-evict-them/.

https://studenthousingbusiness.com/core-spaces-to-develop-three-student-housing-communities-near-university-of-wisconsin-madison/

Core Tenants Get Government protections

CBS and The Sweeps "Renovictions" Core Spaces

Ann Arbor Council Meeting Opposition to Core Spaces Development

Cumberland Ave Strip

Core Spaces Hearing Ann Arbor Hearing