The Close- Hipp building with the National Advocacy Center (NAC) in the background.

Around 11:30 Monday morning, July 20, an unusually attractive deal was disclosed by USC President Harris Pastides and his accompanying deal makers in the federal Department of Justice. In a nutshel l , the DOJ leases long- term the Moore School's Close- Hipp Building, and USC takes that income stream and converts it into a bond, and that dol lar total goes into the construction of a new building for the Moore School in the four- acre block below the Koger Center bounded by four streets: Park, Greene, Lincoln and College.

Standing among the appreciat ive audience were representatives of the USC School of Law and the College of Mass Communicat ions and Informat ion Science, where both subsets of USC are searching for funds for thei r new buildings. Now, finally, the business school is cove red, so the bu si ness school is no longer in the hunt for the same limited state building funds

John Lumpkin, Columbia developer

 potentially available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pastides recalled the beginning of the National Advocacy Center, which opened 11 years ago under the name Hollings in honor of S.C.'s U.S. Senator who essentially delivered the NAC to the USC campus.

 

 

At the time a Mai n Stree t coalition was chasing the NAC for the block that became home to the Columbia Museum of Art and the Carolina First branch. Pastides pointed with prid e to t he Inn at USC across Pendleton St reet f rom the NAC, remembering the headaches and the hassles that came with that restoration and infill project , much to the objections of nearby private hoteliers.

Since opening in 1998 and up through 2008, the NAC has educated and t rained 170,000 federal attorneys and law enforcement of f icials. In the near future, coming to the NAC is the Justice Leadership Institute, further refining the skills of federal attorneys.

Dr. Harris Pastides, USC president

The Close- Hipp Building was built in two phases, and it was funded in two phases. First, based on designs by archi tects GMK in Columbia, the Close Bui lding went up wi th funds f rom Spr ings Industries, and then the Hipps of Greenvi l le sponsored the addition.

The Close- Hipp Building, 325,000 square feet, was recently slated for a complete renovat ion by the Moore School , including an addition facing Pendleton Street. But all that was put on hold whi le the eventual deal with DOJ slowly surfaced.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R- S.C.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and most recently known for his questioning in the current process of bringing on a new member of the U.S. Supreme Court, said he first took hold of this building idea in 2006. That was when the fiscal reasonableness occurred to him and thereby the very real possibility of getting the deal through to consummation.

Graham said the deal died a few times, but it always managed a comeback. He turned to the operatives who championed the deal , and he said, "I have never seen a group so focused in my life."

Photos by John Temple Ligon Margaret Moore Lamb, director of Office of Media Relations; and Dr. Ted Moore, USC chief financial officer

David Ogden, the assistant attorney general for the U.S., called the deal "terrific" and said the U.S. Government saves $42 million right off the top.

Marshall Jarrett, the director of the Executive office for U.S. Attorneys, called it an exciting day. He also called the deal the Palmetto Project, the code name in Washington all along the history of the proposal. He predicted a gain of 250 jobs,

Wal t Wi lkins, the U.S. At torney for the District of S.C., said he was moving his of f ice into the Close- Hipp Building.

Pastides brought the news conference to a close by reminding the crowd they were in the presence of a win- win- win deal.

Tom Stepp, USC Board of Trustees secretary; and Ike McLeese, CEO Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce Mike Bailey, NAC director; Cammy Chandler, Office of Legal Education NAC; and Dr. Belinda Gergel, Columbia City council David Ogden, Deputy U.S. Attorney General (left), U.S. Lindsey Graham (R- SC). Walter Wilkins, U.S. Attorney for District of S.C. John Courson, S.C. Senator (R- Richland) Marshall Jarrett, director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys Rene Ann Tewkesbury, Senator Graham's Midlands office John Parks, Innovista; and Lee Bussell, Chernoff Newman Alan Cooper, midlandsbiz.com; and Ashley Gosse, Holder Properties