Much of what Aiken residents and visitors see in the downtown Aiken area was done because of the Aiken Corp. and the Aiken Downtown Development Association.
From the Center for African American History, Art, and Culture to several of the apartments and homes on the outskirts of town, Aiken Corp. Chairman Wade Brodie has turned vacant lots into parks and damaged homes into something livable and helped market the downtown area to visitors from all around the world with the help - and sometimes direction - of the City of Aiken.
Aiken Corp. was established as a nonprofit organization in 1995, made up of three committees - the Aiken Downtown Development Association, Housing and Executive. Subcommittees include the Railroad Depot, the Center for African American History, Art, and Culture and the Aiken Performing Arts Group.
Just a few of the Aiken Corp.'s notable projects include the Laurens Street condos, the Friends of the Railroad Depot car renovations and the renovation of homes on Toole Hill.
A study titled The Economic Impact of the Aiken Corporation and Aiken Downtown Develop Association on the City of Aiken, South Carolina by Dr. Sanela Porca, with the University of South Carolina Aiken, found that projects involving both the Aiken Corp. and the Downtown Association accounted for nearly 1,700 full-time jobs and for about $5 million in local property tax revenue.
What Brodie considers the "anchor of Aiken's downtown," a multi-million dollar, publicly-funded revitalization project built in partnership with Aiken Corp. and the City, including what was formerly known as Washington Group, now needs another buyer. The Aiken Standard confirmed last month the company that was formerly URS, and has since been acquired by AECOM, plans to vacate the downtown Aiken office complex and performing arts center on Newberry Street.
"In the beginning, Wade Brodie, the City and then Washington Group started meeting, and we, the City, wanted to see something built in what was a vacant theater then in that location," interim City Manager Roger LeDuc said. "And Washington Group wanted a larger presence in our community ... We met with the Playhouse for almost a year discussing what it would take to bring the theater in; the buildings needed to come down because they were in rough shape."
To construct the URS Performing Arts Center, Aiken Corp. paid 100 percent of the cost - $7.7 million - for construction. Then Washington Group contributed about $400,000 toward the cost of building the theater, and the City issued a loan in the neighborhood of $3.5 million to Aiken Corp., which included local Accommodations Tax, and $4 million to the Aiken Community Playhouse for the building's construction and development, paid off within three to five years after, according to LeDuc.
"No one owes the City or anything," LeDuc said. "Whatever goes on with the URS (AECOM) side, their obligation is between Aiken Corp. and the Security Federal bank who loaned the money."
Brodie told Aiken Standard that although they have since paid off those loans using pledges and donations, there is a remaining debt of about $1.8 million that will be paid by AECOM, which has 20 more months on the lease, paid at about $30,000 per month.
In the meantime, Brodie said, a committee has been set up to figure out the cost to sell the building and determine the value of future leases.
The Aiken Standard reached out to Keith Wood, the director of AECOM's public affairs, for more information about the current payment on the building's lease. Wood was not able to provide comment by press time, but the Aiken Standard will follow up with Wood this week.
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard. Follow her on Twitter @MaayanSchechter.