What to do with an out-of-date, two-star motel northwest of downtown Columbia, South Carolina, that had seen better days?
Enter Sage Investment Group, a firm based in Washington State that develops high-quality housing at scale by converting hotels to apartments. Citing statistics from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Sage notes on its website that the workforce housing crisis has continued to expand, with an estimated shortage of 7.3 million homes for lower-income citizens, up 8% since 2019.
The firm, which converts underperforming hotels into stabilized apartment communities, said it has a track record of delivering 18% to 25% targeted annual returns for accredited investors, and notes that conversions can be completed in half the time as new builds and for 50% of replacement cost due to existing infrastructure and depressed hotel values. It claims converted units in its portfolio typically rent for $300 to $500 less per month than similar Class A apartments
Sage's acquisition of the Springwood Place apartments offered an opportunity to test its adaptive reuse strategy. Originally built in 1980, the property is now a 138-unit studio apartment complex across the street from the Columbia Place shopping center.
The reimagining and successful repurposing of the aging motel earned the project a CoStar Impact Award as judged by a panel of real estate professionals familiar with the market.
The project maintained some of the aesthetic quirks of a motel from that era, including an exterior balcony that runs the length of each floor and exterior stairways at every corner of the building. These have all been softened with updated color accents on the doors and repainting the once-beige brick exterior and sienna moldings and columns with a tidier-looking black-and-white color scheme.
Where there was once a swimming pool and pool deck between the leasing office and the rooms, there is now a common area of green space.
Affordably and efficiently transforming short-term units into longer-term ones led to a reconfiguration of the zones for living, sleeping, and cooking, together with updated materials and appliances. These updates added to space and gave residents energy-efficient enhancements, such as new appliances and double-pane windows.
By repurposing this 45-year-old motel, Springwood Place was able to address the need for affordable housing in Columbia, South Carolina, much more quickly than a typical multifamily development might have. And the adaptive reuse strategy overall eliminated a lot of the energy and material waste that would normally accompany a demolition/construction project.
About the project: The Springwood Place community officially opened in May 2025. On-site amenities for residents include a clubhouse, lounge and fitness center in the former leasing office of the motel.
What the judges said: "Springwood Place earns my vote because it is a prime example of high-impact, adaptive reuse that directly addresses Columbia’s need for attainable workforce housing," said Robb McCarter, director of research for NAI Columbia.
They made it happen: Based in Kirkland, Washington, Sage Investment Group is led by CEO Ryan Sudeck, Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer Ross Hubbard and Co-founder, Head of Client Relations Emily Hubbard. The Springwood Place property management team from the Columbia office of Apartment Management Consultants includes Property Manager Olivia Campbell and Leasing Coordinator Morgan Greene.