CAYCE — The Shell gas station at the corner of Axtell Drive and Knox Abbott Drive in Cayce is closing. City officials say no official redevelopment plans have been announced, despite rumors to the contrary.
The Shell gas station and convenience store at the corner of Knox Abbott Drive and Axtell Drive in Cayce will close on Nov. 30, according to signage posted at the gas station.
It is unknown what prompted the closure or what future plans await for the property, which is at the gateway to the city just off of the Blossom Street Bridge into downtown Columbia and near the Parkland Plaza shopping center.
Rumors have circulated on social media that the property is intended to be redeveloped into student housing. The City of Cayce has not received any plans for the property, city spokesperson Ashley Hunter said.
“Don’t worry! The student housing thing is just a rumor!” newly-elected Cayce City Councilwoman Alice Rose commented under one post repeating the rumor. “There is currently no proposed development for that property. It’s zoned commercial and waaay (sic) too tiny for apartments.”
The property is listed at 0.36 acres in size in online real estate records from Lexington County. The current zoning for the property would allow for a wide range of retail businesses, as well as a hotel or restaurant.
“The student housing rumor is just that,” Cayce Assistant City Manager Wesley Crosby said in a comment under the same post. “For one, the lot is to (sic) small for such a development without demoing parts of parkland plaza (sic) and second, the current zoning on this lot does not allow for apartments.”
The current zoning of the property does not allow single or multi-family residential developments or dormitories.
An employee working at the gas station on Nov. 26 said they weren’t aware of any future redevelopment plans for the site. The convenience store had been mostly cleared of shelving and merchandise at that time.
Online county records did not reflect any recent sale of the property. A company listed as Parkland Associates LLC has owned the lot since 1988, according to those records. That same company is also listed as the owner of the larger adjacent plot where the Parkland Plaza shopping center and Food Lion stand.
The Post and Courier Columbia was unable to contact the property owner for comment.
The gas station sits at the corner of one of the busiest intersections in the city, with over 24,000 vehicles reportedly passing by the property on Knox Abbott on average per day in 2024, according to data from the state Department of Transportation.
That stretch of Cayce near the Congaree River is home to half a dozen apartment complexes popular with college students, though not all are directly advertised by nearby universities as housing options.
Across the Blossom Street bridge at the intersection of Blossom and Huger streets, student housing complexes have sprung up at three of four corners. One of those complexes also displaced a gas station.
The rumors of student housing being built on the gas station lot — and the dismayed reactions on social media — arise as the Columbia area has grappled with the growing college student population and surge of off-campus apartments built to house them.
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