Florence Officials Break Ground Today On Phase One Of Urban Square Project

Florence officials will break ground Monday on the first phase of the city’s $65 million Urban Square project, which will bring apartments, town-homes, office space and a hotel to the downtown area.

Phase 1 of the project includes an apartment complex and a parking deck, while Phase 2 will have a hotel and 40,000 square feet of office space. The final phase will be Brownstone-style townhomes.

Currently, the occupancy rate in downtown Florence is about 6%, Assistant City Manager Clint Moore said. In order to meet the growing demand as more people and businesses migrate to the downtown area, he said the city needed to look outside of what most people consider the historic district.