The area around Elgin, about 30 minutes northeast of Columbia, has seen explosive growth in recent years, with new housing subdivisions cropping up all over the area.

Three new proposals would add another 242 homes to the area, if approved by Columbia’s Planning Commission at a regular meeting Thursday.

▪ The smallest of the new proposed building efforts would be at the existing Northwood Villas subdivision off Backspin Drive in Elgin. Developers would like to add 11 new houses to the subdivision, the third phase of which was initially planned in 2018 for 32 single-family homes but would grow to 43 houses if the requested expansion is approved.

▪ About 1.5 miles southeast, on the other side of Jacobs Millpond Road, developers hope to add another 45 homes to the existing The Mill at Woodcreek subdivision. This would be the third phase of that subdivision project. The lot sizes for each of the 45 new homes will be about 5,200 square feet. The subdivision will also include an amenity area with a pool and more than three acres of open space.

▪ The largest new housing project proposed for the area would add 186 new homes, about a mile east from The Mill at Woodcreek. Developers of the Ellington subdivision, which already has three phases, want to add a fourth-phase to the project with nearly 200 new homes. The average lot size is 5,400 square feet.

New homes being built in Elgin, SC

Columbia’s Planning Commission will consider the three different housing proposals Thursday.