Roughly a year from now, a large research facility in Lexington County is expected to be fully operational as the home of South Carolina State University’s Center for Food Safety and Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development division.

The 42,000-square-foot research facility’s grand opening is planned for early 2027 in Cayce at 1801 Charleston Highway, near Historic Columbia Speedway. The facility already exists, but changes will be made. Over 100 workers are expected to be brought in during the construction phase.

“This isn’t just about a building,” said Louis Whitesides in a press release, vice president for Public Service & Agriculture and executive director of 1890 Research & Extension at SC State. “It’s about building capacity for research, workforce development, and the communities we serve. When legislators and community members see this facility in operation, they’ll see public investment at work in real time.”

As SC State’s largest research and extension location in the state, this economic development project is planned to create 50 to 70 full-time jobs.

Plans for inside the facility include a 150 to 200-seat conference center, a television and radio production studio and residential space for visiting scientists.

“Designed as a shared civic space, the facility will offer meeting rooms and gathering areas accessible to community organizations, reinforcing SC State’s mission of research that directly benefits South Carolinians,” according to a press release.

Whitesides said that the facility’s economic development impact will be in the millions of dollars range, but that a formal study to determine a more exact dollar amount in terms of its economic impact on the Midlands has not been done yet.

“One of the university’s fastest-growing focus areas is urban agriculture: transforming unused buildings into controlled-environment farms that support food production and research. Dr. Whitesides believes Cayce could become a natural home for that next phase of innovation,” according to the press release.

Construction should be completed at the end of 2026.

SC State’s campus is located in Orangeburg, S.C. It’s the state’s only public historically Black college and university, according to the university’s website.

Established in 1896, SC State is “the only Research 2 (R2) institution in South Carolina as classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. R2 requires $5 million in research spending and 20 research doctorates awarded annually. SC State exceeds both requirements,” according to the website. “SC State provides advanced research-oriented degrees to school leaders across the great State of South Carolina and brings in millions of dollars each year for groundbreaking research. The distinction is shared with only 7% of universities in the nation.”

The City of Cayce, along with most other municipalities in Lexington County, is pushing for more economic development projects. Choosecaycesc.com details potential economic development sites ranging in size from that of small office spaces the size of a residential home, to a vacant area spanning almost 30 acres.