There's been a surge in construction of new apartment developments across the U.S. in recent years, and for many, the chief challenge is to stand out.
Not so for The Currents at Riverfront Place. The luxury apartment complex found success by blending in, and by doing so earned a 2025 CoStar Impact Award as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
Developer W.C. Bradley Real Estate brought its master-plan mindset to the project, integrating the rental development into a lively mix of offices and commercial, hospitality and recreational spaces in the Uptown neighborhood of Columbus, Georgia.
The Currents represented the final piece of a four-phase mixed-use development called Riverfront Place that has given new life to the site of a former textile mill complex on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. Next door is the new headquarters of the financial services firm Synovus Financial, and close by is the Hotel Indigo Columbus, several restaurants and outdoor activities like zip lines and whitewater rafting. There's even a nearby park, named after W.C. Bradley Real Estate's longtime leader Mathew D. Swift, that connects to the city's 22-mile Riverwalk.
W.C. Bradley Real Estate brought a local sensibility to its work. The development firm is part of the privately held W.C. Bradley Co., a conglomerate founded in 1885 and headquartered in Columbus. It is the company behind brands like Charbroil grills and Tiki outdoor torches, and it even operates a 41,000-acre spread known as W.C. Bradley Farms, near Omaha, Georgia.
The company set out to transform Uptown, but not erase its past. Years before, it turned the original Eagle and Phenix mills into modern apartments. And the firm has taken pains to preserve other parts of the past, converting a circa 1907 building used for storing cotton into the Banks Food Hall.
The result is a place that is more than the sum of its parts.
About the project: The Currents features 226 apartments, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units. The complex includes a pool, a 24/7 fitness center, a yoga and Pilates studio, co-working spaces with private offices, and courtyards with a fire pit and putting green, as well as amenities such as a pet spa, bike maintenance and storage facilities, and covered, gated parking.
What the judges said: Ernie Smallman, an associate broker for Coldwell Banker Commercial | Kennon, Parker, Duncan & Davis, said the development won his vote because of the "difficulty of the project due to location and the overall impact the project will have to the market."
Paul Fincher, managing broker for Coldwell Banker Commercial | Kennon, Parker, Duncan & Davis, summed up The Currents' impact in one word: "Innovation."
They made it happen: The W.C. Bradley Real Estate team included Mike Webb, vice president of construction services, and Ty Webb, real estate development manager. Wes Kelly, vice president and division manager, represented the construction firm Brasfield & Gorrie. The architectural firm behind the project was Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio, and included principals Robert Rule, Greg Blaylock and Daniel Joy, along with Senior Associate Shay Hopkins.