Renting in Forest Acres? Here's What You Need to Know Before You Sign

Forest Acres Rental Market Overview

Forest Acres grew from 10,361 residents in the 2010 census to 10,617 in 2020, and despite sitting entirely inside Columbia's boundary, it's a separate incorporated city with its own government -- confirmed with a Census Bureau jurisdiction lookup, not assumed from a mailing label. That distinction matters for renters because nearly every address in Forest Acres carries a "Columbia, SC" mailing city and ZIP code (29206 or 29204) rather than "Forest Acres, SC," a pattern this guide verified address by address rather than taking any listing's mailing city at face value. Of the apartment communities researched here, only The Cardinal (4615 Forest Drive) both geocodes to inside Forest Acres and publishes rent on its own site: as of September 2026, its 23 floor plans run from $1,497/month for a studio to $2,981/month for a three-bedroom. A second community researched under the same "Columbia, SC" pattern, Providence Park Apartments, was excluded after a Census Bureau lookup placed its Business Park Boulevard address in unincorporated Richland County -- neither Forest Acres nor Columbia city government.

Common Lease Terms in Forest Acres

These are the lease terms most commonly seen at the Forest Acres communities researched for this guide.

• The Cardinal offers studio through three-bedroom units plus 2- and 3-bedroom townhomes across 23 floor plans ranging 573-2,100 square feet, per its own floor-plan page.
• Standard lease length isn't stated on the floor-plan pages researched, and 11 of The Cardinal's 23 plans list rent as "Call" rather than a posted figure.
• Pet policy at The Cardinal allows up to two pets per apartment with breed restrictions, at $10/month pet rent per pet plus a nonrefundable pet fee whose amount isn't stated online.
• The Cardinal opened in Q1 2020 as the residential component of the $60 million Cardinal Crossing mixed-use development, built on the site of the former Cardinal Newman High School, per the developer's own project page.

Local Tenant Protections

South Carolina law provides the baseline for tenant rights, but Forest Acres may have additional local ordinances that affect your lease.

• Forest Acres adopted updated short-term rental (STR) regulations effective December 2025, requiring a business license and an STR permit for each vacation-style rental property -- but the ordinance explicitly states it "does not include long term leases under annual renewals," so it doesn't change what a landlord owes a tenant on a standard 12-month lease.
• No ordinance was found that expands landlord-tenant legal rights or remedies beyond South Carolina's statewide baseline below -- deposit handling, entry notice, and eviction procedure in Forest Acres are governed by state law, the same as any other South Carolina city.
• No local rent control; South Carolina Code §27-39-60 expressly bars any county or municipality, Forest Acres included, from regulating rent on privately owned residential or commercial property.

For full South Carolina statewide tenant rights, see our South Carolina tenant rights guide.

Mandatory Fees at Forest Acres Communities

What follows is what each community's own website discloses (or doesn't), verified September 2026.

• The Cardinal Apartments (4615 Forest Drive): the only fee itemized on its own site is pet-related -- $10/month pet rent per pet plus a nonrefundable pet fee (amount not stated), for up to two pets per apartment with breed restrictions. No parking, amenity, valet-trash, or administrative fee is itemized on the pages researched.
• Providence Park Apartments, researched under the same "Columbia, SC" mailing pattern as The Cardinal, publishes a rent range ($1,099-1,650/month) and links to a separate "Disclosure Fees" page, but a Census Bureau address lookup places its 261 Business Park Boulevard address in unincorporated Richland County, not inside Forest Acres. It's excluded from this guide's Forest Acres-specific figures for that reason.

Rent listed as "Call" on 11 of The Cardinal's 23 floor plans means the posted $1,497-2,981 range likely understates what's actually available at any given time -- getting a current, unit-specific quote is worth doing before comparing a "starting at" price across communities.

Forest Acres Market Dynamics

Forest Acres is a fully independent, incorporated city entirely enclosed within Columbia -- a real city-within-a-city, not a neighborhood name, with its own mayor, city council, and police department. Its own city government maintains an "Am I in the City?" address-lookup tool specifically because so many Forest Acres addresses carry a Columbia mailing city and ZIP code, creating routine confusion about which municipality actually governs a given property; this guide confirmed The Cardinal Apartments' 4615 Forest Drive address geocodes to Forest Acres despite its "Columbia, SC 29206" mailing address using the same Census Bureau method. The city's average household income is $117,384 and its overall cost-of-living index is 93.6, with a housing index of 85.1, both below the national average of 100, per the city's own economic development community profile.

The single largest project underway is the 32-acre former Richland Mall site, demolished starting February 2024 and being redeveloped into a mixed-use "city center" with retail, dining, green space, and several hundred new apartment units planned across two phases -- described by the city as the largest investment in Forest Acres in more than 35 years, per the city's own site. That mirrors the earlier Cardinal Crossing project roughly a mile away on Forest Drive, a $60 million redevelopment of the former Cardinal Newman High School site that added The Cardinal Apartments' 256 units alongside retail tenants including Bad Daddy's Burger Bar and Club Pilates. Both sit on Forest Drive, the city's main commercial corridor, which the city commissioned a dedicated corridor study to plan for future growth.

Common Issues Renters Face in Forest Acres

These are the most frequent lease-related considerations reported by renters and researched at Forest Acres communities:

• Nearly every address researched under "Forest Acres" carries a "Columbia, SC" mailing city and ZIP code, not "Forest Acres, SC" -- confirming which government actually serves a specific address takes a Census Bureau lookup or the city's own address-lookup tool, not the mailing label.
• Only one apartment community researched, The Cardinal, both sits confirmed inside Forest Acres and publishes rent on its own site; a second candidate with published pricing, Providence Park Apartments, turned out to be outside city limits entirely, in unincorporated Richland County.
• Nearly half of The Cardinal's floor plans (11 of 23) list rent as "Call" rather than a posted figure, so a published "starting at" price may not reflect what's actually available.
• The Richland Mall redevelopment's planned "several hundred" new apartment units are still years from opening, so today's thin, single-community inventory is a near-term condition, not necessarily a permanent one.

Negotiating Your Lease in Forest Acres

South Carolina is landlord-favorable with minimal statutory protections, and Forest Acres' small size means its rental supply is concentrated at one or two communities rather than spread across many landlords.

• Confirming whether a specific unit's rent is a posted figure or a "Call for pricing" listing is worth doing before comparing floor plans, since roughly half of The Cardinal's plans fall into the second category.
• Asking what the nonrefundable pet fee actually costs is worth doing before signing, since The Cardinal's site names the $10/month pet rent but not the one-time fee amount.
• Confirming which government, Forest Acres or Columbia, actually serves a specific address is worth doing before assuming a city ordinance, service, or tax rate applies -- the mailing address alone won't tell you.
• Watching the Richland Mall redevelopment's apartment phases as they open is worth doing for renters willing to wait, since added citywide supply in a market this small could affect pricing at existing communities.

A "Columbia, SC" mailing address doesn't mean Columbia city government actually serves a property -- it just as easily means Forest Acres, or unincorporated Richland County, as this guide's own research on The Cardinal and Providence Park found.