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Motorists driving near the interchange at Highway 63 and Stadium Boulevard in Columbia have noticed a lot of development on the east side of the highway.

The Stadium Exit along Highway 63 will soon be the home of Columbia’s newest apartments and businesses. 

The most visual addition from the highway is a new student housing complex called The Domain. The area is also getting a Holiday Inn Express, a Break Time Convenience Store, a Taco Bell, a Hawthorn Bank and Zaxby’s, a chicken restaurant based out of Georgia. 

Sharon Martin-Becker lives on the east side of Columbia and said she was excited about the new developments.

“It’s really nice that this is being on this side of town where there really aren’t that many things as compared to what’s on the south side,” Martin-Becker said.

FFO Home has already opened on the east side of the Stadium Exit. Its grand opening is Saturday, Jan. 26. Store manager said they're happy to be the first to open in their new neighborhood.

FFO Home Manager Dave McEntire said, “We think we have better accessibility for our customers here. We also wanted to be in a bigger, nicer, newer location for our customers. We’re really excited about everything that is happening right here in this area.”

The new Break Time Convenience Store is expected open sometime this spring. The owners of Zaxby’s decided to move to Columbia after they came to town for the Missouri-Georgia football game. They said they fell in love with Columbia and decided they had to build a restaurant here.

The Domain student luxury apartments are expected to open in August. Apartment managers said their rooms are filling up fast.