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The Republic National Bank building on Washington Street in downtown Columbia will be turned into meeting and banquet space for the Sheraton Hotel going into the Palmetto Building across the street.
Hotel developer Rick Patel said he signed a contract to buy the long-vacant bank building on Thursday and expects to close on the deal in 30 days.
Patel also plans to put the corporate offices of his Sejwad Hotels on the building’s top floor. The company owns 12 hotels and has another five in the pipeline, Patel said.
Patel expects the meeting facility to be ready when the Sheraton opens early next year.
“But we’re not rushing to get open,” he said. “With these old historic buildings, we want to make sure we do things right.”
Patel is buying the building from architect Jim Brennan, who bought it in 2005. Patel declined to disclose the purchase price until the deal is closed. Brennan paid $1.5 million when he bought the building from downtown developer Pete Cannon in 2005.
Efforts to reach Brennan were unsuccessful. He bought the building with the idea of moving his architectural firm, Brennan Associates, into it.
A local retailer also planned to share the building, but the deal never came together.
Patel said Brennan has given him the detailed plans that were drawn up for the building’s renovation. With a few exceptions, such as the addition of a kitchen in the basement, Patel is following those plans.
Patel said having subcontractors across the street working on the hotel project also will make the bank renovation easier. “I will have a historical hotel across the street and a historical meeting space here,” he said.
Because the buildings are historic, Patel does not plan to connect them with an overhead walkway. “I don’t think Washington Street will be a barrier.”
However, he is looking to the city for help in illuminating Washington Street.
“The lighting on Main Street has been done well,” Patel said, but he’d like the city to pay attention to the cross streets.
The 22,760-square-foot Republic National building at 1208 Washington St. was built in about 1924 as an addition to the National Loan and Exchange Bank, now known as the Barringer Building.
It is an example of the neoclassical style, popular in the United States from about 1895 to 1950, that was based loosely on Greek and Roman buildings.
Banks used the style to give the impression of stability and strength. However, the building’s solid look did not protect shareholders and depositors during the Depression. After many U.S. banks failed in 1933, the National Loan and Exchange Bank was reorganized in 1934 as First National Bank.
Lafaye and Lafaye Architects designed the building.
The Republic National building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 for its architectural significance.
The bank office closed in 1993, and the building has been vacant since.
The building has a full basement, main floor, mezzanine and second floor.
Patel will put meeting space on the first floor and mezzanine. Offices will occupy the top floor.
A large 4,200-square-foot meeting space will be on the ground floor as well as smaller rooms. The bank’s original revolving door will be retained and available on special occasions, Patel said.
The mezzanine will have two meeting rooms. The basement will have a full kitchen. The bank also includes a large vault that will be turned into an elegant board room meeting space.
An open-air courtyard that wraps around the vault also will be renovated and used for special occasions. Patel also is adding an additional two stories on top of the vault that will be entirely of glass.
“This will be one of the most unique meeting spaces in Columbia,” said Amanda Allison, the Sheraton’s director of sales, “and it will be our sole purpose to show our guests they are treasured.”
