Former Hollywood film producer turned developer unveils Five Points project
A former Hollywood producer has unveiled plans to overhaul the 900 block of Harden Street in Five Points with new buildings and stores.
The strip is located across Harden from the Food Lion Shopping Center and includes buildings that once housed the Unexpected Joy, Hip Wa Zee and El Burrito stores.
Developer Gustavo Spoliansky and his company Campus + Main are planning to renovate most of the existing buildings, but demolish others.
“We’re keeping several of the buildings from Pendleton to what used to by Hip Wa Zee,” Spoliansky said from his home in Malibu, Calif. “And the new construction will have a sense of Five Points.”
The strip would “operate as one community” with parking in the back accessed by a new curb cut on Pendleton, he said. The plans indicate a portion of the hilltop area between the strip and Walnut Street would be excavated for the parking.
The buildings that once housed El Burrito and Rise bakery would be demolished, Spolianky said. The Waffle House is not part of the project, he said.
The developers plan 9,100 square feet of retail in the one-story, $1.5-million development, according to documents filed with the city of Columbia’s Design/Development Review Commission.
The project will be reviewed by the commission March. 12
The retail strip would cater to University of South Carolina students, according to the company’s website.
“Campus + Main acquires commercial property in the premier retail districts around college campuses and utilizes our aesthetic creativity, technology and expertise to maximize value and utility,” the website says.
Renderings indicate both retail stores and restaurants. But the company has said it would not include bars.
“We’re certainly not trying to add more bars to Five Points,” an associate told The State in a 2017 story. “They have that sector pretty well covered.”
Spoliansky’s profile on the IMBd site lists his movie credits as Jack and Jill vs. the World, Born Killers and Better Luck Tomorrow.