With more than 30 empty storefronts, Five Points looks for a rebound
For more than a century, Five Points has been the sort of beating heart of Columbia.
But as the Capital City begins to emerge from the doldrums of the global pandemic, it seems clear that the longtime shopping and nightlife district just east of the University of South Carolina’s campus has reached an inflection point, and which direction it goes next isn’t yet clear.
To be certain, if you’ve been staying at home since early 2020 as a precaution because of COVID-19 and are beginning to go out again, you’ll find a handful of new offerings in Five Points that opened amid the pandemic.
There’s the Bang Back Pinball Lounge on Saluda Avenue, for instance, which offers a bevy of retro pinball games, along with food and cocktails. Or Enzo’s Delicatessen on Greene Street, which serves up prodigious Italian sandwiches. The 5 Points Chicken and Grill restaurant opened on the corner of Harden and Gervais, and Coastal Carolina National Bank opened in the former TD Bank location on Blossom Street. And, yes, the Chick-fil-A on Harden Street got remodeled.
But there were a number of closures during the pandemic, as well. The Wells Fargo bank on Saluda was shuttered. Yesterdays Restaurant and Tavern, the four-decade eatery and watering hole with the iconic cowboy in a bathtub perched over its front door, closed in April 2020. Grilled Teriyaki Japanese restaurant closed in December.
And the bar scene in Five Points continued to take on casualties, part of an ongoing war between the district’s nightlife component and Democratic state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, whose law firm has represented residents of nearby Five Points neighborhoods who have bucked against what they see as raucous behavior stemming from the bars.
The Moosehead Saloon closed earlier this year after having its alcohol licenses suspended, and Pavlov’s also is temporarily closed after its alcohol licenses were suspended this spring. A hearing for Pavlov’s could be held in August, per attorney Chris Kenney, from Harpootlian’s firm.
Harpootlian’s firm is representing neighbors near Five Points in protests of alcohol license renewals for a host of bars, including Pavlov’s, Rooftop, The Bird Dog, Murphy’s Law, Cotton Gin, Group Therapy and 5 Points Saloon. Several other bars in Five Points have closed in the last few years, directly or indirectly, because of efforts from Harpootlian and the neighbors.
The bar battles are just one element of a recipe that has created what seems to be a moment of reckoning for the shopping and nightlife district. According to Five Points Association board president Steve Cook, the longtime owner of Saluda’s restaurant, there are now 33 empty storefronts in Five Points. Not all of those are bars, and certainly not all of the closures came amid the pandemic, but they are part of a collective trend of the last few years.
Third-term Mayor Steve Benjamin told The State he thinks a renaissance could be sparked in Five Points through a handful of “anchor projects.”
The mayor mentioned the Treadwell project in the 900 block of Harden Street, where developers recently told The State that several businesses could open in the next year. Benjamin and City Councilman Howard Duvall also noted that a group of investors has expressed interest in a mixed use project, to potentially include a hotel, on the former Wells Fargo property. Those investors are interested in the city providing a parking garage for that would-be project. And the city purchased the former state office building at 2221 Devine St. and has been marketing it for redevelopment, possibly as residences or new office space. That building also has 300 parking spaces.
“Five Points is going through a bit of a transition, being frank,” Benjamin told The State. “It is the most charming and unique village in Columbia, and has been for more than 100 years. ... But there are nighttime challenges in Five Points. It can be an amazingly fun place that has defined the experience of the University of South Carolina for the last several decades. But the business model that many of the bars have enjoyed has become a challenge.
“So, how do we find that balance that allows both daytime and nighttime Five Points to exist and prosper? We want people to be successful in business.”
While Cook would love to see new major economic development at 2221 Devine St. and at the Wells Fargo property, he also worries about the small businesses currently in Five Points. He says business has been strong at Saluda’s this spring, and he thinks the opportunity is there for other small businesses, if they can get support from the city.
“What really is the heartbeat of this neighborhood are these small businesses,” Cook told The State during a recent conversation on the porch at Saluda’s. “What are we going to do to get small businesses back open? That’s what the mayor and the city always talk about, ‘Small business, small business.’ But this is not a friendly city to small business.”
Cook pointed toward the Congaree River, where neighboring West Columbia has seen a spurt of growth near the Gervais Street bridge, and wondered whether that city is creating a more friendly environment for new small businesses.
The Five Points Association board chair said he thinks new apartments or a hotel in Five Points could help create more opportunity for small businesses, but such projects take time.
“If they build a hotel and a parking garage, and (2221 Devine) gets backfilled with apartments, let’s just say as an example, over the next five to 10 years people in the neighborhood will be more apt to put money in to develop coffee shops and boutique retail and things like that. But good Lord, how many people are going to be gone before that happens?”
At-large City Councilman Howard Duvall told The State he sees Five Points currently as a kind of “clean palette” that is prepared to forge a new future.
“A lot of those (vacant properties) are empty bars that will help the neighborhood in the long run by changing the character of the neighborhood, especially after dark,” Duvall said. “We need to convince the owners of those buildings who have made lots of money from high rents to bars who made money off USC students that Five Points is now an historic district that can get federal, state and city tax credits to redo the buildings and make them family friendly retail or maybe some housing in the area.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 1:00 AM.
