Call it a comeback? Columbia’s Five Points sees signs of renewal after tough times
There are those who think that Five Points, the more than century-old shopping and nightlife district just east of the University of South Carolina, is the heart of Columbia.
After a couple of tough years, it seems like that heart is starting to beat once again.
On Wednesday, the Five Points Association formally heralded the return of the St. Pat’s in Five Points festival, which was sidelined in 2020 and 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The St. Pat’s bash, which will be on March 19 this year, is perhaps the foremost festival on Columbia’s calendar, routinely drawing as many as 40,000 revelers to the village. Grammy-winning band Blues Traveler will be one of the headliners of this year’s celebration, which will be the 40th edition of the festival.
As Five Points Association board chairman Steve Cook, Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann and others gathered at the picturesque Five Points fountain on a bright, sunny January morning to announce the return of St. Pat’s, it was hard not to see it as a moment of rebirth for the district.
“I don’t think we are at the beginning of a comeback; I think we are well on our way,” Columbia City Councilman Will Brennan, whose District 3 includes part of Five Points, told The State.
Five Points has struggled in the last couple years as a sort of village in transition. There have been numerous legal battles over the alcohol licenses at some of the district’s famed college bars, some of which ended up closing their doors. At one point there were as many as 33 empty storefronts in the district, as it grappled with its identity.
And while there certainly are still numerous vacant storefronts in the village, there also are undeniable signs of new life there.
A host of new restaurants are coming in Five Points. Furusato Bento is under construction at 748 Harden St., the former Grilled Teriyaki takeout spot, where it will offer about two dozen bento-style meals including sushi rolls, tempura dishes and other offerings, as well as Japanese snacks and drinks.
Work is well underway to set up Jack Brown’s Beer and Burger Joint at 711 Harden St., in the former Cover 3 bar location. A sign was put up Tuesday at Jack Brown’s saying the location is now hiring staff.
Also, the Flying Biscuit Cafe is prepping a location at 936 Harden St. in the Treadwell development that is rehabbing a number of vacant storefronts in upper Five Points. There has been no announcement on a timetable for opening. There are more than two dozen Flying Biscuit locations nationwide, mostly in the Southeast.
And there have been some recent openings. For instance, Kremo Ice Cream and Gong Cha opened its doors in November at 701 Santee Ave. The shop specializes in bubble tea and ice cream rolls.
Meanwhile, Swiff, a South Carolina company that makes designer hoodies, T-shirts and more, has plans to open a shop in February at 736 Harden St., per The Post and Courier and social media posts from the business’s owner. The Swiff brand has been a mainstay at Soda City Market, and the new brick-and-mortar location will be in the former Supercuts space.
And there are a couple of larger plans on the drawing board that would likely be transformative for the district. In late 2021, Columbia City Council voted to sell the building at 2221 Devine St. to Mount Pleasant’s Latitude 32 Development for $4.5 million. The city bought the building on Devine Street, formerly a state office building, for $3.8 million back in 2019 and had initially marketed it for a hotel.
City documents for the new plan say it would “be redeveloped as a multi-family residential complex with commercial spaces for retail and restaurant use.” The documents say the development would include up to 250 residential units, to include townhouse units that will “be consistent with first class units in the downtown area of Columbia.”
And City Council in late 2021 passed a resolution to support the redevelopment of the former Wells Fargo property on Saluda Avenue in Five Points. The bank there closed in February 2021. According to city documents, the possible project, which would be undertaken by a group called We Love Five Points LLC, would include a hotel with up to 120 rooms, 45,000 square feet of office space and 10,000 square feet of retail.
Rickenmann and Brennan each confirmed Wednesday that the projects at 2221 Devine St. and the former Wells Fargo property were still in the works.
For some city and village leaders, it all seems to be pointing to a burgeoning comeback for the capital city’s most enduring entertainment district.
‘Excited for new neighbors’
Cook, who owns Saluda’s restaurant in Five Points and chairs the board of the district’s merchants’ association, said the movement in Five Points is welcomed by longstanding stakeholders in the district.
“I’ve been thinking of it as a rock on top of a cliff, and it just needed enough shoves to tip over,” Cook said. “There is momentum being created by this stuff. These small businesses opening up, the restaurants, that’s what helps bring energy and excitement. A rising tide lifts all boats, and the more things that can make Five Points a place to be, the better. There are (businesses) who have hung on and been here the whole time.
“We are excited for new neighbors. I think we are on the cusp of something special.”
Cook said, overarchingly, the vibe and goodwill Five Points has built up over decades is unique and that “if you could bottle it up and sell it, a lot of places would buy it in a heartbeat.”
Brennan pointed to the return of St. Pat’s in Five Points as a harbinger of rejuvenation, noting it will “bring a sense of pride” back to the district to have its keynote festival and its accompanying events — a parade, a road race — once again.
The District 3 councilman also said he thinks a return to vibrancy for the village has actually been quietly gaining steam for a while.
“There is an energy here,” Brennan said. “There are going to be some huge, cornerstone announcements in the next five to six months, I believe.”
And then there’s Rickenmann, who grabbed the mayoral seat in a 2021 election and campaigned, at least in part, on the idea that he would work to bolster Five Points. The mayor told The State on Wednesday he was pleased with the signs of life Five Points has been showing recently and said there is perhaps more on the way. While he didn’t share the greater details, he said he recently has been in discussions with a pair of “national brand names” who are interested in Five Points.
Rickenmann and Cook also said there are preliminary talks about a new restaurant going into the space at 2030 Devine St., formerly home to Yesterdays, the landmark tavern that closed in 2020 after more than 40 years. A voice message left for the building’s owner was not immediately returned.
Rickenmann said the vitality of the district and Columbia are intrinsically woven together.
“It is the most iconic neighborhood we have,” the mayor said. “You can go anywhere in the United States and when you say, ‘Columbia, South Carolina,’ the first thing to someone’s mind is ‘I’ve been to Five Points.’ It’s generational. It’s students, it’s parents, it’s people who used to go here as students. ... Everybody wants to see it built up, but they want to see it as a true village.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2022 at 12:06 PM.
