A prominent Columbia building near USC will get new life after $2.6M sale. What to know
A prominent building on Columbia’s busy Gervais Street will soon get new life, thanks to a local banking institution.
Optus Bank will turn an empty 22,500-square-foot building at 1710 Gervais St. near the University Hill neighborhood into its new headquarters, according to a release from real-estate firm Trinity Partners, which brokered the sale.
Optus Bank purchased the building for $2.6 million. It was previously owned by South State Bank and was renovated in 2017, but has been vacant since late 2020.
“This move is not just a win for Optus Bank, but for the entire Columbia community as it helps revitalize a prominent part of the city,” Meredith Rhodes, brokerage associate at Trinity Partners, said in the release.
Optus Bank was established in 1921 as South Carolina’s first Black-owned bank and was first called Victory Savings Bank. It was renamed Optus Bank in 2019. The bank’s first location was in the heart of Columbia’s historic Black business district, at 1107 Washington Street.
The State has contacted Optus Bank for more information about the financial institution’s plans.
