This growing Columbia district will get a new Publix grocery store. What we know
A major grocery store chain is planing to set up shop in a growing Columbia district.
Publix, which has supermarkets across the South, will open a location at the BullStreet District near downtown Columbia, according to a Wednesday release from developers. The location will be at the corner of Bull Street and Colonial Drive, near the REI outdoor store. It is set to break ground in summer 2026.
The new Publix will be a more than 50,000-square-foot facility, the release said.
“The addition of Publix to the BullStreet District is another big step in the transformation of BullStreet into a destination that serves the entire region,” Robert Hughes, president of BullStreet master developer Hughes Development, said in the release. “Having a major supermarket within walking distance is the essence of our vision to make BullStreet a truly vibrant, walkable community.”
Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann noted there hasn’t been a major grocery store investment in downtown Columbia since Publix built its store on Gervais Street in 2004. City Councilman Tyler Bailey added in a release that a new grocery store has been the “number one request” from residents as it relates to BullStreet.
“This is great news not just for those who call BullStreet home, but for the entire heart of our city,” Rickenmann said of the coming BullStreet Publix. “With so many of Columbia’s densest neighborhoods surrounding this district, this announcement brings real relief to what has long been a grocery desert in our capital city.”
Founded in 1930, there are more than 1,400 Publix stores across eight states in the South.
Hughes Development and the city of Columbia are in the midst of a two-decade effort to overhaul the sprawling, 181-acre former State Mental Hospital site along Bull Street. The coming Publix is just the latest in a number of announcements and activities that have proliferated at the district.
For example, the new Gather COLA food hall is is set to open on Dec. 5. It will feature 10 restaurants and food vendors, as well as two bars and multiple retail spaces. Right next door to Gather there is a community lawn space under development, and it will be highlighted by a Coastal Crust pizza location in a portion of the former Williams Building.
Methodical Coffee, which has made a name for itself in the Greenville area, just opened its first Columbia location last month in BullStreet’s WestLawn office building, and Tupelo Honey restaurant debuted a location in the district earlier this year.
Meanwhile, hundreds of apartments are now located on the BullStreet grounds, including in the historic former Babcock Building. And in perhaps the most aggressive project at the district, the University of South Carolina is currently building a new medical school as part of a planned $300 million health sciences campus on the eastern side of the district. That medical school is slated to open in 2027.
The monthly Bullseye Vintage market recently kicked off at BullStreet near Segra Park baseball stadium, and the seven-story Grand Willow Hotel is under construction at 1571 Freed St. on the BullStreet property.
