High-end hoteliers eye downtown Columbia. Could more be on the way?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- High-end hoteliers have made at least two inquiries into downtown sites.
- City plans to list 1 Justice Square by end of 2026 and may sell sooner.
- Multiple full-service hotels are planned or proposed in Columbia.
After losing out on NCAA tournament hosting in part because it lacks enough full-service hotels, Columbia may be seeing a shift: high-end hoteliers are now asking about downtown redevelopment sites, Mayor Daniel Rickenmann said Wednesday.
The city has received at least two recent inquiries from “high-end” hoteliers interested in downtown sites poised for transformation. Those sites include the city-owned police administration building at 1 Justice Square, and the site of the now-closed Chinese restaurant Millennium Buffet on Blossom Street, which along with much of the city’s downtown riverfront is owned by the Guignard family.
The inquiries are just that for now, with no formal plans moving forward quite yet. But the interest tells city leaders that Columbia can sustain upscale options, Rickenmann said. Already, luxury hotelier Kessler Enterprise is planning to build a Grand Bohemian hotel on Main Street — a premium brand that boasts special art galleries and deluxe amenities.
“Since the announcement of the Grand Bohemian, we’ve had more interest in full service [hotels,] and part of that shows that the market can sustain it,” Rickenmann said.
Hotels, and the lack of a certain type of them, have been a problem for the city. Columbia recently lost its bid to host NCAA tournaments in coming years specifically because the city doesn’t have enough full-service hotels for tournament participants. Exactly what qualifies as a full-service hotel depends on who you ask, but the general requirements are 24/7 on-site food service, and a certain amount of meeting space, among other factors.
There are several full-service hotels currently under development in Columbia beyond the Grand Bohemian plans. Developers have plans to redevelop the Veterans Administration building at 1801 Assembly Street into a full-service hotel with roughly 100 rooms, a ground-level café and bar, and ideally a rooftop bar, The State previously reported.
Also in the works is a 7-story Grand Willow hotel planned for the BullStreet District, and The Lantern, a 60-room boutique hotel planned in the Vista, which Rickenmann said will also be full-service. Rickenmann added that the city hopes to attract a mix of high-end and more affordable full-service options.
When or if the interest from the unnamed high-end hoteliers comes to fruition won’t be seen in the immediate future. The city has plans to list 1 Justice Square for sale, potentially by the end of 2026. Though, Rickenmann said if the city gets an attractive offer for the site, it could sell the property sooner. He added that whatever gets built on the site would have to fit into the city’s goals to make the area more densely-packed with new development.
“Does that become a hotel? Does that become apartments? You know, how does that fit into the existing pattern?” Rickenmann said about 1 Justice Square.
In October, the city listed the first two of potentially 13 properties Columbia leaders are looking to sell: Washington Square at 1136 Washington Street, and a police department building at Taylor and Bull streets.
Kessler Enterprise is buying Washington Square for $2.9 million. That deal has drawn criticism from some, including local hotelier Rick Patel who said he offered more money for the building but was passed over. City leaders also took a roughly $10,000 trip to a Kessler hotel in Savannah prior to inking the deal.
City leaders first shared their intention to offload several city-owned properties during a December 2023 press conference held to announce plans for a new police headquarters at the former Aflac office building on Laurel Street. During that press conference, Columbia leaders said they plan to sell 13 city-owned properties including 1 Justice Square and the police department’s Metro Region Headquarters at 1800 Main St.
