Rooftop restaurant planned for Five Points building. Here’s what to know

Developers want to add a rooftop restaurant atop a long-vacant office building on Columbia’s Devine Street. The plan would require city approval to exceed the area’s 75-foot height limit.

FULL STORY: New rooftop restaurant pitched for Five Points atop long-vacant office building

Here are key takeaways:

• Builders hope to add a partial seventh floor at 2221 Devine St. to house a rooftop restaurant, bringing the building’s height to 88 feet, 6 inches.

• The Columbia Board of Zoning Appeals will consider the height variance request May 7, since the proposal exceeds the area’s 75-foot limit.

• The city sold the building to Southeastern Technology Centers, LLC for $2 million, with the sale finalized April 2, 2026. The deal requires space for technology companies.

• Columbia took a loss on the sale after purchasing the property from the state for $3.8 million in 2019. Earlier plans for a hotel and a 250-townhouse development both fell through.

• The six-story, nearly 91,000-square-foot building has sat empty for more than half a decade, with only its parking lot used as free public parking.

• At the other end of Five Points, plans are advancing for an 8-story, 105-foot hotel and parking garage at 705 Saluda Ave., redeveloping the former Wells Fargo branch.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.