Columbia developers’ long-vacant Decker buildings see 3 fire calls in 4 nights
Columbia-Richland firefighters last week responded to three fires in four nights at two long-vacant former restaurant buildings on Decker Boulevard, properties owned by companies for high-profile Columbia developer Alan Kahn and associates, according to state and county records.
A former Olive Garden on Decker Boulevard caught fire Tuesday night, June 9. Crews were dispatched around 9:30 p.m. and found flames spreading through the nearly 12,000-square-foot building.
The next night, Wednesday, fire crews returned to the 2600 block of Decker Boulevard around 8:30 p.m. for another blaze immediately next door at a vacant former Red Lobster. They found flames bursting through the windows.
Then, late Friday night, firefighters were called back to the former Red Lobster to put out a third fire. The fire department said it believes the Friday fire, which was small, was a rekindle from the Wednesday blaze.
All of the fires were contained, and no injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
The Richland County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the fires, and The State has contacted that office for updates on the investigations.
The two visibly deteriorating restaurant sites where the fires occurred sit in a Decker Boulevard corridor that has struggled for years with shuttered storefronts and long-vacant buildings.
Decker Boulevard exists on a roughly 2-mile stretch between Two Notch Road and Interstate 77. It’s Richland County’s “International Corridor,” known for its cultural diversity and wide variety of international shops and restaurants. But vacant properties have been a persistent problem.
Nearly two decades ago, Richland County officials outlined plans for a Decker Boulevard “Renaissance,” which included addressing blight and the abundance of vacant lots. Residents have told The State in past coverage that many of the promised improvements for the area haven’t materialized.
It’s not yet clear what plans, if any, Kahn or his associates have for the Decker Boulevard properties, nor why the properties have been left empty for so long. The State attempted to reach Kahn on Monday but did not receive a response by press time.
Longtime owners of vacant Decker properties are tied to prominent Columbia developer
Companies associated with Kahn or his family members have owned the Decker Boulevard properties for decades, records show. The former Olive Garden and Red Lobster sites are buoys in a sea of concrete, surrounded by large, sprawling parking lots. The paint is chipping, the roofs are covered in leaves and dirt, and the landscaping is overgrown.
Kahn’s company also owns a now-vacant former Chick-fil-A restaurant directly across Decker Boulevard from the old Red Lobster. That building has been empty since the chain restaurant relocated to Two Notch Road in 2022. The property has since been littered with trash and tagged with graffiti.
The Olive Garden and Red Lobster both closed in the mid-2000s, according to Columbia Closings, a website that tracks business closures in the area. The Red Lobster building later briefly housed a Jumbo Asian Buffet, and signage for the buffet remains visible.
But the restaurants have been empty for years.
Google satellite imagery shows almost no change in the buildings’ appearance from 2007, its oldest available photo, to present day.
Alan Kahn is a prominent Columbia developer with leadership ties to M.B. Kahn and Kahn Development Company, two entities that have been involved in major local projects, including developing the Village at Sandhill in northeast Richland County.
Currently, Kahn Properties, Inc., for which Alan Kahn is the registered agent, owns the former Olive Garden property and the former Chick-fil-A. A separate company called MBK Receivables, for which Charles Kahn is the registered agent, owns the former Red Lobster property.
In May 2000, Kahn Properties Inc. purchased the three parcels from an entity called Warehouses, Inc. Today the registered agent of Warehouses, Inc. is Alan Kahn, according to state records.
Those three parcels are where today the three vacant restaurants sit, at 2600, 2601 and 2551 Decker Blvd.
This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Columbia developers’ long-vacant Decker buildings see 3 fire calls in 4 nights."
