Developer buys Vista restaurant site for 221-unit downtown apartment project
More downtown Columbia housing is headed for a prominent Vista corner now occupied by restaurant space as a developer moves forward plans for 221 new apartments and retail space on Senate Street.
The planned apartments at 931 Senate St. would be a seven-level, “mixed-use multifamily” building with 221 apartments and about 2,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The plans include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, plus a slate of luxury features like a pool courtyard and a “wellness suite.”
They also include a rooftop deck developers say will “further distinguish the property with views overlooking the South Carolina State House and downtown Columbia skyline.”
Developer Subtext, which is also building The Verve student apartments on Blossom and Huger streets, announced it had purchased the Senate Street property in a Wednesday press release.
The would-be apartment site is located between the State House and the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, in a busy Vista corridor frequently busy with students and professionals.
The property has been home to restaurants including a Five Guys burger chain, and the Monterrey Mexican restaurant. City plans indicate Five Guys will relocate into the new building’s retail space, and the Mexican restaurant is moving to a new location.
Construction on the apartments is expected to break ground this summer.
When the proposal first surfaced on city documents last year, it was first listed as student apartments, then changed to show a multi-family project.
Developers have said it is not a student-specific complex, though among its amenities are open and private study spaces and other work areas, according to the press release.
