Downtown Columbia's Summer Closures Mostly Moved Down the Street. The Hotel Block Is the Exception.

"It feels like you're sitting in your grandmother's kitchen," Crave Artisan Market co-owner Louis Williams told Free Times about the brand's newest location. It opens today, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, inside the Arcade Mall at 1332 Main St. The room has thrifted vintage tables, mismatched furniture, and hand-painted work by Columbia's Chicken Man on the walls.

Three months ago, the same windows looked out on Main Street from a TakoSushi. Its closure in July was one of many downtown this summer, and taken together they made the city center look like it was shrinking. Most of those spaces either filled again or saw their tenant move a few blocks. The one place where storefronts are emptying and staying empty is the Washington Square block, and that is on purpose.

The Arcade Mall space never really went dark

TakoSushi closed its Arcade Mall location on July 9 after almost four years. Its announcement gave no reason. The Post and Courier reported that this left the chain with one Midlands location, in Lexington.

The Free Times story fills in the rest. Crave and TakoSushi both belong to Food People Restaurant Group, a Columbia-based company with restaurants in the Carolinas and Georgia. Louis Williams and his brother James co-own all three Crave locations. The other two are on Millwood Avenue and in West Columbia. Williams said they had wanted to expand to Main Street for a while. "It was in a primetime location," he told the paper. "The Arcade Mall is beautiful. A lot of foot traffic, which we love."

So a closing that looked like Main Street losing a restaurant turned out to be one owner switching concepts in a two-sided room it already held. The space stood empty for about three months.

Gervais Street took in the Senate and Assembly moves

The Vista followed a similar pattern, with one difference. Businesses left side streets that are being redeveloped and landed on Gervais.

1. Monterrey Mexican Restaurant spent years at 931 Senate St. It reopened at 700 Gervais St., Suite C, on July 16, in a space that used to be a Crafty Crab. Its new neighbors include Craft Axe Throwing and a Tsunami restaurant. The State reported that developer Subtext plans a seven-story apartment building on the old Senate and Park corner, which went through city approvals last year. The plan is 221 units with about 2,600 square feet of ground-floor retail. No delivery date has been announced.
2. Addam's Gamecock Gear moved from 152 S. Assembly St. to 740 Gervais St., Suite 150, and opened there Aug. 1. That's a short walk from Monterrey.
3. Aura Kitchen & Bar moved into the former Boku space at 916 Gervais St. and held its grand opening Aug. 13. Its menu draws on Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Korean flavors.

Aura's later paperwork shows how much it is betting on that stretch of Gervais. A Board of Zoning Appeals case summary for a Sept. 3 hearing says Aura was closing at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and at 10 p.m. the rest of the week. It asked for a special exception to stay open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights while still closing before midnight on weeknights. The same filing lists Motor Supply and Downtown Beach Bar & Grill on that lot. We could not find a published decision on the request, so call ahead before planning a late night there.

Two closures without a handoff

Two Vista closings don't fit the pattern, and there's no new tenant to report for either one yet.

SakiTumi Grill & Sushi Bar at 807 Gervais St. announced its closure in a Sept. 17 Facebook post after about 20 years. It had been open since 2006. The State called it the third downtown sushi closure in recent months, after Camon and TakoSushi in July. The goodbye post thanked guests for "your celebrations, your date nights, your family dinners." Hickory Tavern at 907 Senate St. closed in August, according to the Post and Courier.

The coverage we reviewed doesn't mention a future use for 807 Gervais or 907 Senate. Those two spaces are the Vista's open questions for the winter.

Washington Square is the block emptying out by design

The closures at Main and Washington have a single cause.

Camon Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar closed July 18 after nearly 42 years at 1332 Assembly St. The building had been sold to hotel developer The Kessler Enterprise. Sky Bistro Lounge at 1120 Washington St. closed Aug. 2 after four years. The Post and Courier tied both closings to the same redevelopment. Camon's staff said they were looking for a new location. We have not seen a new address announced.

According to The State, City Council approved selling Washington Square to Kessler for $2.9 million. Kessler has pledged to invest $70 million in a Grand Bohemian hotel, which would be Columbia's first four-star luxury hotel. The Post and Courier reported the final council vote on Jan. 6. The city's Washington Square project page lists these planned features:

• a four-star Grand Bohemian hotel with upscale food and beverage venues and a spa
• an art and fine-jewelry gallery, plus museum-quality art
• ballroom and meeting space
• a yearly Salzburg-inspired Christmas Market
• a modernized parking garage with about 450 spaces

As of this month, that same page still describes the sale as "Negotiating Sale." We have not found a published closing date, construction start, room count, or opening year. All of the features above are plans, and no date has been announced for a first Christmas Market.

The departures here came from a property sale and not from a lack of customers, and whatever fills these storefronts depends on a construction schedule that hasn't been announced.

What opened, or is about to, around the hotel block

Smaller openings landed close by in the meantime, with one more on the way. The 6AM City restaurant roundup from late August lists several within a few blocks of Washington Square.

With these, the lunch options around Main and Washington still grew this year, even as the hotel site cleared out.

A fall calendar for the new map

Downtown's regular events now pass more of these new addresses. Here is what's scheduled between today and Vista Lights.

Two notes. Finlay Park's calendar still lists the Italian Festival for Oct. 17, but a recent 6AM City newsletter headline mentions a "new Italian Festival date." Check the park's listing before you go. The Vista Guild lists more than 60 galleries, shops, and restaurants taking part in Vista Lights. That makes it the first big night to try the new Gervais lineup of Monterrey, Addam's, and Aura on one walk.

Parking has changed too. The Washington Street Parking Deck, the same garage included in the Kessler deal, has reopened after structural repairs, according to the city's parking improvement page. The Sumter Street deck has been closed to public and visitor parking since June 1, with completion estimated for Nov. 1, 2026. If that estimate holds, both decks will be open in time for Vista Lights.

We follow these address changes from our office in The Vista, because downtown storefront turnover shapes what nearby condos and buildings are worth. If you own downtown and want to know how the Gervais moves and the Washington Square plans affect your property, Harcourts Carolinas can walk you through it. Request a home valuation or schedule a consultation, and we'll show you the specific blocks.