Local & State
Columbia advances sale of historic Royal Motel site to Bakari Sellers for redevelopment
PN Team • 2 months ago
Columbia City Council has given first-reading approval to sell the former Royal Motel property at 1507 Harden St. to attorney, former state lawmaker and CNN commentator Bakari Sellers. The site sits on a block once home to a thriving Black business district from the 1930s through the 1970s, including the Lighthouse & Informer newspaper, the Carver Theatre, the Cozy Inn Restaurant (a Green Book listing), and a branch of Victory Savings Bank, South Carolina's first Black-owned bank. The city purchased the dilapidated property in 2023.
Sellers plans to build a new hotel with retail and commercial space while preserving the block's historic character, and hopes to partner with neighboring Allen University and Benedict College. A second council vote is required to finalize the sale, with no set development timeline yet. Historians are pursuing National Register of Historic Places status for the block, which could unlock historic tax credits to support restoration efforts.
Sources:
Sentiment
- Columbia, South Carolina Columbia, South Carolina is the setting for a positive community redevelopment initiative preserving its historic Black district.
- South Carolina South Carolina is mentioned mainly as context for the historic Black-owned bank and state lawmaker role, a neutral factual reference.