Electrician Contractor in Forest Acres, SC

FOREST ACRES — An Asian fusion restaurant that started in Charleston will bring its latest location to Trenholm Plaza.

CO, which calls itself “a modern take on Southeast Asian Cuisine,” has agreed to take space in the busy Forest Acres retail center with hopes of opening by the end of 2023, according to Mary Pappas, director of marketing for Collected, the restaurant’s parent company.

The restaurant will fill a long-open spot in the popular shopping center, which is undergoing a series of changes yet continuing a high occupancy rate as a high-end destination in the Columbia market.

Forest Acres will be the sixth location for the restaurant chain, which started with a location on King Street in Charleston in April 2012.

The restaurant’s menu will feature creative takes on standards from several different areas of Southeast Asian cuisine, with a variety of sushi, dumplings and noodles.

Such dishes as a caramel pork banh mi or spicy crab rangoon dumplings, as featured on its Charlotte menu, show how the restaurant offers new takes on Asian favorites.

The restaurant chain, which has two Charlotte locations along with Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Raleigh, N.C., long has considered Columbia’s market as a natural next step, Pappas said.

“It’s a market we’re excited about,” Pappas said. “It’s kind of a no-brainer.”

Eventually it worked with Edens, its landlord at a Charlotte location, to find the Trenholm Plaza site for CO, as shopping center sites have worked well for the company, she said.

The space at the interior corner of the shopping center has been vacant since Rosso Trattoria closed in February 2019.

The company will take some time to design and decorate the interior, so it’s unlikely to open before the end of the year, she said.

Trenholm Plaza has seen a series of changes and new occupants in the past year. New retailers such as Sephora, Bath & Body Works and HomeGoods have opened, and Publix has announced plans to expand its grocery store in the location.

The ceramic pots atop a platform in the upcoming MOA Korean BBQ space are more significant than they may seem.

For Sean Kim, the restaurant’s owner who also operates a MOA location in Charlotte and Columbia’s 929 Kitchen & Bar, the pots and the platform they sit on, known as jangdokdae in Korea, remind him of home.

Jangdokdae are large ceramic pots that traditionally sit on an outdoor terrace or platform and are used to store or ferment food. It’s the type of process that Kim’s executive chef, Roi Seo, will use in MOA — with attention to authenticity that Kim hopes Columbia will notice.

“It’s worth it. It’s similar to why I spend money on good decorations. I want something to introduce the real authentic Korean way to satisfy customers,” Kim said.

The food he plans to offer when his Korean BBQ restaurant opens at 1333 Main St. is the food that he grew up with, and the food that he wants to eat when he visits home.

MOA Korean BBQ will open in mid-September, Kim said. It joins a handful of restaurants that’ve opened in Columbia’s downtown in the last few months — with The Dragon Room, a Japanese Izakaya, in the Vista and Kao Thai relocating from the Vista to Main Street in August.

Kim said the restaurant has a different feel than the Charlotte iteration of MOA, which opened in 2020 after Kim opened Columbia’s 929 Kitchen & Bar in 2018. The Columbia location is decorated using lighter colors and has a plant-heavy outdoor seating area.

Seo, who’s leading the kitchen, is a longtime chef who’s cooked in kitchens in both Seoul, Korea and New York City and has been in the industry since the late ’80s. Behind the bar, Hunter Cone will lead the cocktail program — the bartender comes from West Columbia’s Black Rooster, where he led the bar program for two years.

Cone said he fell in love with the concept that Kim and his bar manager at 929 Kitchen & Bar Matt Shannon had for MOA, and with the new challenge of working with more pan-Asian ingredients. A trip to Portugal last year pushed Cone to explore more unique cocktails.

“That really inspired my journey to work with more ingredients that you typically wouldn’t find in a normal cocktail program and utilizing those ingredients to put a new spin on what people imagine when they think of a cocktail,” Cone said.

Outside of the cocktail program, hiring a chef from Korea and with experience cooking authentic Korean food was key for Kim. Before he opened 929, Kim spent nearly two years researching at restaurants in cities like New York.

What he found was that culinary schools were producing chefs who wanted to do Korean food, but not true to what he grew up eating. “That’s when I felt like ’When I come back, I’ll open an authentic (Korean) restaurant,” Kim said.

The restaurant, in a 6,500 square-foot space next to Main Street’s Cantina 76 and Kao Thai Cuisine, has been a long time coming — Kim announced the project in late 2021 and identified Main Street as its home in early 2022.

Kim originally had hopes to open the spot in October of last year. But, in a trend that’s become all too familiar for restaurateurs in recent months, he faced difficulty with supply-chain issues and slowed construction timelines.

Kim told Free Times in a previous interview that the opening was delayed “because of an AC unit we’re getting that takes between four to six months ... because of COVID, the supply chain is having a hard time.”

While the Columbia location will serve similar food to the Charlotte location, prices will be a tad lower, Kim said. Where Charlotte’s menu tends to run guests an average of $75 a person, he expects Columbia will cost around $20 less than that.

While Korean BBQ is traditionally served to larger groups for a by-the-table price, the restaurant will offer more affordable lunch deals, similar to 929 Kitchen and Bar, and have happy hour, something that their Charlotte location doesn’t do.

At the front of the restaurant, a local baker, Deanne Manuela, will offer a handful of cheesecakes and pastries as well as teas and coffee, according to Kim. MOA will also have retail options like packaged gift sets of high-quality meats.

The restaurant and bar, which has set its sights on a tentative Sept. 15 soft opening, will be open seven days a week, 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.

A national bookstore that has been part of Richland Mall for more than a quarter-century plans to move to a new location in Columbia. The move comes as developers are in the nascent stages of a years-long, $100 million overhaul of the Richland Mall property.

Barnes & Noble senior director of store planning and design Janine Flanigan confirmed Thursday morning that the Richland Mall store, located at 3400 Forest Drive in Forest Acres, will close in January or February 2024, and the store will move to the Shoppes at Woodhill shopping center at at 6090 Garners Ferry Road.

Flanigan said the Garners Ferry shop would likely open a couple weeks after the Richland Mall location closes. She said Barnes & Noble would stay at the mall location until construction and preparation is complete at the Garners Ferry spot, then make the move.

The Barnes & Noble will be moving into a space that formerly was occupied by a Bed, Bath and Beyond. The Shoppes at Woodhill shopping center on Garners Ferry is anchored by a Target store and has several other businesses.

Flanigan said the Richland Mall Barnes & Noble has been open since 1997. Outside of the University of South Carolina campus bookstore, the Richland Mall store is the only other Barnes & Noble in the Midlands. While Flanigan admits it is bittersweet for the company to leave the Richland Mall site, she said Barnes & Noble is excited to be moving into a new space in Columbia. She said the store will have a fresh look.

“We have a brand new design,” Flanigan said. “If you’ve been in our stores, you know the furniture is the dark wood, and there’s the green carpet. It’s been typically that tone. Our new design is very different. It’s a light-colored wood, which we call Victorian lace. It will be very bright, with high ceilings.

“And we will organize the fixtures differently, creating these really fantastic book rooms. It just really invites someone in to explore each of the different genres and sections.”

Like the store in Richland Mall, Flanigan said the coming Garners Ferry Road Barnes & Noble will also have a cafe that serves Starbucks coffee.

Barnes & Noble’s announcement that it is moving comes just one day after department store Belk confirmed it is closing its location in the Richland Mall in September. Those are the last two national retailers left in the mall in its current form.

However, there is a plan moving forward that looks to breathe new life into the sprawling mall site.

The mall property had been owned by Century Capital LLC and Forest Holdings LLC. However, in January, Augusta development company Southeastern officially purchased the property. It has pledged to overhaul the 32-acre site with a more than $100 million plan that is set to include a 100,000-square-foot grocery store, more than 500 apartments, a public park, a brewery or taproom and more.

City officials have said the coming redevelopment of the mall site will be the largest single economic development investment in Forest Acres in nearly four decades. The redevelopment of the mall site will be a years-long process. The bulk of the current mall building ultimately will be demolished to make way for the overhaul.

Southeastern is no stranger to major developments. The company has numerous retail, residential, hospitality and other business developments in its portfolio, with projects across the South. Among its developments is the mixed-use Shelter Cove Towne Centre in Hilton Head.

This story was originally published August 10, 2023, 12:41 PM.

Belk is closing its longtime department store in Richland Mall ahead of a more than $100 million complete overhaul of the mall property that is slated for the coming years.

Company spokeswoman Jessica Rohlik noted the Belk store has been at the mall at 3400 Forest Drive in Forest Acres for a quarter-century.

“Belk has been proud to serve customers at our Richland Mall store since 1998,” Rohlik said in an email statement. “As redevelopment plans for the mall move forward, we will be closing our Richland Mall location in early September to focus on our other Columbia stores.”

Rohlik said the Richland Mall Belk will have items at 65% off, with clearance items running at 75% off, beginning Friday, Aug. 11.

“After store closing, we hope to welcome Richland Mall customers to our Columbiana Centre or the Village at Sandhill locations,” Rohlik said. “Customers are also able to shop for their favorite products on Belk.com or in the Belk app.”

When the coming redevelopment of the mall property was initially announced, officials indicated Belk would eventually relocate to another part of the site, in the former Parisian building. However, Rohlik said in a Wednesday afternoon email that there are no current plans for Belk to return to the redevelopment after the store closes.

After Belk’s coming closure, Barnes & Noble bookstore will be the last major tenant of the mall in its current form. The State has reached out to Barnes & Noble about its plans at the property.

Richland Mall, for years, struggled to maintain national tenants. But now there is a new plan taking shape to breathe life into the site.

The mall property had been owned by Century Capital LLC and Forest Holdings LLC. However, in January, Augusta development company Southeastern officially purchased the property. It has pledged to overhaul the 32-acre site with a more than $100 million plan that is set to include a 100,000-square-foot grocery store, more than 500 apartments, a public park, a brewery or taproom and more.

City officials have said the coming redevelopment of the mall site will be the largest single economic development investment in Forest Acres in nearly four decades.

City and development officials have said the redevelopment of the mall site will be a years-long process. The bulk of the current mall building ultimately will be demolished to make way for the overhaul.

Southeastern is no stranger to major developments. The company has numerous retail, residential, hospitality and other business developments in its portfolio, with projects across the South. Among it developments is the mixed-use Shelter Cove Towne Centre in Hilton Head.

This story was originally published August 9, 2023, 12:06 PM.

A project to redevelop a nearly vacant mall is in line to receive a $2 million boost from the state.

State Sen. Mia McLeod, a Richland County independent, sponsored the earmark in the budget to help redevelop the nearly empty Richland Mall in Forest Acres.

The project is part of the Senate’s $13 billion budget approved earlier this month. Budget negotiations still need to take place with the House before the ultimate spending plan can be be signed by Gov. Henry McMaster.

“I’m elated that after many years of inactivity, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle recognize that this redevelopment project will be a tremendous economic driver for Richland County, the City of Forest Acres and surrounding school districts,” McLeod said in a statement.

The state money for the project would go to the city of Forest Acres to help develop a 6-acre public park, which would be the city’s largest, said Lynnsey Baker, the city’s public information officer. The park is one element of a massive overhaul planned for the moribund Richland Mall on Forest Drive, expected to be a $100 million undertaking paid for with both public and private dollars.

The cost of the park development was not immediately available.

The park is still being designed, but city officials intend to make it a public event space possibly including an amphitheater. Construction of the park will be in conjunction with redevelopment of the Richland Mall into a mixed-use project, expected to be anchored by a 100,000-square-foot grocery store, a brewery and some 500 apartments.

The city hopes to bring back a concert series, similar to its past Rooftop Rhythms events, Baker said. Community events, local theater and an annual Christmas tree lighting also would take place in the park.

“We want to make it a tourist destination,” Baker said.

Construction of the park, however, won’t happen right away if the expenditure is ultimately signed into law, Baker said.

Part of the mall, which developers will demolish, sits on land that will be used for the eventual park.

“We can’t move forward until they move forward with the demolition, which will be next year,” Baker said.

The park wouldn’t be completed for three or four years, Baker said.

The $2 million proposed state investment goes along with local incentives already approved for the project.

Richland County last year approved $23 million in incentives over 20 years for development firm Southeastern to overhaul the 32-acre mall property.

The first phase of the project is expected to take four to five years to complete.

Developers plan to demolish a bulk of the mall as part of the project.

Trenholm Road, Willingham Drive, and Percival Road are listed on SCDOT's project map for potholes and cracks.

FOREST ACRES, S.C. — The City of Forest Acres will discuss current road projects underway during its regular city council meeting on Tuesday, July 25.

State Representative Heather Bauer and leaders with the SC Department of Transportation (SCDOT) are scheduled to be on hand to provide an update and to hear residents' concerns about roads in the area.

This past legislative session, Bauer said one of her top goals was the Richland Mall Revitalization Project in Forest Acres. Now that that project is underway, she’s expanding her focus to roads in the area.

“I would say over a dozen in Forest Acres proper will be at least rehabbed or resurfaced, and then there are several bridges throughout the city that are going to be looked at as well," Bauer said.

Trenholm Road, Willingham Drive, and Percival Road are listed on SCDOT's project map for potholes and cracks in the road.

While resurfacing those roads is in motion and expected to be completed within the next year, Bauer is looking to hear from residents about the other problem areas.

Grace Hubbard grew up in Forest Acres and said she’d like to see some traffic solutions.

“I know there’s been talks of some roundabouts and I would like to see those, I think it would help the traffic a lot, especially on Forest Drive," Hubbard said.

Jennifer Feinberg said she comes to Forest Acres to shop but has noticed some congestion as well.

“Widen and fix the potholes, otherwise things seem to be working smooth," Feinberg said. "The more people shop over here, they’re going to have to improve it."

Bauer said this is where SCDOT will come in at the meeting. The representative from the department could bring potential solutions for roads and pedestrian walkways.

“I know that speaking with city council, they want Forest Acres to be more walkable and safe," Bauer said.

Bauer said in addition to listening to concerns, her job is getting the money to make these solutions a reality.

The meeting will also include a public hearing over the proposed zoning changes for Forest Lake Place leading into Gills Creek Memorial Park.

Council will also swear in new Mayor Thomas Andrews and City Council Members Stephen Oliver and Ryan Newton.