Mortgage Broker in Forest Acres, SC

Georgia-based restaurant chain Takosushi will soon be opening a second location in the Columbia area. The restaurant will be opening a location in the Forest Park shopping center in Forest Acres, moving into space that formerly housed a Pizza Hut and a Baskin Robbins.

The shopping center, anchored by Lowes Foods, is located at 4711 Forest Drive. Colliers South Carolina’s Rox Pollard, Danny Bonds and John Gressette represented the landlord, Forest Park LLC in the lease of 2,400 square feet in the shopping center to Takosushi, according to a news release.

Takosushi serves eastern Asian and southwestern United States-inspired cuisine. Forest Park will be Takosushi’s eighth location across Georgia and South Carolina and the second location in Columbia.

The other Columbia location of Takosushi is in the historic Arcade building at 1332 Main St. downtown. The restaurant also has locations in Georgia and other South Carolina locations in Aiken and Greenville.

“We are excited to be a part of the Forest Acres community,” said James Williams, co-owner of Takosushi. Whether you are looking for a light lunch, a place to grab a drink or a hearty dinner, we feel that TakoSushi has something for everyone. Being headquartered here in the Midlands, this location is especially important to us.”

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No opening date for the Forest Acres location has been set. Forest Acres officials confirmed that the restaurant has already sought construction permits from the city.

The 90,000-square-foot center’s tenants include Lowes Foods, Eggs Up Grill, CVS and UPS Store, along with a mix of local and regional boutique retailers and national brands. This center is adjacent to the mixed-use development on the former Cardinal Newman School site, Cardinal Crossing, consisting of 256 apartments, complemented by 42,000 square feet of commercial space including ground-level shops fronting Forest Drive.

"Takosushi will be a welcome addition to Forest Park and all of Forest Acres with its excellent cuisine, top-notch service, outdoor seating and fun atmosphere," Pollard said. "The space, formerly occupied by Baskin Robbins, will be completely renovated which keeps with the landlord’s commitment to keeping Forest Park a highly important amenity to the Forest Acres community."

Pollard is a vice president and director of Retail Services at Colliers specializing in the sale, leasing and development consultation of retail properties across the state. Bonds is a senior brokerage associate specializing in the leasing of neighborhood shopping centers and Gressette is a brokerage associate working with tenants, landlords, sellers and purchasers to lease, purchase and sell retail properties of all sizes.

City officials say the cost will be $4 a year for pets spayed and neutered, $20 a year for those that aren't.

FOREST ACRES, S.C. — If you have a furry friend, they will soon no longer live rent free in the greater Columbia area. You're soon going to have to pay a price for their license to live in Forest Acres.

The City of Forest Acres has officially approved their intergovernmental agreement with Richland County for animal control services.

According to the city's attorney, the city previously had this agreement with Richland County, but this time around, dog and cat owners have to pay a license fee to Richland County to register their pet.

It's $4 a year for those spayed and neutered, $20 a year for those that aren't.

"There are exceptions to that for service animals, I think hunting dogs, a few specific categories that are exempt from that," said William Dillard, Forest Acres city attorney.

Dillard tells News 19 other Richland County jurisdictions already follow this rule.

"Everybody in unincorporated Richland County is subject to that, basically every other municipality within Richland County is subject to that. Blythewood, Eastover and the portion of Irmo within Richland County all have this agreement and work under the county ordinance," Dillard said.

Local dog owners explain that they have no issue with the fee.

"You want a government to have an idea of what animals are actually in its jurisdiction, I mean especially if some of the animals are dangerous," Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Forest Acres resident said.

"It's very easy and I think it's a very reasonable amount," Kathleen Taylor, city of Columbia resident said.

Leaders in Forest Acres explain there's a fine if you don't register your pet. It's $500, but folks in Forest Acres will have a 30 day grace period after the ordinance is adopted.

And according to city leaders in Forest Acres, the pet licensing portion of the ordinance in the intergovernmental agreement is expected to be adopted into law by August.

Also, Forest Acres council members tell News 19 once you're registered, you'll get a notification from Richland County every year.

The city tells News 19 they plan to get the word out to residents about this fee following Tuesday night's meeting.

For more details about how to register your pet, click here.

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.

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.

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.