Who Is Behind the Doors at the Old Starbucks, Pecknel Music and the Cotton Gin Now

Most of the Five Points openings in 2026 went into buildings the district already knew by their old names. The old Starbucks on Saluda is now a coffee shop that grew out of pop-ups. The building Pecknel Music held for half a century is now an oyster bar. The 1930s landmark on Harden that housed Cotton Gin and New Brookland Tavern now holds three venues on three levels. The new tenants that post their hours all open while it is still light out, so this year's change in Five Points shows up as much in the hours as in the names on the doors.

Five buildings, five former lives

The street addresses tell the story faster than any list of openings.

Godspeed Coffee spent a couple of years at pop-ups around Columbia, including the Boyd Innovation Center in Five Points. Owners Roger Caughman and Kailey Cunningham then opened their permanent shop at 747 Saluda Ave. on April 1. On opening day, The State reported the shop was packed at lunchtime, with customers spilling out of the building. That address served coffee for 20 years as a Starbucks before it closed in 2023. One of Godspeed's signature drinks, the Neapolitan, layers espresso, chocolate, strawberry milk and a vanilla bean cream top, finished with a piece of waffle cone.

Also on Saluda Avenue, Slip 53 is in the building that was home to Pecknel Music for 50 years, a short walk from the Five Points fountain. Slip 53 calls itself a "coastal kitchen and raw bar." It comes from The Foundry Group, the hospitality company that also runs Saluda's in Five Points. Foundry executive vice president Steve Cook developed the idea over several years with Casey Peissel, who owns Backstreets Grill. The menu includes raw oysters, peel-and-eat shrimp, shrimp po' boys, clam chowder and lobster ravioli. You can book on Resy, but Cook has said that isn't the only way in. "We will never be reservation-only," he told The State. "Even if online reservations are booked, we hold space for walk-ins."

At 632 Harden St., owner Ryan Ferguson and business partner Jeff O'Hara renovated the 1930s building into three spaces. Station 90 is downstairs with what the Post and Courier called a family-friendly sports bar vibe. The Marquee Lounge is in the back for an older crowd, and Sandstorm Live is upstairs for live entertainment. Ferguson plans to use the building's well-known marquee as a recruiting tool for University of South Carolina athletics.

Farther up Harden, The Game Room had its soft opening on May 6 in the former Pannerpete Vintage space at 738 Harden St. Qahwah Palace Coffee House started its soft opening at 616 Harden St. on Sept. 5. It serves Yemeni coffee, including qishr and mufawar, and it is the company's second South Carolina location after Greenville's North Main Street.

The new tenants keep daylight hours

Here are the posted hours for the three newcomers that have published them:

• Godspeed Coffee: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, as posted when it opened in April.
• Qahwah Palace: 2 to 9 p.m. daily during its soft opening.
• Slip 53: 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday during its soft opening.

Together, they keep at least one new spot open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Coffee hands off to the Yemeni coffee house in the early afternoon, and the oyster bar opens before the coffee house closes. Hours tend to change once a soft opening ends, so check each business's own listing before you plan around them.

5 Points Social adds a later layer in the same building, with live entertainment upstairs. Even so, a sports bar described as family-friendly and a lounge for an older crowd are meant to draw people beyond the late-night regulars.

Some longtime businesses are staying put while they grow. Bang Back opened a second location, Bang Back Bar and Grill, in the former Rockaway Athletic Club at 2719 Rosewood Dr. It started a soft opening on Aug. 18 with a fuller sit-down menu. Owner Fred Richardson confirmed the original Five Points pinball lounge will remain open.

One storefront on Harden is still waiting

Not every building on the table has reopened. Arroyo Tacos + Tequila closed for good at 819 Harden St. in March. NY Deli & Co. is the planned replacement. In June, The State reported that no exact opening date had been set. As of early October, the deli's own site still says "Opening Late Summer 2026" under a "Coming Soon" label. Late summer is over, and we couldn't find a newer date.

New Brookland Tavern's last Five Points show was May 16. The venue said at the time that it was moving to a new location, not closing. We haven't found an announcement of where it's going. That move is what freed 632 Harden for 5 Points Social.

The Chick-fil-A at 901 Harden St. closed on June 12 for a renovation The State reported at more than $1 million. The company's location page now shows regular hours, so it has reopened.

Parking and flooding are next, on a longer timeline

Busier afternoons and earlier evenings mean more cars in a district with limited parking. Three projects could change that.

705 Saluda Ave., the former Wells Fargo site. A January proposal described a 120-room hotel with a rooftop bar and a garage of about 300 spaces. On Feb. 5, Columbia's Board of Zoning Appeals approved a height variance. The applicant told the board the garage would have 305 spaces, and that 150 to 250 of them could be open to the public, depending on hotel occupancy. The approval does not mean construction has started.

2221 Devine St. Southeastern Technology Centers bought the long-vacant building in April and proposed a renovation of about $2 million, including a rooftop restaurant. A height exception was approved May 7, but at that point no restaurant tenant had signed. The building already plays a part on event nights, since the Five Points Association offers free parking there for its holiday event.

Rocky Branch and Maxcy Gregg Park. The city's stormwater project aims to reduce repeat flooding in Five Points. It adds stormwater storage and improves public access in the park. According to a city project sheet updated Sept. 28, 2026, the Maxcy Gregg phase is in design and permitting, is estimated at $7 million to $8 million, and is expected to start construction in summer 2028.

The businesses are moving faster than the infrastructure. Several of the new spots are less than a year old, while the garage is still a proposal and the flood work is about two years from construction.

The fall calendar fits the new hours

The Five Points Association's fall events run mostly in the afternoon and early evening, the same hours the new tenants are filling.

• JerryFest: Sunday, Oct. 4, noon to 8 p.m., across the district.
• The Haunting of Five Points: merchant specials and decorations all through October.
• Five Points Trick-or-Treat: Sunday, Oct. 25, 4 to 6 p.m., with participating merchants around the district.
• NEON Joy: Friday, Nov. 20, 6 to 9 p.m. A free holiday laser light show starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Five Points Mural Lot, with hot cocoa at the fountain, caroling by The Cocktails of USC, and Santa, Mrs. Claus and The Grinch. Blankets and chairs are welcome, outside food and drinks are not, and parking is free at 2221 Devine St.

As of early October, the association's calendar had no December events listed, and dates can change, so check it before you go. A late-October afternoon could start with coffee at Godspeed, take in the trick-or-treat route from 4 to 6, and end with oysters at Slip 53, which opens at 4. Oct. 25 is a Sunday, though, and Slip 53's soft-opening hours run Tuesday through Saturday, so check its current hours first.

If you live near Five Points, this year's openings in its best-known buildings are the kind of local detail that comes up when it's time to price a home nearby. For a look at what that means for your home, Timothy Garland Group offers a free home valuation, and our Columbia neighborhood page and our earlier BullStreet post cover more of the city.