Mexican street food eatery will be Columbia company’s fifth restaurant project

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A Columbia developer is continuing to focus on the city’s restaurant industry as a sector for growth.

When Masa Mexican Street Food opens this fall as part of the 5th & Sloan Development on Rosewood Drive, it will be the fifth restaurant redevelopment project in Columbia by Cason Development Group, according to a news release.

Other Cason Development Group restaurant projects include The War Mouth at1209 Franklin St; Indah Coffee at 2238 Sumter St.; Il Focolare, 2150 Sumter St. and Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant, 402 Beltline Blvd. The War Mouth, opened in 2015, was not only Cason’s first restaurant, but also Cason Development Group’s first project of any kind.

Cason transformed a 2,400-square-foot former auto repair shop into what has become one of the North Main Street area’s most popular restaurants, leading to a renaissance of sorts in that area of the city.

“We believe that one of the best ways to help Columbia grow is by helping its restaurateurs expand,” said Frank Cason, president of Cason Development Group, in the release.“From local to national, Columbia has room for more, and we are excited to continue our efforts in making it happen.”

The War Mouth redevelopment kicked off a wave of adaptive reuse projects in the Cottontown Neighborhood by Cason. The development team transformed the former Dunn Electric Co. building at 2238 Sumter St. into Indah Coffee in 2017. That 12,000-square-foot building also houses Circa Barbershop, Columbia Printing and Graphics, and Southern Pottery.

 Cason redeveloped 2150 Sumter St., one of three buildings that the company acquired as part of the former Dave’s Transmission complex, into a small pizzeria, Citta Del Cotone, in 2018. The space now houses Il Focolare pizzeria operated by well-known Columbia chef Sarah Simmons.

Not confined to Cottontown, in addition to Masa Mexican Street Food in the 5th and Sloan development, Cason purchased the former Lizard’s Thicket at 402 Beltline Blvd. earlier this year and transformed the 6,500-square-foot building into a new home for Moctezuma’s Mexican restaurant. Moctezuma’s also has a location at 5067 Beltline.

Cason Development Group is a commercial real estate development focused on projects in the Columbia area as well as retail-focused development in and around South Carolina.