Cason Development Group has purchased four additional buildings on Sumter Street in the Cottontown commercial district.
Cason has acquired a 6,000-square-foot building at 2202 Sumter St., the former offices of Loomis Armored US, as well as a cluster of three buildings at Sumter and Jefferson streets that previously housed Dave’s Transmission, along with a nearby parking lot. That site includes 2150, 2146 and 2144 Sumter St.
Investment in the properties is expected to exceed $1 million, and their acquisition brings Cason’s total of redevelopment projects along Franklin and Sumter streets to eight.
“We continue to see tremendous upside in the rehabilitation of the Cottontown commercial district,” Cason Development Group president Frank Cason said in a news release. “Cottontown provides an affordable and unique location for businesses that want to be in downtown Columbia.”
A restaurant tenant has been identified for the 1,000-square-foot building at 2150 Sumter St., and Cason is seeking another restaurant for the 4,000-square-foot building next door at 2146. The restaurants would be connected by a common courtyard and outdoor dining area.
The name of the tenant at 2150 Sumter is not yet being released, nor is the name of an office user planning to convert 2144 Sumter St.
Cason, which has been active in the redevelopment of the Cottontown district since its first project, War Mouth restaurant, opened nearly two years ago at 1209 Franklin St., expects to start construction in 2018.
Work continues on the redevelopment of 2222 Sumter St. for Amsterdam Lumber Co., and Cason is still looking for an additional tenant for a 2,000-square-foot space in the 12,000-square-foot building at 2238 Sumter St. which houses Indah Coffee Co. and Circa Barber Shop.
