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Plans to turn a historic armory and one of Assembly Street’s more recognizable buildings into a boutique hotel have reemerged after first being proposed in 2020, and then re-approved in 2023.
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Developers for all that time have been looking to turn the South Carolina State Armory building at 1219 Assembly Street, which has been used as office space by the architecture firm Hussey Gay Bell, into a new boutique hotel with curated lounge space and rooftop dining.
The 120-year-old building was used by the National Guard until the 1960s, and was later added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Developers now plan to lean into that history to build Armory on Assembly, a 44-room boutique hotel.
Plans to turn the historic site into a hotel first appeared in 2020, and at that time envisioned a 3-story, 34 room project. It has since evolved into 4 stories and 44 rooms.
The 2020 plans estimated the project to be worth $7.7 million, but none of the more recent city flings include an updated estimate.
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Developers will be back this week before a Columbia design board to get the OK for historic building incentives and for permission to attach a rear addition to the property. The project initially got the OK for that work in 2023, but those permissions have since expired and developers will need to get them renewed before the project can begin.
It’s not clear why the work has been delayed or what the developer’s timeline is for the project. The State has contacted a project architect for more information.
The hotel project would be situated at a prominent downtown intersection, just shy of where Assembly and Gervais streets meet. The building is immediately next door to Cola’s Restaurant, and around the corner from the Mellow Mushroom pizza restaurant.
The property was sold in 2021 to The Boring Building LLC for $2.5 million. Before that it had been owned by GH Bell Family Limited Partnership.
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