Clemson-Based Boutique Hotel Eyes Old Fire Station for Columbia Expansion

Friday, December 22, 2023

A new boutique hotel named The Shepherd Hotel is proposed for development in downtown Columbia, with plans for a 60-unit establishment. The hotel is intended to occupy the former location of the Columbia Central Fire Station at 1001 Senate St. This space has remained largely vacant for nearly 30 years following the closure of the fire station. The hotel is expected to contribute to the growing trend of boutique accommodations in the area.

If approved, The Shepherd Hotel, a proposed 60-unit boutique hotel in downtown Columbia, will utilize the former Columbia Central Fire Station space. The development plans involve connecting the obsolete six-story fire tower to an adjacent building for additional rooms and a parking garage. The hotel will feature a lobby with a massive fire truck, paying homage to the building’s history, along with a restaurant and bar.

, Rick Hayduk, a founder of the Clemson hotel said to the Post and Courier “The Columbia project is not definitively a Shepherd Hotel, but it’s looking that way.”

The Shepherd Hotel in Clemson, which opened in fall 2022, gained attention with an appearance by Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney. Co-founders Hayduk and Rich Davies aimed to have nearly half of the staff be adults with intellectual disabilities. It remains uncertain if the proposed Columbia hotel will adopt a similar model.

Downtown Columbia is set to welcome another boutique hotel as plans for a Hotel Trundle location on Gadsden Street were approved in July. The 11-story building, situated above the former space of The Whig, an iconic dive bar, will house a Moxy by Marriott boutique hotel with approximately 128 units, as indicated by early floor plans submitted to the city’s design and development review commission in October 2022.

The planned boutique hotel for the fire station, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is eligible for the Bailey Bill, providing tax breaks and economic incentives for the rehabilitation of historic buildings. Additional details about the project may be disclosed when it undergoes review by Columbia’s Design/Development Review Commission on December 21.

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