FC to destroy oldest building on Main Street

[krazeeboi]

According to The State, First Citizens bank wants to destroy the oldest building on Main Street, the Brennen Building. If the building is razed, it will be the third building over 100 years old that the bank has demolished to make room for the new building. Because the Brennen Building is on the National Register of Historic Places and the city

[colajnp]

According to The State, First Citizens bank wants to destroy the oldest building on Main Street, the Brennen Building. If the building is razed, it will be the third building over 100 years old that the bank has demolished to make room for the new building. Because the Brennen Building is on the National Register of Historic Places and the city

[waccamatt]

I was furious at First Citizens for tearing down the beloved "Jeweler" building. Now they want to tear down the old Capitol Restaurant? First Citizens is worthless, IMO.

[Spartan]

I thought they were specifically saving the Capitol Restaurant?

[waccamatt]

I thought they were specifically saving the Capitol Restaurant?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They said they were going to save it when they needed approval for their (less than impressive) headquarters, but now, POOF, they want to tear it down. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[krazeeboi]

Would they have needed to tear those buildings down if the building had a smaller footprint? That way, the skyline would have had a significant addition AND those buildings would remain.

[colajnp]

How many buildings has "worst citizens" torn down. They have consumed alot of land in the Vista at their current HQ and have a lot of surface parking. I am sure if you tracked it they have torn down a significant amount of buildings in the area and have gone under the radar until now.

When they did the new building that swore that this building would not be a casualty, and now?

They also had claimed when they did this building they would not add additional sq ft to the office supply to Columbia and would use all of the building themselves. Now a law firm is taking 2 floors (I believe over 50,000 sq ft) and vacating another downtown building adding additional vacancies to the downtown office inventory.

They do not have the best interest of Columbia in mind and seem to be very arrogant on the way they do business.

[Spartan]

My concern is not what they have done in the past, but what lies in Columbia's future. Hopefully the Columbia Preservation group (whatever that is called) will step in like they did for the two houses at the USC Inn and the Palmetto Building, etc. They are good at getting things like this done. Columbia has so few unique buildings left, I hope they manage to save this one.

[krazeeboi]

^I agree. Let's not follow in the footsteps of you-know-who.

[nContext]

According to The State, First Citizens bank wants to destroy the oldest building on Main Street, the Brennen Building. If the building is razed, it will be the third building over 100 years old that the bank has demolished to make room for the new building. Because the Brennen Building is on the National Register of Historic Places and the city

[nContext]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Fortunately DDRC put this on hold for 60 days.

Maybe "Worst Citizens" will realize the importance of a building which is on the National Register" and provide a solution which is not puffed up by overinflated numbers justifying their inappropriate recommendation. These people appear to be devoid of social responsibility.

[nContext]

They said they were going to save it when they needed approval for their (less than impressive) headquarters, but now, POOF, they want to tear it down. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, They did say they were specifically saving it. But that was then, now its convenient to renege on their word.

[ROBTEX]

I'm disgusted. Columbia is my hometown, and I have always hated the fact that the city was basically destroyed during The Civil War...so much was lost. It makes me angry that FC wants to raze one of the very first buildings erected in the city during The Reconstruction Period. What outstanding corporate citizens they are...

[teshadoh]

If anyone wouldn't mind - could someone post pictures of this block? I am familiar with Main St & remember that area being the most interesting part of downtown - it really would be self defeating if they allowed the bank to tear the building down.

[Southron]

I hope this doesn't happen. We've done way to much damage to our southern cities since WWII. There are enough surface parking lots and vacant lots to build on before tearing down more old buildings.

[waccamatt]

Fortunately DDRC put this on hold for 60 days.

Maybe "Worst Citizens" will realize the importance of a building which is on the National Register" and provide a solution which is not puffed up by overinflated numbers justifying their inappropriate recommendation.  These people appear to be devoid of social responsibility.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is a very appropriate name for them. Does everything have to be done for the lowest cost? If I ran my life where the only thing that mattered was to do things the cheapest way, it sure would be boring.

[mainstreeter]

Tearing down the oldest building (with tremedous amount of history) on Main Street is CRIMINAL. If you count the tax credits for restoring the property, the Bailey Bill, and other tax credits, it is BY FAR more economical to restore the building the build a new one. "Worst Citizens" should be ashamed of themselves of presenting $#'s that are completely incorrect if you compare apples to apples.

[waccamatt]

Tearing down the oldest building (with tremedous amount of history) on Main Street is CRIMINAL. If you count the tax credits for restoring the property, the Bailey Bill, and other tax credits, it is BY FAR more economical to restore the building the build a new one.  "Worst Citizens" should be ashamed of themselves of presenting $#'s that are completely incorrect if you compare apples to apples.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They don't care about the city, all they care about is their bottom line.

[Spartan]

Bank Backs off Razing Brennen Building

Good news:

"First Citizens Bank said Friday it would pull its request for a permit to demolish the historic Brennen Building on Main Street."

They said that it is because of local preservationists.

The Brennen building is on the Naitonal Register of Historic Places and on the City's Landmark Registry, so altering it required approval. I for one am glad that their efforts were thwarted.

Apparantly they were working to save the front facade much like they did with Meridian.

The down side is that they had two tennants lined up including a clothier and local restaurant. I think its worth it to save the building though. New tennants will come along.

[krazeeboi]

The way the article was written doesn't seem to rule out the fact that FC may indeed request to have the building razed again at some point in the near future.

[JT Boy]

Bank Backs off Razing Brennen Building

The down side is that they had two tennants lined up including a clothier and local restaurant. I think its worth it to save the building though. New tennants will come along.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are so right - new tenants will come along. It's ridiculous to let a corporation off the hook when they purchase a property and then later claim that it is "prohibitively expensive to rehab that property". This beyond-lame excuse is particularly galling when it comes from a bank, a corporation whose major business is providing loans to projects that they deem feasible and potentially successful. I would not purchase any First Citizens stock if their inability to properly gauge the costs involved with rehabbing the Brennan Building is an indication of their business acumen. If First Citizens feels the building is too difficult to deal with, then sell it to another investor and let them turn this wonderful old building into a nice little jewel for downtown.

I am afraid that Robin Waites comments about letting the building sit and deteriorate are painfully accurate. You often see this tactic from landlords and I certainly hope that the City of Columbia would not let First Citizens succeed with this sleazy tactic.