New Brookland Tavern moving to Cotton Gin building in Five Points

COLUMBIA — New Brookland Tavern is moving to Five Points.

The decades-old bar and concert venue at 122 State Street in West Columbia is moving at the end of the year and will take over the Cotton Gin building on Harden Street in Five Points, according to NBT's head music booker, Carlin Thompson.

The business will make its official move in December 2023, according to the post. Jon Sears, a co-owner of Cotton Gin, confirmed the leasing agreement. 

Thompson said the new location helps align the venue's goal in wanting to expand concert capacity and allow for separate spaces between the bar and the venue. 

Finding NBT's new home

Within a week, Thompson said, Bruce Greenberg of Trinity Partners helped identify several vacant spots in Five Points and the Vista for NBT to move. 

"When we walked through Cotton Gin, there were just so many so many pros to the location," Thompson said. 

The move will allow NBT to expand and bring in bands that draw a bigger audience, and place NBT in the heart of a thriving nightlife district. 

"It just makes sense for us to just get closer to college kids closer, to Bar None, closer to people who like want to come," Thompson said. "It's really a very big struggle getting people across the bridge to come to shows." 

Thompson said Cotton Gin's iconic marquee will be rebranded to include the New Brookland Tavern sign  currently affixed to the State Street location, and was a huge draw for advertising shows. 

Thompson said the second-story concert space will remain an all-ages space, but the downstairs bar will remain 21+ "to combat underage drinking." 

NBT will also keep an outdoor food window and look into a new system for wristbanding people, "so we can spot underage people easier." 

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Thompson said the business plans to create a texting system for patrons to watch out for criminal behaviors like drugging or harassment. "We want to crack down on safety ... we want to make that a big initiative for us and bring something fresh to the area," Thompson said. 

Cotton Gin has managed to survive the past several years as state lawmakers and local enforcement agencies have cracked down on underage drinking in Five Points, which led to the closures of several popular bars, including Horseshoe, Pavlov's, Moosehead Saloon and Cover 3. The bar closures came on the heels of a spate of violence, including the kidnapping and murder of USC student Samantha Josephson and a shooting at Cotton Gin, both of which occurred in 2019. 

The move comes on the heels of the West Columbia building being sold by the owner. NBT management announced the building — which they do not own — was for sale in late-August 2023, but did not know whether they would be able to stay in the building or look for a new space. The 122 State Street location was listed for sale at $774,900, according to its Re/Max listing.

Cotton Gin is owned by Five Points business owners Jon Sears and Chris Davis, who also own Jake's on Devine, who will retain ownership of the building. The pair own a handful of other restaurants and bars including No Name Deli and Hendrix.

The move to Five Points signals a potential shift for Columbia's music scene, which was anchored in the college-adjacent neighborhood in the 1980s and 1990s and was the formative proving ground for several bands who made it big, including Hootie & The Blowfish. Today, the nightlife district tailors more towards college students from the nearby University of South Carolina and others.

Thompson said that now the lease has been signed for the Five Points location, he will begin booking shows for the new location. 

And now that the news is out, Thompson said NBT is ready for its next evolution. "It was time," he said. 

Hannah Wade contributed to this story.