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Former Ryan’s in Orangeburg under contract for potential purchase

  • Gene Zaleski

The former Ryan’s restaurant at 2580 North Road sits in a prime location.

North Road has one of the highest traffic counts in Orangeburg with an average daily traffic count of 29,200 cars.

Even so, the approximately 10,500-square-foot building has been empty since March 2016 when Ryan’s closed due to a companywide bankruptcy.

Charleston-based The Shopping Center Group LLC has the property up for lease to potentially house retail space, with an outparcel and drive-through opportunities, according to marketing materials on the property.

The marketing materials say the retail space is expandable to 11,700 square feet.

The Shopping Center Group LLC’s Forrest Williamson said the company does have a client that has the property under contract but has not yet purchased it.
“We are trying to put the best tenant that we can there and make sure they are committed to it and then close on the property,” Williamson said. “We are hoping to develop that property for sure.”
Orangeburg Commercial Real Estate agent Cal Bruner said there has been interest in the property since its closure.
“I have had several clients talk about making offers on it,” he said.

Bruner said the main challenge for the property is its width.

“It is a very deep property, but if it was wider it would have gone on day one,” Bruner said. The challenge has been trying to “figure out how to fit a building on there that would work.”

Five years ago, it was publicly announced that a major national retail franchise was going to locate at the former restaurant site.

The project never materialized.

According to Orangeburg County tax records, the 2.24-acre property’s total appraised value is $1.9 million as of 2018. About $34,538 in total taxes were paid on the property.

The North Road area has seen quite a bit of activity in recent months and years.

A Bojangles has opened and a Starbucks will soon open next to IHOP.

Tidal Wave Auto Spa built a car wash at 2790 North Road. The business is next to Lowes.

A little further up the road, Petco Animal Supplies Inc. has opened a store across from Tractor Supply.

Scooter’s Coffee opened next to the O’Reilly Auto Parts.

Outside of dining and retail, the City of Orangeburg opened a park and sports complex on North Road four years ago.

The $13.8 million, 24,000-square-foot Veterans Affairs clinic opened in September 2022 near the park.

Real estate officials say there is also a lot of interest in Magnolia Village on North Road, next to Walmart. A retail shopping center is planned.

Realty Link has control over 14.3 acres for development of a shopping center.

A 1-1/2 acre parcel has been accounted for by a national retailer, though details have not been made public.

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