Columbia’s iconic Rockaway Athletic Club property has been sold. Here’s what we know

The property of an iconic bar and restaurant on the Columbia dining scene has been sold to new owners.

Rockaway Athletic Club, located at 2719 Rosewood Drive, has been a Columbia staple for more than 40 years. Columbia’s Cason Development Group and Baker Commercial Properties have purchased the building and property, Cason Development Group President Frank Cason confirmed to The State on Wednesday morning.

Cason said the new ownership group finalized the purchase of the property on Tuesday.

“Yes, we did close on (the sale), and we are very excited,” Cason said.

Originally opened in 1982, the Rockaway business has long been owned by members of Columbia’s Whitlark family. The State has left messages for longtime Rockaway co-owner Forrest Whitlark at the restaurant and at a private phone number.

Rumors raced across social media Tuesday that Rockaway, in its current iteration, would soon be closing its doors. An employee who answered the phone at the business on Tuesday afternoon said it was his understanding that Sunday, Jan. 21, would be the last day for the current version of Rockaway at that location. However, when a reporter from The State stopped by the restaurant shortly before noon on Thursday, Jan. 18, the gate at the restaurant was locked and a paper sign saying “CLOSED” was on the door.

Cason on Wednesday said he didn’t know the official timeline of a Rockaway closure and referred questions about that to Whitlark. The developer added that Rockaway is “an institution” in Columbia.

While exact details are still being worked out, Cason said the developers’ plan is for the property to ultimately continue to be home to a restaurant.

“We are working with a couple different people and are hoping someone can bring back to life that building,” Cason said of the Rockaway property. “We’ve got some initial exterior improvements to do. We are hoping that someone can resurrect either that business or something very similar to it. We are working with a local group on that. We want it to be something that meets the needs of those two neighborhoods right on either side of it, Rosewood and Shandon.

“The current plan is for it to be a restaurant. That will be our hope and our initial target. It’s a great piece of property, and there are other uses that could go there. But our current plan and focus would be on getting a new restaurant in there.”

Cason didn’t immediately name members the local group that developers are working with for possible future restaurant operations at the Rockaway site. The State has left messages for a handful of local restaurateurs.

The watering hole without a sign

Among the many quirks of the the more than 40-year-old bar is that it doesn’t have a sign outside the business.

“Don’t look for a sign, Rockaway has never had one, but we are in plain sight, located at 2719 Rosewood Drive, in an industrial styled brick building with large black shutters,” the Rockaway website says.

The original Rockaway building on Rosewood Drive was destroyed in a raging early morning fire back in March 2002. The tavern was rebuilt and opened again in early 2004.

Rockaway has long been a go-to spot for burgers in the capital city. In a 2021 story, Food & Wine magazine compiled a list of the best burgers in all 50 states, and Rockaway’s pimento cheeseburger was selected for South Carolina.

“Just as there is pimento cheese all over the South, so too are there pimento cheeseburgers, but most can agree that the spiritual home (of the latter at least) is Columbia, South Carolina’s capital city,” the Food & Wine piece noted. “You’ll find a very good example at the fun-loving Rockaway Athletic Club, which is neither athletic nor a club, but rather, an entertaining indoor-outdoor bar and late-night hang.”

Readers of The State also voted Rockaway as one of the top burger places in Columbia in a 2021 poll.

But Rockaway also has, for years, been known as a place to get a drink, with diverse offerings at its main bar, which has been referred to as the South Carolina Liquor Library. Rockaway claims on its website that the bar “hosts one of the largest selections of liquor in the southeast, as well as a robust selection of beer and wine.”

A presidential pimento cheese visit

While Rockaway has mostly been known as a laid back, cherished bar and grill for University of South Carolina students and Columbia residents from nearby neighborhoods, it also once welcomed a high-ranking dignitary: Former President George W. Bush.

Bush was in his second term as the nation’s 43rd president when he went to Rockaway during an April 2005 visit to Columbia. Bryan Stirling, who currently is the director of the S.C. Department of Corrections, was doing volunteer advance work for Bush’s visit to Columbia that day, helping the White House with local logistics on the president’s stops in town.

Stirling told The State on Wednesday that White House officials noted the president wanted to do an “off the record” stop at a local restaurant while he was in Columbia, meaning that the stop wouldn’t be announced publicly ahead of time. Stirling said two local spots at the time immediately leaped to mind: Groucho’s Deli in Five Points and Rockaway Athletic Club on Rosewood Drive.

Stirling said there was a construction project going on in Five Points at the time, one that would likely have been difficult for the presidential motorcade. So, Rockaway was chosen as the destination.

Bush had most of the S.C. Congressional Delegation and scores of Secret Service members with him when he arrived at the restaurant, Stirling said. He added that Bush got a pimento cheeseburger that day and bought burgers for members of the Congressional Delegation.

Stirling said he’ll always remember the presidential visit to the Rosewood Drive tavern.

“It was very exciting,” Stirling said. “On the way from the State House over there, I wanted to call all my friends and say, ‘Hey, go to Rockaway’s.’ But, for security reasons I didn’t. It was really cool, because I had been going to Rockaway’s for a very, very long time, and have gone there for a very long time since. It was just very cool to see the president come in. He walked around and shook hands with the people in there having lunch.”

Changing times on the Columbia restaurant scene

The new owner of the property at 2719 Rosewood Drive, Cason Development Group, is a well-known commercial real estate entity in Columbia that has been involved in a number of deals through the years. And it is a familiar redevelopment player on Rosewood Drive: Cason was the driver behind the 5th and Sloan mixed-use project in the 2900 block of Rosewood, where a former church was converted to new apartments and Starbucks and other retailers have opened or have planned to open.

“It is one of the underappreciated corridors in Columbia,” Cason said of Rosewood. “The neighborhoods that border it, Rosewood and Shandon, are two of the strongest and have the potential to continue to grow further. ... We are hopeful we can add to that and continue to improve that area.”

The Rockaway news is the latest shift in a Midlands dining landscape that has seen several closures to long-running, classic restaurants recently.

Al’s Upstairs, a West Columbia Italian restaurant with views over the Congaree River, closed its doors in late December after a 44-year run. Yamato, a Japanese steakhouse that had a presence in Columbia for 49 years, closed the doors of its restaurant at 360 Columbiana Drive. Meanwhile, River Rat Brewery on Shop Road closed in December after 10 years, and Jin Jin, a Chinese restaurant in West Columbia, shuttered in December after 29 years.