Greater Charleston Projects & Developments

[Spartan]

Since I do not have a list of all the active projects in Charleston, my thought is that we can all contribute to this list to make one. It seems a shame to not have all of our major cities covered

• The City of Charleston is going to sell a surface lot near Waterfront Park for residential development.
  
  The lot is a half-acre in size. It is also known as "Parcel B." It is between the Concord-Cumberland Parking Garage and Concord St. Accross from the SPA offices.
  

Link

For new readers of Urban Planet and lurkers! Please note that we now have three threads for Charleston developments. This thread is dedicated to Greater Charleston developments. The Peninsula has two separeate threads that can be found here:

Downtown North of Calhoun Street

Downtown South of Calhoun Street

Please post in the appropriate place!

[Charleston native]

Thanks, Spartan! I would have got that article up on here first, but I have had too much work to do. I will try and keep up in the P & C to any developments that are taking place in my hometown.

[Spartan]

A new shopping center is going to be built in North Charleston, near the Wal-Mart Supercenter off Dorchester Road.

Called The Shops at Wescott, it will consist of two buildings totaling 37,000 sq ft. Construction should begin in March and take seven months.

Plans call for 16 tenants including:

• Cato (discount clothing store)
  
• Shoe Show
  
• New York Fashions
  
• Sally Beauty Supply
  
• EB Games
  
• Sport Clips
  
• Cingular wireless store
  
• Subway
  
• a neighborhood restaurant and bar
  
• an Asian take-out restaurant
  
• an Asian take-out restaurant
  

The center is located in an area known as Wescott Plantation.

This info is from The Post and Courier

[Spartan]

The Magnolia Project

The Magnolia Project in the Neck area is a 400-plus acre, mixed-use planned development that will include big box facilities that are currently prohibited in the CBD. This development, as well as others, will more than double the size of the Peninsula Charleston sub-market in terms of sq ft.

Source

The Noisette Plan

This is one of the largest project in the Charleston area. Its goal is to revitalize the Noisette area of North Charleston including a part of the Formey Charleston Naval Base.

Some Facts:

[*]To be a 3,000 acre city-within-a-city

[*]Involves a public-private partnership between the Noisette Company and the City of North Charleston

[*]Inclues 400 acres of old Navy base

[*]Will help guide the city

[Spartan]

The Verizon Call Center had its grand opening today. It will ultimately employ 1100 workers. The company moved into a former Montgomery Ward department store on Mall Drive last October and already has hired and trained about 700 employees.

The property looks nothing like it used to, and the interior has been rennovated. It includes a full-service, 200-seat cafeteria and an impressively equipped fitness center.

Source

[Charleston native]

Here are some other projects in the business sector of the Charleston area:

EAST COOPER HOSPITAL (new hospital being planned in Mt. Pleasant)

Roper St. Francis Healthcare plans to cross the Cooper River to build the area's first all-new hospital in 16 years, a $90 million facility with 85 beds on Airport Road at U.S. Highway 17 near the new Wando High School...

MACALLOY SITE BOUGHT (real estate acquisitions pushing the Neck development)

A group of investors who are pushing to revitalize a large section of Charleston's upper peninsula made their largest real estate acquisition to date last week, buying the 142-acre former Macalloy Corp. manufacturing site in North Charleston...

Source

[Charleston native]

Alright, I have looked at the new edition of Charleston Business Journal, and I thought this article was important enough to add on to Charleston projects. I've posted the entire article, because you need a subscription and a password to view this magazine. This project has seemed to just take FOREVER to be completed, but it's about time they started talking about it again. This project will improve the look and safety of upper King Street and will eventually help connect with the Neck area as it develops.

This project has already significantly improved the look and feel of downtown. I wish that ALL city streets had this attention here in urban SC. I've been to a lot of cities out west that already had their lines underground with sidewalks and excellent lighting. SC's cities are REALLY lacking in this, IMO. Imagine all of Charleston's, Columbia's, or Greenville's streets without lines overhead, with trees, and with safe, adequate lighting.

King Street

[vicupstate]

Here are some other projects in the business sector of the Charleston area:

MACALLOY SITE BOUGHT (real estate acquisitions pushing the Neck development)

A group of investors who are pushing to revitalize a large section of Charleston's upper peninsula made their largest real estate acquisition to date last week, buying the 142-acre former Macalloy Corp. manufacturing site in North Charleston...

[url="http://www.charleston.net/stories/Default.aspx?newsID=14216

[Charleston native]

WOW!  Great news.  As I recall the Macalloy plant is a real eyesore.  Just imagine, in a decade or so, the neck and the upper King Street areas will be a positive for Charleston instead of a huge negative.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It really is going to be an amazing new area in the urban landscape down there. Of course, it's taken 20 years for things to start to change over there, but better late than never, right?

There was another P & C article which was talking about the impact of the upper King Street and Neck areas. I remember it saying that with completion of the development of the areas and with the influx of people that are expected to move there, the city of Charleston could end up being as populated as the city of Charlotte (not the area, mind you) by the year 2015. That may be a little optimistic, but I'd say 2020.

[vicupstate]

It really is going to be an amazing new area in the urban landscape down there. Of course, it's taken 20 years for things to start to change over there, but better late than never, right?

There was another P & C article which was talking about the impact of the upper King Street and Neck areas. I remember it saying that with completion of the development of the areas and with the influx of people that are expected to move there, the city of Charleston could end up being as populated as the city of Charlotte (not the area, mind you) by the year 2015. That may be a little optimistic, but I'd say 2020.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Considering Charlotte is over 500,000 now, that is not going to happen. However, Charleston is ripe to both sharply densify, and develop it's currently undeveloped areas. I wouldn't be surprised to see the city of Chas. double in population in 20 years, more or less.

[Charleston native]

Considering Charlotte is over 500,000 now, that is not going to happen.  However, Charleston is ripe to both sharply densify, and develop it's currently undeveloped areas.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the city of Chas. double in population in 20 years, more or less.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, I think they were using the city of Charlotte's old figure on its population which was above 300,000 at the time. I really didn't think Charleston would catch up with Charlotte and become the biggest city in the Carolinas. Maybe the 2nd biggest? It would at least be the biggest city in SC.

[Charleston native]

This is more great news for continued downtown development. When this project is complete, it will connect the areas of tourism and bring more synergy to the Aquarium Wharf area. Right now, that area is suffering because Ansonborough Field is no more than a big empty grass lot. With the current condos and other residential buildings that surround the area, this would be fantastic with some restaurants and shops in the development.

City unveils mixed-use plan for Concord Park

Redevelopment includes shops, hotels, culinary school, housing

BY DAVID SLADE

Of The Post and Courier Staff

Charleston is about to seek a developer for the former Ansonborough Field, previously the site of a public housing complex, where the city is planning hundreds of homes and businesses overlooking a park near the South Carolina Aquarium. The redevelopment of the largest vacant property on the peninsula south of Calhoun Street is one of the city's more ambitious exercises in urban planning, with the city spelling out what would-be developers are expected to build.

The city is looking for a deal that will create affordable housing and pay for a new park, while also realizing Charleston's vision for a corridor of commercial and residential buildings leading to the waterfront, down Calhoun Street.

Two small hotels and a 50,000-square-foot culinary school could sit at one end of the property, in buildings that could also have offices and retail shops, Mayor Joe Riley said Monday...

Entire article

[Spartan]

I thought East Cooper Medical Center was already opened? Also, what are they going to do with the Macalloy site?

[Charleston native]

I thought East Cooper Medical Center was already opened? Also, what are they going to do with the Macalloy site?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

East Cooper Medical Center is an independently owned hospital and is the original and only major medical center in Mt. Pleasant. This new one is part of the Roper/St. Francis Alliance which currently has huge medical complexes downtown and West Ashley. The new medical center East Cooper is part of major development that is occurring in the northern part of US Highway 17.

As far as Macalloy, that site is a big industrial eyesore. Clement has been a huge part of starting the process of rebuilding the Neck, and he has said that this site, once completely cleaned up, is going to be a hotel and shopping complex along the river. There are no plans drawn for the project, but according to the Chas. City Paper, he is seriously looking into that kind of development.

[Charleston native]

I thought since there was no new developments in today's paper, that I would send out some information about The Century V Plan that the city of Charleston has developed and is starting to implement. This really is a comprehensive plan, and one of their main goals is redevelopment of old shopping centers into gathering places in order to reduce sprawl. The following is an excerpt from the city's website.

Gathering Places - Defining a Unique Sense of Place

As the city's population grows and our environment changes, it is important that new civic centers and gathering places be identified and created.

Residents of all sections of the city will increasingly need convenient locations to gather, hold special events, and connect to public transportation. These locations may be important intersections, well-located infill or redevelopment sites, or part of new neighborhoods in more suburban locations. They will serve important community needs (such as locations for special events or a place to catch the bus) as well as defining a unique sense of place in various places around the city.

In March 1999, a planning workshop for the Glenn McConnell Parkway area of the city identified the intersection of the Glenn McConnell Parkway and Bees Ferry as a key intersection that could be designed to provide an important gathering place. In addition, it was recognized that land between the Parkway and Highway 17 provides a unique opportunity for a series of new neighborhoods surrounding a park.

In preparation for this plan, the Planning and Urban Development department also started work on a case study of the intersection of Sam Rittenberg Boulevard and Ashley Hall Road in West Ashley. This is an important intersection with an underused shopping center in close proximity to several neighborhoods. The study begins to look at how reinvestment at this location could accommodate a mix of uses, create new street and park connections to adjacent neighborhood, and provide a gathering place for transit.

Gathering Place Recommendations:

* Identify locations throughout the city for new civic centers and gathering places.

* Target important intersections, well located infill or redevelopment sites, and new neighborhoods for potential locations.

* Link new civic centers and gathering places to public transportation plans.

I have also attached the link to the Plan. You will need Adobe Reader to view it. I think this gives a detailed plan of future projects such as the Neck, Bees Ferry/Glenn McConnel Blvd intersection, and old shopping centers such as Ashley Landing (across the street from the birthplace of our state, literally). Keep in mind it will take a few minutes to load...it is around 90 pages.

[Spartan]

It seems that the more I pay attention to Charleston happenings, the more I hear about the Neck being a focus of the city's efforts. I am certainly glad to know that they are trying, and making sincere efforts at revitalizing that area.

[Charleston native]

Well, here is part of Charleston's development on the municipal golf course on James Island. This news is just typical of this project. Many city officials want to build cool things, but they don't take into account every detail. The cost would have been $2 million anyway, but the "geniuses" of the city decided to cut costs to $1.9 million by eliminating drainage and LIGHTING! Someday, I think I WILL run for office to be mayor there, so I can eliminate the stupidity of the leaders in that city.

Golf course tunnel might top $2M

BY DAVID SLADE

Of The Post and Courier Staff

The price of Charleston's golf course tunnel could exceed $2 million, thanks to the additional cost of relocating a water main. The water main relocation will cost the Commissioners of Public Works about $150,000, according to CPW project manager Kevin Coffey. The work was expected, but the cost was not included in the city's nearly $1.9 million budget for the golf tunnel because the water utility is paying for it.

John Cook, assistant manager of the Commissioners of Public Works, said the expense of moving water lines typically falls to CPW if the lines are in the public right of way, which they usually are.

"Essentially, we have to do it," he said. "It is in the highway department right of way."

The CPW work on Maybank Highway involves temporarily rerouting about 40 feet of a 24-inch main to make way for the golf tunnel, then reinstalling it after the tunnel is completed...

...The tunnel is being built to serve players at Charleston Municipal Golf Course, allowing them to go under Maybank Highway instead of across it.

State transportation money will pay $823,000 of the tunnel project cost, with Charleston paying nearly $1.1 million. The city is lending the nearly $1.1 million to the golf course, with no interest due and no set repayment schedule.

Critics of the arrangement have noted that the golf course lost money in 2003, and they question the likelihood of repayment. The city's finance department said Friday that final figures for the golf course's 2004 finances aren't yet available.

The city is building the tunnel because officials say they think golfers cannot safely cross Maybank Highway, after a widening of the road and replacement of the Stono River bridge to Johns Island. Golfers must cross the four-lane highway twice to play a full 18 holes.

The price of the tunnel has risen sharply since the city first proposed it in 2000. The cost was estimated at less than $750,000 in 2000 and $1.2 million in 2002 and now sits above $2 million, counting the water line work.

Source and entire article

[Charleston native]

This is excellent news for the Charleston area. The biggest news is the new WalMart in West Ashley. Driving south on Glenn McConnell from the new site is the old WalMart. The original plans have reported that when the new one is completed, the old one will be remodeled to become a new Sam's Club.

I say this is the biggest news, because this will spur other anchor stores and development in West Ashley. One anchor that I would love to go there is Best Buy (there is only 1 Best Buy in the entire area!). Other stores and development will occur with the traffic circle that is planned there coinciding with the extension of Glenn McConnell Parkway. That is mentioned in an earlier post here.

Retail developers around Lowcountry have shifted into high gear

BY CAROLINE FOSSI

Of The Post and Courier Staff

If it has escaped your attention, big-box development is bigger than ever around these parts. According to a just-released 2004 year-end report from commercial real estate firm Colliers-Keenan, the Charleston area has more than 15 million square feet of retail space, of which about 9 percent is vacant. Big-box projects represent a growing share of that total.

More of these projects are in the works, including new Wal-Mart Supercenters in North Charleston, West Ashley and Moncks Corner. These stores tend to attract other strip shopping centers nearby, said Erin England of Colliers-Keenan's retail group.

Other retail happenings noted in the report (as well as in these pages over the past year or so):

-- Downtown Charleston continues to attract national chains, with clothing retailers Brooks Brothers, Jos. A. Bank and Urban Outfitters announcing plans to open stores on King Street.

-- On Johns Island, the Johns Island Shopping Center at the busy Maybank Highway and Main Road intersection is being expanded. The area around Maybank continues to be a target for residential and commercial development. Several miles away, the 175,000-square-foot Freshfields Village shopping center is under way near Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

-- On James Island, a new 45,000-square-foot shopping center off Folly Road is under construction and is to open this spring, anchored by a Piggly Wiggly supermarket.

-- In West Ashley, a new Wal-Mart Supercenter is under construction at the corner of Glen McConnell Parkway and Bees Ferry Road. It's scheduled to open this year.

-- In North Charleston, a Sam's Club membership warehouse vacated a 155,000-square-foot building on Rivers Avenue to open a new store in the growing Centre Pointe development. A Wal-Mart Supercenter also is set to open there this year...

Source and entire article

[Charleston native]

This kind of thing has been happening in Charleston for a year or so and is turning into a big trend. My guess is that the real estate company can't make a decent profit with rental properties, so they do these conversions. A similar conversion was done to an apartment complex on Daniel Island. It was the only rental complex on the island development, and it had fantastic apartments. I guess this does help people who want to have some equity, but it hurts the apartment market for people who will only live in Charleston temporarily due to their jobs.

Mount Pleasant apartment complex to be converted into condominiums

BY JOHN MCDERMOTT

Of The Post and Courier Staff

Another week, another condo conversion. The Beach Co. of Charleston last week sold its Long Grove apartments in Mount Pleasant for slightly more than $37 million to a Georgia real estate investment firm that plans to sell off the 272 rental units as condominiums.

The buyer, Long Grove Vista LLC, is an affiliate of Atlanta-based Vista Realty Partners. The sale price worked out to about $137,000 a key.

The Beach Co., which built Long Grove as part of its mixed-use Seaside Farms development, said the property has maintained almost full occupancy since its completion in 1999. The one-, two- and three-bedroom units range in size from 850 to about 1,300 square feet.

The company said its residential brokerage division will represent the new owner in the conversion process, which is expected to begin in early summer. Also, the Beach Co. will continue to manage the property, said John Darby, president and chief executive. The units have not been priced, he said.

Long Grove is Vista Realty's first investment in Charleston region. It plans to market the condos to buyers and investors who want to own a home near the ocean, said Ed de Guardiola, president and chief executive.

Conversion projects are all the rage these days for real estate investors hoping to turn a quick profit. Last month, for instance, the former Enclave apartment complex on James Island sold out the day the 300 units were up for grabs. The event at the newly renamed Peninsula development drew about 500 lookers.

"As long as property values soar for ... the average home, the conversion of apartments is just very affordable," Darby said.

The sale is something of a break with tradition at the Beach Co, which tends to hold properties for the long run. "The market is obviously very good," said Darby, whose firm is getting ready to buy land in Savannah and some apartments in Myrtle Beach...

Source and entire article

[Spartan]

Thanks for those news clips. One thing that I have always found curious about Charleston is that it seems lke the major shopping center is the Rivers Ave./Northwoods Mall area of N Charleston. That area seems to have all of the major suburban shopping outlets that you could find in most other cities. Charleston is split into basicly 3 distinct areas (West Ashley, Mt Pleasant, N Charleston), so you'd think that there would be 3 areas like that. I know that W Ashley and Mt Pleasant have their shopping centers, but they don't seem to be as important as the North Charleston area from my perspective.

[Charleston native]

Thanks for those news clips. One thing that I have always found curious about Charleston is that it seems lke the major shopping center is the Rivers Ave./Northwoods Mall area of N Charleston. That area seems to have all of the major suburban shopping outlets that you could find in most other cities. Charleston is split into basicly 3 distinct areas (West Ashley, Mt Pleasant, N Charleston), so you'd think that there would be 3 areas like that. I know that W Ashley and Mt Pleasant have their shopping centers, but they don't seem to be as important as the North Charleston area from my perspective.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is alot of truth to that, unfortunately. West Ashley and Mt. Pleasant have great central shopping areas, but the North area seems to have the edge primarily because of its location. It is surrounded by military installations like the Air Force base and the Naval Weapons Station, so many people will shop close to the bases. Northwoods is also the first mall that many people coming from other parts of South Carolina go to. Many people from Summerville, Goose Creek, Moncks Corner, St. George, Holly Hill and even Orangeburg come to this mall because it's the most convenient from I-26. They don't want to drive further into the city if they can get all their shopping done there.

West Ashley can become a more important area for shopping if the rest of I-526 was complete. The reason for this is that upon completion of the Mark Clark Expressway, Citadel Mall would be more accessible for people living on James Island, Johns Island, and even downtown!

[prahaboheme]

IMO, a Walmart in any neighborhood is a bad thing. Aside from other big corporate stores and fastfood chains, nothing around it can keep up with their prices.

[Spartan]

West Ashley can become a more important area for shopping if the rest of I-526 was complete. The reason for this is that upon completion of the Mark Clark Expressway, Citadel Mall would be more accessible for people living on James Island, Johns Island, and even downtown!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When is that expected to be completed?

[Charleston native]

IMO, a Walmart in any neighborhood is a bad thing.  Aside from other big corporate stores and fastfood chains, nothing around it can keep up with their prices.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That sounds a little like corporate bashing to me. Yes, sometimes it squeezes out local stores, but this is a by-product of what capitalism does. It pushes the others to be competitive in the market. Besides, the best local stores that stay open and have great business, even with WalMarts, are the ones that provide innovative, unique, and rare products or services.

Anyway, keep in mind that there are towns that were practically ghost towns, BEFORE any WalMart came, and they have literally been resurrected by these big stores. Drive by Hartsville sometime; you will be amazed with how the WalMart there basically revived it from utter desolation!

[Charleston native]

When is that expected to be completed?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Heh, who knows?! That last leg of I-526 was originally drawn as part of the complete circle of Mark Clark Expressway 30 years ago.

That's right, 30 YEARS AGO!!!!

It has been ridiculous. There are these groups of activist people that live on Johns Island that have a slogan: "Johns Island, Rural Forever!" They want to keep I-526 from being built there, along with other common sense things like a complete 4-lane highway from downtown to Kiawah and Seabrook Islands. Their prohibitive schemes have kept awesome projects that would potentially put Charleston down as an international golf and movie industry destination.

There was supposed to be a huge golf resort built there. It would be like a "golf Disneyland", but it wouldn't be owned by Disney. Anyway, these people (very few in number, by the way) made so much noise that the project was abandoned. Same thing happened to a movie studio that a major motion picture company wanted to build there. Both projects would have exploded Charleston's economy and given the city an incredible reputation, but the people on that island kept it from happening.

Right now, with the new half-cent tax approved in Charleston County and new initiatives pushing for the expressway, officials have said that it could be built by 2011-2012.