Greater Charleston Projects & Developments

[Charleston native]

I'm not a big fan of N. Charleston since I believe that it should be a part of the city of Charleston, but this is not good news. Hopefully they will resolve this problem because I would hate for this to stall the Noisette development. It is an essential project to redevelop Charleston and make the area an incredible urban environment.

NORTH CHARLESTON TAKES STERN STANCE

City wants Noisette to pay nearly $1M, turn over records

BY JAMES SCOTTAND ROBERT BEHRE

Of The Post and Courier Staff

North Charleston fired a broadside Monday at the Noisette Co., demanding that the city's business partner repay almost $1 million by week's end and turn over financial records, while warning that the city might seek a speedy repayment of the company's $8 million debt.

The demands, spelled out in a stern three-page letter, came three days after city officials learned the company had taken out $3 million in new bank loans on office buildings at the former Charleston Naval Base without telling the city, a possible breach of contract.

The letter also raised concerns that Noisette has fallen behind schedule on a riverfront park it is building for the city, the first major milestone of the project to redevelop the base property.

Some City Council members began questioning Noisette's credibility and the city's oversight of the company.

"What do you do when your wife cheats on you? It's the same thing," Councilman Bobby Jameson said. "When trust is broken, it never goes back to the way it was when you started."

Mayor Keith Summey said he is not talking with Noisette founder and CEO John Knott without the city's lawyers present. "It is time to have a 'Come to Jesus' meeting," Summey said...

THE CITY'S DEMANDS

The letter, an official notice of default penned by North Charleston Deputy City Attorney Derk Van Raalte, asks Noisette Co. President and CEO John Knott for the following:

-- A $839,837 payment, plus interest, by the end of the week.

-- Documentation of "all sales, gifts or other dilutions" in Knott's ownership stake in the company since June 1.

-- Documentation of all related corporations and partnerships associated with the Noisette Co., the Noisette project or the land on which the city holds a mortgage.

-- Access to Noisette's audited financial statements since April 1, 2003, including any accrued but unpaid expenses and wages the company has not listed on audited financial statements.

-- The letter also says the city may exercise its right to approve any proposed Noisette land deals, particularly if the company doesn't meet the deadline of June 9 for building a new riverfront park.

-- The city also notes its listed concerns are not necessarily "exclusive or exhaustive" and that it reserves the right to seek an accelerated repayment of the $8 million-plus debt that Noisette owes to the city...

Source and entire article

[Charleston native]

This is an article in the new edition of Charleston City Paper which shows how sometimes well-meaning people who want good urban development to occur are hindered by pompous, stuffy downtown residents who are basically NIMBYs and want nothing to change.

An Almost Civil War

By Bill Davis

Date: 3/16/2005

No one looking at the two nondescript dirt parking lots (as if there is some other kind of parking lot) located on the northern border of the Ansonborough neighborhood at 13 and 15 George St. would ever guess they were a battlefield.

But after the Clemson Architecture Center (CAC) announced the winner of a nationwide juried architectural competition to design its new facility, which will be located across the street from the Spoleto Festival USA headquarters, trouble began brewing.

Last week, another skirmish broke out between the university and the neighborhood over what should be built on the lots. The university, whose president is an architect, wants to build a structure of importance, but the neighborhood is already feeling squeezed by intense development, commercial areas, and a looming 70-unit condo project across Meeting Street...

City Paper full article

[Spartan]

It seems the Noistte Company and N Chas are having some financial squabbles: Article

Apparatnly Noisette CO took out a loan and didnt tell N Chas, and N Chas wants a piece of that money. Interesting situation. My concern is not with the money, but how it will affect the Noisette area's plans.

[Charleston native]

I am breathing a little sigh of relief, here. With this compromise, this should not slow down or interrupt development of the old Navy base, but it could have seriously jeopardized the project.

Compromise for Noisette, no resolution

$500,000 placed in escrow; company to open books in legal dispute with N. Charleston

BY ROBERT BEHRE AND JAMES SCOTT

Of The Post and Courier Staff

In a bid to win back North Charleston's trust, the Noisette Co. agreed Wednesday to place a half-million dollars in a special account and open its books while the partners continue to hammer out their legal dispute involving $3 million in recent loans. The company's decision followed a 2-1/2-hour, closed-door meeting on the fifth floor of City Hall, where top Noisette officials met with Mayor Keith Summey, three City Council members and lawyers for both sides.

At the end, both sides issued a joint statement saying their disagreement remains but that they are committed to a resolution that would get the redevelopment of the former Charleston Naval Base back on track.

"We're strong behind our position," Summey said. "They're strong behind their position."

The meeting was the first face-to-face communication since The Post and Courier reported last week that Noisette had borrowed $3 million on two of the base's most valuable office buildings. The loans were taken out without the city's knowledge, a possible breach of contract that could require the company to reimburse taxpayers as much as 35 percent of the loan amounts...

Here's the link to the whole story.

[Spartan]

That is indeed a small relief. I would hate to see this get hung up for years over something so petty.

[Charleston native]

That is indeed a small relief. I would hate to see this get hung up for years over something so petty.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's funny that you said that. It seems that Noisette and N. Chuck haven't had the most reputable relationship. This article in Sunday's paper demonstrates what Noisette's reputation can do to the company itself and the city.

THIS IS PRECISELY ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I BELIEVE THAT N. CHAS. SHOULD NOT BE ITS OWN CITY AND IT SHOULD BE IN THE CITY OF CHARLESTON! If you read the article further, you will see how Charleston is very meticulous in its development dealings. While some of this attitude can hinder progress, the city can have better control of what the developers decide to build and how they conduct themselves financially.

If the city is not careful, it could lose this valuable and necessary development.

Noisette loan dispute raises doubt about future

Ambitious project, reputations on the line

BY ROBERT BEHRE AND JAMES SCOTT

Of The Post and Courier Staff

Along the murky banks of the Cooper River, where naval officers used to play nine holes, have a cold one and even get married, a crew of three men spent much of one morning last week erecting a shiny chain-link fence. In the distance, earth movers ripped up chunks of asphalt and snapped some of the smaller, unwanted trees, preparing a place where new memories can be made.

By June 10, the Noisette Co. is scheduled to transform this part of the former Charleston Naval Base into a vast riverfront park, complete with an amphitheater, boardwalk and walking trails, giving North Charleston residents their first significant public access to the water in the city's 33-year history.

The future of the $6 million park project could determine the ultimate fate of the partnership between the city and the company, a partnership battered last week after North Charleston discovered the company had borrowed $3 million on the base without informing the city.

The discovery of these loans by The Post and Courier, coupled with the public relations fallout, sent the formerly cozy partners to separate corners during a dramatic week beginning with letters crafted by lawyers and progressing into closed-door meetings and climaxing with the mayor's skewering Noisette's CEO before his council.The events prompted some to wonder if the trust between the two -- and between the city's leaders and its voters -- can be restored...

Source and entire article

[Charleston native]

Wow, I'm getting tons of information for new Charleston developments! I always love this kind of news. Included in this excerpt are brief descriptions of other hospital contruction.

East Cooper plans to build $160 million hospital

BY JONATHAN MAZE

Of The Post and Courier Staff

East Cooper Regional Medical Center unveiled plans Thursday to replace its nearly 20-year-old hospital with a new, $160 million building with 140 beds. The project is intended to meet growing demand at the hospital, where the number of patient discharges rose to above 5,100 between 2001 and 2003. That's a 10 percent jump, fueled by more surgeries and newborns in a city with explosive population growth...

...The long-expected proposal from East Cooper Medical comes as rival Roper St. Francis Healthcare looks to make inroads into Mount Pleasant with its own facility, an 85-bed project near Wando High School off U.S. Highway 17.

The proposals by Roper and now East Cooper Medical are the latest in a two-year parade of high-dollar hospital projects in the Charleston area.

...The new building would be five stories, three more than the current structure...

BUILDING BOOM

This is a good time to be in the hospital construction business. More than $660 million in projects are under way or have been proposed in the Charleston area over the last two years. Here they are, in order of cost:

-- MUSC: Building a 518,000-square-foot replacement hospital downtown with 156 beds. Cost: $300 million. Status: under construction, expected to open in late 2007.

-- East Cooper Regional Medical Center: Planning to replace its current facility with a new building on Mathis Ferry Road and Von Kolnitz Road. The new hospital will have 140 beds, 40 more than the current facility. Cost: $160 million. Status: proposed.

-- Roper St. Francis Healthcare: Planning to move 85 licensed beds from Roper Hospital downtown to an unnamed new facility near Wando High School in Mount Pleasant. Cost: $90 million. Status: proposed.

-- Roper Hospital: Adding a seven-story, 250,000-square-foot tower, mostly for cardiac patients, to its downtown hospital. It doesn't add beds. Cost: $77.4 million. Status: under construction, expected to be finished in a year.

-- Bon Secours St. Francis: Adding 40,000 square feet to the top of its existing hospital in West Ashley. The expansion will add 63 new beds. Cost: $25 million. Status: proposed.

-- Summerville Medical Center: Working on a project that expands its emergency room and adds a second CT scanner. It doesn't add beds. Cost: $11.8 million. Status: completion expected this summer.

-- Summerville Medical Center: Converting 14 nursing home beds for general hospital use. Cost: None. Status: proposed.

Source and entire article

[Charleston native]

Well, here's an example of what preservation can do...stall progress and development and increase bureaucratic red tape. I'm not saying this building should be demolished; it is in the heart of the historic district. But this does emphasize my point of what excessive preservation can do. This eyesore has stuck around for a LONG time.

A HEALTHY CUT

Charleston city officials have decided to fork over a 6 percent commission to any agent who can bring an acceptable bid to the table for 93 Broad St., a dilapidated building the city has owned for nearly 21 years.

There's a caveat for any would-be renovation-minded buyer: The next owner will be required to perform a historically accurate refurbishment of the 18th century structure, as governed under a lengthy agreement with the Historic Charleston Foundation.

A recent round of bids failed to attract offers the city thought were high enough, so Charleston is bidding the property out again. It plans to sell the building on the open market if new bids also fall short.

According to "The Buildings of Charleston," 93 Broad was built in 1783 by either Peter Bocquet Sr. or Peter Bocquet Jr. In the 1850s, attorney James Simons built the three-story wing that was linked to the main house and the kitchen building, which has since been removed.

The city purchased the property in 1984 to further an expansion of the nearby U.S. District Courthouse. In the late 1990s, government officials considered remodeling it so the building could be reused to support the court or other federal functions.

[Charleston native]

New developments just keep coming! The West Ashley Supercenter is sorely needed there...this will be the catalyst for additional development on Glenn McConnell. What the article doesn't say is that a new Sam's Club will be located at the old WalMart. Also, I really like the theme of the James Island Piggly Wiggly. Man, I miss the beach!

Site preparation for new Wal-Mart Supercenter has begun

BY CAROLINE FOSSI

Of The Post and Courier Staff

If you live in West Ashley, you've probably noticed the trees being cleared at the southwest corner of Glenn McConnell Parkway and Bees Ferry Road. That's the site of a new 218,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter that will replace a smaller Wal-Mart off Glenn McConnell. The new store is expected to open in late October.

The existing store opened in 1991 and is about 119,000 square feet.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is replacing many of its stores with supercenters, which have wider aisles and include grocery sections.

The company also is planning to open new supercenters this year in North Charleston, Moncks Corner and Walterboro.

The West Ashley store's 250 employees will be transferred to the new location and about 150 new people will be hired.

NEW PIG

Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co. will open its new James Island supermarket at 7 a.m. Wednesday, with a grand opening ceremony at 9 a.m. The store is at 1985 Folly Road at Sol Legare Road.

The 33,400-square-foot store has a beach-themed interior, including a mural in the lobby of the old Folly Pier, shrimp boats, and the Morris Island Lighthouse...

[Charleston native]

Good grief, here's another one! This is great news...but it would be even better to get a full contract with a few cruise lines and BUILD A NEW CRUISE TERMINAL!

Cruise line's compass points to here

TOURISM

BY KYLE STOCK

Of The Post and Courier Staff

Last week, NCL Corp., a Miami-based company that operates Norwegian cruise ships, announced a few more Charleston turnarounds for next year, although it has not mentioned the plan to port officials or inked a docking contract.

At a shipping conference in Miami Wednesday, NCL President and CEO Colin Veitch told about 100 journalists that his company plans to add a few Charleston-Bermuda routes in October 2006. NCL's Bermuda routes typically embark from Boston, but the Northeastern seas get a little cold and rough in the fall, so the company is switching a few of the routes to the Lowcountry.

NCL wouldn't confirm or deny the statement Friday, but said it will announce its full 2006-07 schedule this week.

Donna Hill, owner of Abbot & Hill Travel downtown, seemed to be one of the few Charlestonians who had heard about the announcement. Hill said her agency booked $3 million in cruise travel last year and expects the Bermuda route to boost business quite a bit.

Peter Lehman, director of business development at the State Ports Authority, said NCL hasn't mentioned new Bermuda routes to him. Lehman said the cruise giant is, however, signing on for another year of embarkations from Charleston to Key West, Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

[url="http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=16473

[Spartan]

Wow, alot of updates today! Thanks for posting these. One of the most interesting items to me was 93 Broad St. It seems that in this case, Charleston's high standards are keeping this property from being developed. I like Charleston's history, but what will happen 400 years from now when there are no buildings from the years 1970-2405. Something to think about.

[vicupstate]

Wow, alot of updates today! Thanks for posting these. One of the most interesting items to me was 93 Broad St. It seems that in this case, Charleston's high standards are keeping this property from being developed. I like Charleston's history, but what will happen 400 years from now when there are no buildings from the years 1970-2405. Something to think about.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know what the problem is with 93 Broad, I have been hearing about that building for years. Since the courthouse was built anyway, I don't see how it is impeding progress.

As for buildings from 1970-2405, they will be found in West Ashley and Daniel Island. Don't expect to see the soon-to-be-built Super Sprawlmart in 2405 though, they are only designed with a 20 year lifespan in mind. Another example of our throw away society.

[Charleston native]

Wow, alot of updates today! Thanks for posting these. One of the most interesting items to me was 93 Broad St. It seems that in this case, Charleston's high standards are keeping this property from being developed. I like Charleston's history, but what will happen 400 years from now when there are no buildings from the years 1970-2405. Something to think about.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That Broad Street building should have been sold by the city 4-5 years ago. It is practically across the street from City Hall, so there would have been plenty of capability to ensure that the building would be restored. And you're precisely correct, the high standards of the city is hindering progress.

One thing that I'd like to point out about DT is the lack of art deco architecture. You referred to the lack of buildings built in the years 1970-2405, but there are also very little buildings representing the years of 1920-1950. Art deco is really beautiful, and in my opinion, some newer areas of DT could emphasize this type of design. As a matter of fact, because it is a classic design, it would enhance and add to the flavor of Charleston history.

[Charleston native]

Here is another article from Charleston Business Journal. It would be interesting to see if they can realign I-26, and plans need to be considered coinciding with plans to widen the interstate from the new bridge interchange to I-526. IMO, they should widen I-26 from 6 lanes to 8 or 10 lanes. This will allow for future traffic that will be coming into DT through the Neck.

I-26, access road clash over timing, funding

Proposal to move interstate awaits feasibility study

By MATTHEW FRENCH

Staff Writer

When real estate developer Robert Clement III first proposed a revitalization of Charleston

[Charleston native]

Columbia has their Colonial Center and now Charleston has their Carolina First Center. This is more great news for certain, but I would have preferred the original project of building a bigger arena off of Meeting Street near the Visitor's Center which was to be built along with a hotel and convention center. Oh well!

Carolina First scores with gift

$2M wins naming-rights to new athletic complex at College of Charleston

BY MATTHEW MOGUL

Of The Post and Courier Staff

The new athletic complex at the College of Charleston will be known as the Carolina First Center, thanks to a $2 million gift to the university from the biggest banking company based in the state.A courtyard ceremony in front of Alumni Hall was held Monday to announce the naming-rights deal, which college president Lee Higdon said gave his school a "critical piece" of funding needed to begin building the $36 million structure.

For the bank, the money buys it broader brand exposure and cachet in the community, though Jim Terry, Carolina First president, said the deal means a lot more than marketing for his bank.

"The real value is not so much in the name on the building but what the building stands for, like the events, the academics and what it does for the community," said Terry.

Besides athletic facilities, the Carolina First Center will offer classroom and meeting space for events. Construction at the intersection of Meeting and George streets is set to start by the fall. The project is expected to be complete in about 18 months...

...The bank is no stranger to the name game. In December, Carolina First announced it would be relocating its regional headquarters in Charleston a few blocks from its current location on East Bay Street to a soon-to-be-expanded Charleston Gateway Center. Its payoff for moving: The new building also will bear its name...

Source and entire article

[Charleston native]

The Cooper River Bridge Run is becoming one of the top run and walk events in the country...this article shows the record-breaking numbers of this race. It's amazing; they could have 42,000 people participate since this is the last run on the old bridge.

Bridge walk a runaway favorite

7K event sells out; fewer than 5,000 slots left for run

BY DAVID QUICK

Of The Post and Courier Staff

The Cooper River Bridge Run's 7K walk April 2 is officially sold out.

With walk registrations nearing the 17,000-participant cap early this week, Bridge Run officials closed registrations on the race's Web site, bridgerun.com, on Monday night...

...On Monday, Bridge Run officials asked their executive committee to approve 2,000 more spots for the walk, but the committee said no, standing solidly behind the 17,000 number to assure control and quality of the event.

Fewer than 5,000 spots are left for the 10K run, which is capped at 25,000 this year. As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, 20,006 people had signed up for the run.

This year's Bridge Run and Walk is smashing registration records because it marks the last Bridge Run event on the Silas N. Pearman Bridge.

Demolition of the Pearman and the Grace Memorial bridges, the latter of which hosted the Bridge Run from 1980 to 1994, is expected to start several months after the new Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge opens later this year...

Source and entire article

[Spartan]

Columbia has their Colonial Center and now Charleston has their Carolina First Center. This is more great news for certain, but I would have preferred the original project of building a bigger arena off of Meeting Street near the Visitor's Center which was to be built along with a hotel and convention center. Oh well! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is the capacity going to be? This is probably the best project I've heard of in a while. Even if its a capacity of 12,000 it gives Charleston more leverage to draw entertainers/concerts to downtown. I would very much enjoy being able to walk from a restaurant downtown to this arena for a show

[Charleston native]

What is the capacity going to be? This is probably the best project I've heard of in a while. Even if its a capacity of 12,000 it gives Charleston more leverage to draw entertainers/concerts to downtown. I would very much enjoy being able to walk from a restaurant downtown to this arena for a show

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, if they had built the bigger arena with the hotel and convention center as originally planned, it would be close to the capacity of about 12,000. Unfortunately, they are just going to build next to the original Kresse Arena on George Street and the center will provide an additional 5,000 spectators to the original 2,500. I don't know if concerts would be performed there. If a concert would be performed there, the capacity would probably be close to 10,000 considering the additional floor space.

[Spartan]

Oh. I have a 13,000-16,000 thing pictured. I guess it wouldn't attract any big shows then.

[Charleston native]

Oh. I have a 13,000-16,000 thing pictured. I guess it wouldn't attract any big shows then.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That would be great...they could even bring the hockey team to DT, but alas, no such luck.

Anyway, here's some bad news about the new culinary school at Trident Tech...

Trident drops 4-year culinary plan

BY KYLE STOCK

Of The Post and Courier Staff

Trident Technical College, to the dismay of restaurateurs worried about labor costs rising, has abandoned its bid to establish a four-year culinary program.

TTC threw in the towel this week after a 2-1/2 year campaign. Although the institution's proposal twice had the votes in the Legislature to become law, it was blocked on both occasions, by a filibuster in late 2003 and by the state Supreme Court earlier this year.

Rather than keep pushing, the college said it will now offer more advanced-certificate programs, beef up its externship opportunities and encourage students to transfer to the College of Charleston's hospitality program after two years. "We've lost so much time, and at some point you have to go to Plan B and just do it," TTC President Mary Thornley said Wednesday. "It's too bad, but we'll do the next-best thing."

There are two bills idling in the Statehouse now that would approve the four-year degree. But Thornley said she did not think the four-year program would garner enough votes for a third time to get legislative approval, despite widespread support from the Charleston delegation. It would have been the first time a two-year college offered a four-year degree in South Carolina.

TTC students can now earn a two-year associate's degree in culinary arts, and they can add an additional two years of study and receive a bachelor's degree from the College of Charleston in food-service management...

WHAT'S AT STAKE

As many as 1,000 culinary students can be accommodated at Trident Tech's North Charleston campus, but its newly established Culinary Institute of Charleston needs nearly $8 million in state funding to renovate its Palmer Campus downtown before it can enroll another 500 students.

The Charleston region is home to about 1,100 restaurants and food-service businesses that employ about 17,000 workers and contribute more than $420 million in annual sales to the local economy.

Source and entire article

[Charleston native]

This was only a matter of time. Mt. Pleasant has grown by leaps and bounds and might get to 60,000 by 2010. All I can say is that the city of Charleston better keep growing to stay ahead of this town.

Mount Pleasant to annex East Cooper Airport

By MATTHEW FRENCH

Staff Writer

If all goes according to plan, the town of Mount Pleasant will soon add the East Cooper Airport to its already expansive-and-growing holdings. The airport, located on Highway 17 North past Highway 41, is a 20-year-old facility that serves about 100 planes, most of them smaller and propeller-driven...

...

[Charleston native]

Some more good news that is added in with the restaurant opening. This area was in SERIOUS decay for a long time when I was growing up. I had to drive through there during my football practices, and it was just slum. This is an area removed from the historic district that could use a few newer, taller buildings around it. MUSC is taking care of some of that, but some other developers could take care of the "leaning" buildings that badly need to be demolished.

See entire article here

Cannon-Spring retail resurgence

Lana Restaurant latest to open in burgeoning area

BY CAROLINE FOSSI

Of The Post and Courier Staff

The owners of a new dining spot at Cannon Street and Rutledge Avenue didn't advertise their opening two weeks ago. But somehow, word got out that Lana Restaurant and Bar was up and running in downtown Charleston, and hungry patrons showed up for the Mediterranean-style lunches and dinners...

...People familiar with the area say they aren't surprised: The restaurant at 210 Rutledge Ave. is part of an evolving area around Cannon and Spring streets that some believe is poised for a renaissance after years of decline.

Vacant, run-down buildings still dot the landscape. But businesses increasingly are eyeing the corridor for its relatively affordable rents and steady traffic. Cannon and Spring serve as main arteries for entering and exiting the peninsula, meaning cars pass through regularly...

...What's more, the city is planning a beautification project along Spring and Cannon streets that will include building new sidewalks, installing new streetlights, improving pedestrian crossings at intersections and planting trees. The project is expected to start this summer, city officials say...

...Robert Stehling opened Hominy Grill at the corner of Cannon and Rutledge almost a decade ago, when the corridor was full of vacant lots and "leaning buildings." Since then, he's seen a lot of the area's derelict houses being renovated, many to serve as rentals for MUSC and College of Charleston students...

...Gonzales says he's heard the Cannon-Spring area described as a fuse that's being lit on both ends -- from upper King Street to the east and MUSC to the west.

Challenges remain. Business owners said they'd like to see more parking options and redevelopment of abandoned buildings. As the area changes, some said they hope it can keep its unique flavor and racial mix...

[Charleston native]

From yesterday's P & C Business Section, this is part of the surburban office park developments that are happening around the city. Tobias Gadsden Blvd. is also part of the Glenn McConnell Parkway. This road is going to be another important economic route for this side of the city.

Tool company getting West Ashley digs

REAL ESTATE

BY JOHN MCDERMOTT

Of The Post and Courier Staff

Hagemeyer North America has picked a West Ashley tract for its new headquarters, ending a search that began about 18 months ago. The company, a Dutch-owned distributor of tools and other industrial supplies, will occupy a newly built single-tenant office complex on Tobias Gadsden Boulevard, near Ashley River Road.

Hagemeyer will lease the property from Charlotte-based Faison Enterprises Inc., said Bill Harrison of the Harrison Co., the development adviser on the $8 million project.

...Hagemeyer plans to transfer about 75 jobs from New York and Atlanta to the Lowcountry. That will boost the company's local payroll to about 300, said Ernest Andrade, director of the city of Charleston's Digital Corridor economic development initiative.

Company representatives recently met with city planning officials to start the approval process. "We still have some hurdles to jump through ... but we're optimistic we'll get through them expeditiously," Harrison said...

...Hagemeyer's existing offices are on Montague Avenue. It began soliciting proposals from developers for 50,000 to 60,000 square feet of Class-A space in late 2003. More than 20 offers poured in.

[vicupstate]

Some more good news that is added in with the restaurant opening. This area was in SERIOUS decay for a long time when I was growing up. I had to drive through there during my football practices, and it was just slum. This is an area removed from the historic district that could use a few newer, taller buildings around it. MUSC is taking care of some of that, but some other developers could take care of the "leaning" buildings that badly need to be demolished.

[url="http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=17588

[Charleston native]

Isn't this the same area you have advocated leveling completely?  Obviously, the renaissance is well underway.  I predict in 5 years, that at least 90% of this area will be fully renovated and economically viable.  After all, that is the same thing that happened to the area around the visitor's center.  Ditto for Upper King Street, and before that Lower King Street...

...Those are the guidelines Charleston and other cities have successfully used to bring new life to their urban areas.  If the "level it and start all over approach" or  the "keep ever ball in the air at once" approach have ever worked, I have not seen it. 

If simply building tall office buildigns did the trick, Columbia's Main Street would be a boomtown.  It is not.  It is dead anytime outside of M-F 9-5, and even then it doesn't have much activity.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Vic, you still have misinterpreted my point of view. In no way did I advocate complete destruction of the whole area north of Calhoun Street. As a matter of fact, I have agreed with you to some extent about preservation of historic structures. Here is a quote I wrote you in the "Which city has more potential" post:

The reason to sacrifice SOME (not all) of these old buildings is that some of these buildings have become areas of high crime. You mentioned earlier about how many people that live there really are "law-abiding folks", but I'm not so sure about that. I have a few friends who are city cops, and they talk about how residents will shout and warn drug dealers if they see a cop coming. There was even a City Paper report which confirmed that. These buildings are also huge eyesores and a blight to the main gateway into the city...

...I really do agree with you; we don't want an either or situation, but that is what is in Charleston right now. Chas. wants to be very conservative with its development, but Jax is very liberal with theirs. I think Chas. needs to be in the middle of the road with building new things. They can have some scrutiny and control, but too much of it usually stalls and cancels potential buildings that can add beauty and prosperity to the DT area.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think that this "renaissance" is a very good thing, but Charleston cannot run the risk of becoming a perpetual theme park, an historic Disneyland where there is only one type of architecture prevalent in its DT. That is what unchecked, obsessive preservation does. I believe that some of the challenges that business owners talked about in the article were involving buildings that were past preserving. I think that if they zoned the area correctly, they could place taller office and apartment buildings around the neighborhood or they could build some in the middle, giving the area additional synergy.