Co-Working Space Near West Ashley, SC

The site of a former grocery store in Charleston soon will house several new tenants.

The former location of Doscher’s IGA, which was demolished earlier this year next to Whole Foods Market in West Ashley Station Shopping Center, is being redeveloped into six new shop spaces for retailers and a restaurant.

Coming to the 16,200 square feet of new construction are Another Broken Egg Cafe with a patio on the south end as well as Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, clothing store House of Sage, hair salon Nikita and beverage shop Sunshine Liquors, according the to commercial real estate firm Carolina Retail Experts.

Pet supply shop Hollywood Feed also will relocate to a larger space in the new multitenant building from an outparcel site beside Chase Bank. Pet care operator GoodVets plans to occupy the current site of Hollywood Feed.

Two new outparcel buildings under construction, each with two merchant spaces, have lined up one tenant each.

In the structure near Savannah Highway, Pacific Dental Services will occupy half of the roughly 5,400-square-foot building. In the 5,000-square-foot structure behind it, workout site MADabolic has leased about 60 percent of the building.

All of the new structures are under construction. Opening dates have not been announced.

Now open

Two new restaurant venues recently opened in southern Moncks Corner.

Dog & Duck is now serving at 2826 U.S. 52 in the Publix-anchored Moncks Corner Marketplace Shopping Center at Cypress Gardens Road.

It’s the fifth Lowcountry location for the pub. Two are in Mount Pleasant in Belle Hall and Park West, another is in Charleston on Clements Ferry Road in the Cainhoy area and one more is on Trolley Road in Summerville.

Also, fast-food restaurant Wendy’s opened nearby in October on U.S. Highway 52 near Foxbank Plantation and Cypress Gardens Road.

What’s cooking?

A new sandwich restaurant soon will open on Johns Island.

Jersey Mike’s Subs is coming to Maybank Commons at 1800 Produce Lane on Johns Island. The 1,361-square-foot eatery is expected to open before year’s end.

The strip retail center also has two nearly 3,000-square-foot spaces and a 1,361-square-foot slot. The new restaurant is eyeing a December opening, according to the contractor.

Gassing up

A Savannah-based convenience store and gas station chain continues to throttle ahead with new locations in the Charleston area.

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Parker’s Kitchen recently secured a ground lease for the property owned by Gregorie Land Co. LLC at 4315 Savannah Highway, where Circle K convenience store and gas station operates at S.C. Highway 162 near Rantowles Creek.

The five-year lease took effect Oct. 19 and can be extended four more times over the next 25 years, according to Charleston County land records.

The convenience store chain also is adding two more stores in the Charleston area.

Parker’s recently applied for a state license to sell beer and wine at 343 College Park Road in Ladson.

When it was first announced in 2020, plans included a truck stop, but nearby residents, environmentalists and county officials opposed the truck addition because they feared the disturbance of wetlands in Ancrum Swamp next to the 17-acre site.

Real Estate

Savannah-based Parker’s paid $950,000 for the property in 2020, according to Berkeley County land records.

Another Parker’s Kitchen is under development in Ingleside Plantation at the juncture of Palmetto Commerce Parkway and Weber Boulevard. The company has several other locations in the Lowcountry.

Parker’s also recently donated $135,000 to Lowcountry Food Bank through a round-up campaign from customers and a 25 percent match by the company.

New leases

A new nail salon and wellness spa are coming to Summerville.

Nail Garden LLC leased 2,800 square feet at 143 Berkeley Circle and Energy Enhancement Centers USA leased 3,080 square feet at the same address.

Real Estate

Brent Case and Hannah Kamba of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic represented the landlord, Azalea 888 Zhou Tang LLC, in both transactions. Jenna Philipp of Palmetto Commercial Properties represented the spa tenant.

The retail site is near Azalea Square Shopping Center off North Main Street.

Now open

Hurricane Coffee will celebrate its grand opening Nov. 3-4 at 650 College Park Road, Unit H, in the Food Lion-anchored shopping center near Stratford High School on the edge of Goose Creek.

The shop will have offer giveaways, raffles and products from several vendors during its grand opening event 5:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.

A portion of all sales from both days will be donated to Omar Shriners Pirate Unit.

The shop also will offer free coffee, including its special white espresso, to all first responders all the time as well as a 10 percent discount on other items on the menu for all first responders, nurses, teachers and all active and veteran military members. The shop also collects goods for victims of human trafficking and domestic abuse.

The shop previously operated from a food truck in a couple of nearby temporary locations.

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A woman and her son say more should have been done after she was without a landline for over one month.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A woman and her son say more should have been done after she was without a landline for over one month.

Queen Little has lived in the North Forest Acres neighborhood in West Ashley for over 40 years.

Her phone line has been out since June 5. Queen suspects it was cut during construction work on Playground Road.

For the last six weeks, Queen’s son, Darrin Little, has been persistently calling their phone carrier, AT&T.

“They gave me a date for when it would be on, that day came and went and it wasn’t on,” Darrin said. “Called again, called again, called again, kept getting dates and dates and dates.”

Queen has underlying health issues, and Darrin said not having a working landline in her house is dangerous.

“She needs a means of communicating with me, with my brothers, in an emergency she needs that phone,” Darrin said.

Queen said she keeps minutes on her cell phone but rarely uses it. She said she feels more comfortable with a permanent, dependable option, like her landline.

“I’m a senior citizen, I’m 78 next month. I need things like that,” Queen said. “And especially having COPD, I could have a flare-up any time.”

One day after Live 5 News reached out to AT&T, phone access was restored to Queen’s household.

The phone rang for the first time in Queen’s household in over a month during a Live 5 News interview with Darrin and Queen. It was AT&T calling to let them know phone access was restored.

“We’ve been calling for weeks, and nothing has happened until Live 5 reached out to them, and now ironically, the phone’s on,” Darrin said. “Our conversation didn’t matter, but when you guys reached out to them, it mattered.”

Queen said she has had a lonely month without a phone, describing her home as a “ghost house.”

“They fixed it today because y’all came here and I appreciate y’all doing it, but it should never have been that way because I’m a paying customer,” Queen said.

It wasn’t only Queen that went without a landline.

Betty Poaches lives a couple of streets over from Queen, and also went without landline access for six weeks.

Poaches has lived in the North Forest Acres neighborhood since 1959. She is not able to use a cell phone because of her hearing aids.

Her daughter said over the last six weeks she’s worried about her mother’s safety.

“Without her having a phone I came here every day, because she had no protection,” her daughter, Regina Gamble, said.

A spokesperson from AT&T provided the following statement:

We’ve restored home phone service to this customer following repairs to a section of our cable that experienced water damage during recent heavy rains. We apologize for the delay.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Several hundred new homes are in the works on the edge of Charleston.

In two recent submittals to the city, Mungo Homes plans to build more than 800 homes in the 3,000-acre Long Savannah development in West Ashley.

The Irmo-based builder recently submitted plans for 568 houses on 156 acres on Bear Swamp Road off Bees Ferry Road.

The proposal comes after the builder submitted plans earlier this year to build 237 homes on about 56 acres at the end of Barons Drive.

A representative of Mungo Homes did not immediately respond for comment.

Developers have rights to build 4,500 homes in total on the property on the edge of Charleston and Dorchester counties.

In 2021, builders and environmental groups settled a challenge to the development to avoid some wetlands destruction and allow for natural water flow by removing older roadbeds used years ago for logging and phosphate mining.

The project also includes conserved green space, and a $250,000 donation by developers to a trust to fund water-management projects in the three drainage basins that the development covers.

More multifamily

A new apartment development is in the works for Johns Island.

Ninety affordable multifamily housing units are slated for 9.35 acres at 1725 River Road next to the entrance to Fenwick Hall Plantation, according to plans presented to the city of Charleston.

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The property is owned by the city, which paid $3.3 million for it in 2020.

Storing stuff

A Mount Pleasant-based real estate investment company recently acquired two self-storage properties in the Southeast.

Ziff Real Estate Partners bought a 44,875-square-foot climate-controlled facility in Anderson. The site, previously called Pearman Dairy Self Storage, will be called StoreEase.

Real Estate

The company also purchased a ground-up development tract in Summerfield, Fla., near The Villages master-planned community. When completed, the storage site will be 77,625 square feet with both climate- and non-climate-controlled units. It, too, will be a StoreEase facility.

Finding a home

The Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce now has a physical office for the first time.

The pro-business group has partnered with Pinnacle Financial Partners to lease a 2,000-square-foot space that’s designed to grow staff, hold meetings and have some events at 534 Johnnie Dodds Blvd.

Boom & Balance

Chamber president Jennifer Maxwell said the organization has aspired to have a physical presence in the town for several years.

“This is crucial as part of our plan to continue to grow and support the businesses and community East of the Cooper,” she said.

Just a few turns off Savannah Highway, as the car dealerships and fast-food joints give way to expansive views of saltwater and marsh, a one-story home is nestled among a thicket of wildlife.

Four massive live oak trees anchor the lawn. Bird feeders dangle from the heavy branches. A gravel path snakes its way through nearly 100 species of flowering plants, trees, grasses, shrubs and more. Bees, butterflies and other animals flap and crawl, happy to call this place home.

Elliotte Quinn has created an oasis in his front yard.

Quinn, who moved with his family to Edgewater Park three years ago, is part of a growing number of property owners choosing to embrace native planting. The technique uses specific plant species to attract native pollinators, ultimately creating a balanced food web.

Proponents argue native plants help battle erosion, reduce air pollution and promote biodiversity. Pesticides and lawn mowers are no longer needed as the ecosystem begins to keep itself in check.

Native yards vastly differ depending on the gardener. But they almost never fit the mold of a traditional American lawn — grassy and weedless, with a few evergreen bushes framing the front, said David Manger, owner of Roots and Shoots, a native plant nursery in West Ashley.

A native yard, particularly to the untrained eye, can look wild and unkempt, Manger said. Some property owners find themselves fighting community associations, disapproving neighbors or government ordinances to keep their chosen aesthetic.

Quinn can attest. The father of three, who works during the day as a lawyer specializing in construction defects, has received two complaints in under a year from Charleston County’s zoning and planning department.

Code enforcement officers told him the front yard violated an ordinance concerning weeds and rank vegetation. The most recent complaint — a June 7 letter shared with The Post and Courier — threatened a summons and hefty fine if he didn’t get rid of the “overgrowth.”

Both times, after Quinn explained his choice to cultivate the yard with native plants, county officials dropped the case.

Columnists

‘Quinn’s Meadow’

Quinn’s passion for native planting exploded during summer 2020, in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. He started a vegetable garden with his young daughters, spurred by a childhood interest in wildlife and conservation.

They grew tomatoes and pumpkins, but worms began destroying the plants. Not wanting to spray the garden with pesticides, Quinn began reading about natural alternatives. He learned what he could plant to attract predator insects.

“That kind of spiraled off into something of an obsession with native plants,” he said.

Quinn ripped up the grass in his front yard, tossed out some seeds and bedded a few plants. He eventually hired someone to turn over the topsoil, put down compost and create gravel walkways.

The garden — which his daughters affectionately call “Quinn’s Meadow” — grew from there.

Green is the dominant color across the yard. But if a visitor sat on the front porch swing where Quinn likes to spend early mornings, they’d notice pockets of flowers interspersed with grass and fruit trees. They might hear the chirp of a painted bunting, delighting in its feathery rainbow of reds, blues and greens.

Manger, who used to lead the Charleston Permaculture Guild, said the number of people committing to sustainable agriculture has increased over the years. He’s noticed property owners beginning to steer away from typical yard spaces.

Edgewater Park, where Quinn lives, doesn’t have a homeowners association. But Manger said more people are coming to Roots and Shoots for advice on how to use native plants and work around stringent rules.

A compromise, for instance, could be to cover half of the yard with native plants and leave a small mowing strip of grass at the front, Manger said. This signals to neighbors the garden is both maintained and intentionally designed.

My wife and I are raising our two boys in West Ashley. They play baseball and soccer at West Ashley and Ackerman Parks, First Tee at Shawdowmoss Golf & Country Club, and basketball at the Bees Landing Recreation Center. We ride our bikes and go for walks in our neighborhood of Carolina Bay. It’s where we shop, go out to eat and meet with friends. West Ashley is also where the current mayor has failed to lead time and time again over nearly eight years.

The reality is that planned and consistent improvements, shared-use paths, beautification, and integration of service and amenities in West Ashley has been slow, nonexistent in some areas and outright ignored in others. Put simply, the city has not consistently invested in improving the quality of life and capturing the vibrant spirit of the largest part of our beloved city.

This long overdue work is not right, fair nor equitable.

The Sumar Street redevelopment is a prime example. For that development, only one developer responded to the city’s request for a proposal. Going with one developer is not a good practice when dealing with public dollars for such a project.

That developer is seeking $100 for a 99-year lease and millions of dollars for the development’s parking needs, but putting $23 million toward an underground garage does not make that area prime for private sector investment.

Rather than complement the next door Ashley Landing redevelopment, the city chose to compete with it. The limited vision, planning and implementations continue because the mayor created a tie rather than vote in the majority in order to take meaningful action at the July City Council meeting.

The incumbent has moved too slowly to implement any of the recommendations from the Plan West Ashley document that the city spent $500,000 to produce. The West Ashley Project Coordinator has no budget, staff and authority to provide the needed services, engagement, and progress the largest part of our city has lacked.

A plan without the right level of personnel and budget to implement its findings creates illusions, false hope and frustrations. We can change this. The largest part of the city can’t be without the staff and resources to service residents and businesses.

Imagine what we can do for West Ashley and other parts of our city that have been left behind if we apply for more of the millions of available federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. We have an opportunity to secure such funds, and I will make it a top priority to pursue this funding and bring such resources to our city.

My experience and current work at the local, state, and federal levels of government uniquely puts us in the best position to accomplish this.

We can stop imagining better gateways to West Ashley, better drainage, better roads and streets, sidewalks, safe bike lanes, connectivity, façade improvements, gathering spots and so much more — and start living it. We need a workhorse to get this done.

If you are happy with the level of leadership and service you have received over the past eight years, I’m not your person. However, if you want more and expect more from your mayor and city, I have something tangible to offer.

Clay Middleton is a native Charlestonian who is running for mayor. A Citadel graduate, he serves as a lieutenant colonel in the S.C. Army National Guard. He previously served as director of Business Services for the city of Charleston, where he led the Business & Neighborhood Services division. He also has served in the Obama administration and as a longtime aide to U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.

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