Managed IT Servicesin Summerville, SC

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - The Town of Summerville announced the approval of the Maple Street Extension project on Monday.

Years after the project was introduced in 2014, Blythe Development Company was awarded the bid to begin construction on the project, which will improve in total a mile and a half of roads throughout Summerville.

The town acquired 90 pieces of property in order to make the project possible with the first of four major projects of the extension being Maple Street, which will be widened from two lanes to four to reduce traffic and improve safety in the area.

The project does not just include Maple Street, but intersection improvements at US-78 adding turn lanes on all approaches, installation of a traffic signal at West Richardson Avenue and new alignment from West Richardson to Parsons Road where it will transition from three lanes to two lanes at the Parsons Road connection.

Summerville Director of Public Works and Town Engineer Russ Cornette has been with the project since the beginning. He says he’s really happy to see the project get approved for construction.

“I think this is the largest purchase order the town of Summerville has ever approved,” Cornette says. “The towns and cities the size of Summerville don’t take on large projects like this; this is kind of a unique situation.”

The cost of the project, including construction engineering and inspection services, will be funded by the Town of Summerville’s Mid-Town Tax Increment Finance District funds up to $11 million Dorchester County Sales Tax Referendum Funds will fund the remaining cost.

“The project purpose is to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety and that whole corridor anytime you have that many cars, taking up that little space that’s there, you’re going to have accidents and we’ve seen that the past four years,” Cornette says. “That extra lanes extra capacity will help congestion and get people moving a little more freely than they are now.”

Construction on the Maple Street Extension project starts in April or May of 2023 with the goal of completion being in the spring of 2025.

“The Maple Street extension project will help alleviate traffic congestion and improve safety,” says Summerville Mayor Ricky Waring. “I am grateful for the support from our agency partners and the Dorchester County voters who supported the transportation sales tax referendum that helped fund this project.”

For further details on the Maple Street Extension project, visit project page on the Town of Summerville’s website.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

A sizable parcel near Mount Pleasant Regional Airport where a large warehouse and office development is being proposed has been sold for $10.5 million.

Charlotte-based Cameron Property Co., an affiliate of Madison Capital Group, bought the 60-acre tract on Faison Road on March 8 from Lerato LLC, according to Charleston County land records. Lerato had owned the site since 2011.

The new owner wants to build three buildings totaling nearly 500,000 square feet northwest of the Faison Road and Park Avenue Boulevard intersection.

The proposed structures, in the master-planned Carolina Park development, will serve as flexible space with offices in the front and storage or showrooms in the rear, according to Lance Ravenscraft with Madison Capital.

Plans presented to state environmental regulators show the largest building will be 187,100 square feet. A second structure will be 181,790 square feet while a third would be 113,400 square feet. More than 400 parking spaces also are planned.

Ravenscraft foresees the business park as having tenants that need office and storage space such as biomedical companies or those that make items such as home building products.

The 1,700-acre Carolina Park development is mostly a residential neighborhood that also includes a hospital, other health care services, schools, fire station, library, churches, senior care facilities, apartments and commercial enterprises.

The tract slated for development sits between Charleston Ear, Nose, Throat & Allergy and Gerber Collision & Glass on Faison Road. A storage facility is planned just north of the Gerber site.

Ravenscraft said development of the site is not imminent, citing tight credit markets and high construction costs.

Changing hands

A North Carolina firm now owns a former Summerville restaurant on a high-traffic corridor.

An affiliate of the commercial real estate development firm Woodhaven Development Group of Raleigh paid $4 million March 6 for the shuttered Mellow Mushroom pizzeria at 1306 N. Main St. The previous owner was Flour-Town Holdings LLC, which bought the site in 2013 for $1.905 million, according to Berkeley County land records.

Mellow Mushroom, which was at the entrance to Azalea Square Shopping Center, closed in 2021 after seven years in Flowertown. A Woodhaven representative did not immediately respond for comment on plans for the building.

Office space

The president of a Mount Pleasant-based furniture firm plans to build a new office building on the former Navy base in North Charleston.

Stephen Jensen, the head of Maxwood Furniture, wants to acquire a 2-acre site at 2335 Noisette Blvd. where a fire station once operated. The S.C. Commerce Department’s Division of Public Railways owns the parcel.

The past use of the property may have caused environmental pollution, and a voluntary cleanup notice has been filed with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control through SAVJ Navy Yard Property LLC.

If a voluntary cleanup contract is approved, DHEC will allow the firm to acquire the property as a “brownfields site,” with cleanup and development subject to state regulations.

Jensen did not immediately respond for comment for further details of the proposed building.

Flying in

Breeze Airways recently leased 240 square feet of office space at 3300 W. Montague Ave. in North Charleston, according to Steve Hund and Trey Davis of the real estate firm Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic, which represented the landlord and tenant in the transaction. The Utah-based carrier flies nonstop to more than 20 cities from Charleston International Airport.

Spring home festival

The Historic Charleston Foundation will present the 76th annual Festival of Houses and Gardens with several new events March 15-April 16.

The five-week event, the foundation’s largest fundraiser and educational tool, provides a glimpse into some of the historic homes and gardens in the 353-year-old city through guided walking tours, workshops, lectures and concerts.

New this year will be a music series featuring jazz, bluegrass and Gullah spirituals as well as a return of history boat cruises and a sunset harbor tour. Also, a finale brunch will be held.

For tickets and more information, go to HistoricCharleston.org/festival

New townhomes

A new townhome community with units starting in the upper $300,000s soon will open in Summerville.

The Townhomes at Daniel’s Orchard at 600 N. Laurel St. will offer 14 residences in two floor plans ranging from 1,852 to 2,182 square feet with two- to four-bedroom options and up to 3½ baths.

Constructed by New Leaf Builders of Johns Island, the development off U.S. Highway 78 offers prospective buyers an optional finished ground floor area that extends the flexible layout by 170 square feet. They can also add an elevator or select their own styles of cabinets, countertops, flooring, trim, plumbing and lighting.

Construction is expected to be completed in the spring. Carolina One New Homes is marketing the property.

SUMMERVILLE — After years of traffic concerns, the town is getting started on a $21 million road project to improve Maple Street.

The road runs from West Richardson Avenue downtown to Nexton Parkway. The project includes widening Maple Street from two to four lanes just east of Shamrock Drive to West Richardson Avenue; adding turn lanes at all approaches to U.S. Highway 78; installing a traffic signal at West Richardson Avenue; and adding a new alignment from West Richardson to Parsons Road, where it will transition from three lanes to two lanes at the Parsons Road connection.

Even mid-morning traffic on Maple Street is notable; it becomes easily congested due to it being a two-way street. If one car needs to turn left, several cars will be held up waiting for the vehicle to turn.

The Maple Street extension has been in the works since 2015 and is one of many road projects the Dorchester County 1 percent sales tax will fund. The tax, which voters elected to continue last year, began in 2004 and has paid for improvements to several roads such as Bacons Bridge Road, S.C. Highway 27 and Patriots Boulevard.

The town of Summerville and Dorchester County are partnering on the project.

Officials said the project will help alleviate congestion in a town beset by traffic concerns as its population has exploded in recent years.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town’s population has jumped from 27,752 in 2000 to 50,915 in 2020. The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments projects the 2030 population to exceed 97,000.

“The Maple Street Extension Project will help alleviate traffic congestion and improve safety,” Mayor Ricky Waring said. “I am grateful for the support from our agency partners and the Dorchester County voters who supported the transportation sales tax referendum that helped fund this project.”

Up to $11 million of the project — including construction and engineering/inspection — will be funded by the town’s midtown tax increment finance district funds. Dorchester County sales tax referendum funds will cover the rest, totaling the construction costs to just under $21 million and engineering costs around $1.2 million.

“This project will be one of the first opportunities the county has to utilize funds made available to us through the continuation of the Transportation Sales Tax,” Dorchester County Council Chairman Todd Friddle said. “The Maple Street Extension Project is a great example of what can be accomplished when we collaborate to improve our community, and we look forward to working together again on future projects.”

Construction will start in April or May, with the goal of completion by spring 2025.

Forklift maker Kion is moving production of the lithium-ion batteries that power its products to its North American headquarters in Summerville as part of a $40 million expansion that will add 450 jobs to the company’s Lowcountry site — roughly doubling its operations and workforce.

The 250,000-square-foot expansion is part of the company’s “Project Home Turf,” which aims to bring production closer to customers, according to marketing director Steve Coleman.

A groundbreaking for the new manufacturing facility, which will be highly automated, will take place Dec. 1 at the Eastport Industrial Complex off U.S. 78. The expansion is scheduled for completion in 2024.

“The market is shifting its focus to electric forklifts and to lithium-ion batteries and alternative fuels,” Coleman said. “It’s a big part of the change we’re going through as an industry now, and we’re trying to keep up with that change.”

Kion, which has its world headquarters in Frankfurt, is also moving production of some components that had been built overseas to its Summerville factory. They include the counterbalances that let front-load forklifts carry heavy objects. Coleman said counterbalances for forklifts using both battery-powered and internal combustion engines will be added to the local manufacturing process.

The move, he said, is intended to tailor Kion’s lineup of machines more toward U.S. buyers.

“The U.S. is so different to everywhere else, and in the past we’ve kind of pushed the European products here in the United States,” Coleman said. “And it doesn’t work, because we have a different operation here and a completely different marketplace. So, these products are designed for the North American market.”

Volvo Cars was one of the first manufacturers to adopt the company’s battery powered forklifts, announcing in 2017 that they would be a mainstay in the automaker’s Ridgeville plant that aims to be carbon-neutral by 2040.

Kion has been in an expansion mode in recent years, with the addition of a 31,000-square-foot site for storage of high-demand parts and another 196,000 square feet for additional production. The company has also established a training center to support about 400 dealer technicians with in-person training and another 1,200 via webinars.

Daniel Schlegel, Kion’s vice president of customer service, told The Post and Courier this year that the investment is an “important milestone of our North American growth strategy,” adding it “puts the necessary foundation in place to provide state-of-the-art aftermarket support” to the company’s dealer network.

Dorchester County Council approved property tax breaks for the latest expansion during a Nov. 21 meeting.

Kion has been around for more than 100 years. It was established toward the end of the 19th century as Baker Motor Vehicle Co., an early pioneer of the electric car business. In 1985, the German-owned company moved its main North American production site — and, later, its U.S. headquarters — to Summerville.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Located at the corner of Berlin Myers Parkway and Highway 78, a 57-acre multi-use property will bring new development to the Summerville area by early 2025.

The property, named Sawmill, will include 474 multi-family apartment units, offices, restaurants, hotels, stores, banks, outdoor spaces and a 40,000-square-foot Roper St. Francis facility.

Summerville spokesperson Mary Edwards said the task to get the development started was a long process.

“It’s something that people have been wanting for a long time, and council has really supported the developers, too. It’s a big deal for us; I mean, it’s a new big development that’s coming to our area,” Edwards said. “It’s something that’s needed. It’s something that the public has really wanted.”

The developers, Lee & Associates, said in a news release that “a new walkable community designed to better connect residents with the fun they want and services they need will be anchored by a major healthcare system.”

Although not everyone in the area is excited about the new development. Some members of the Summerville community shared their concerns on a Facebook post with over 400 comments mentioning traffic problems, school enrollment and housing availability.

Located near the development, the Spinx gas station may see increased traffic with the upcoming construction. Employee Rona Emons, shared her concerns.

“I don’t think we can really handle it because this road is already always backed up; it’s already hard to get in and out of the store,” she said. “I think that’s going to make it a lot worse unless they try to widen the road somehow, which I don’t know how they can do that. But yeah, it’s going to cause a lot of congestion in this area.”

In response to the concerns, Edwards said the city and developers studied research before deciding if the project was appropriate for the area.

“The town is growing really fast,” Edwards said. “So, we know that people want to come here, and they want to experience the area. We want to be able to provide these types of options for people when they come.”

Construction on the health care facility and multi-family apartment units will begin in early 2023.

“I’m kind of excited,” Emons said. “I’d like to get out. You know, it’d be nice to see something new in this area. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it in some ways, and otherwise, I’m kind of a little leery of it.”

Overall, the project is expected to cost $200 million.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.