Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Charleston, SC - Big City amenities with a small City feel. Life is laid back here. We discuss a little bit of everything - here you'll find some of our notes, musings, ideas, and recommendations by my partner Thea Riley and myself (Mike Terry) with particular emphasis on real estate and projects in the Charleston SC Metro Area. COMMENTS ARE WELCOME and ENCOURAGED. Please notice the Post A Comment link at the bottom of each posting.
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January 2008
Jan. 21, 2008
Riley enters ninth term
In his inaugural speech Monday, Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. stressed the need for a regional development plan, an “impenetrable” urban growth boundary and the speedy development of a light commuter rail connecting Summerville to the peninsula.
“This reduces traffic, congestion and greenhouse gases (and) produces a high quality of life, and this is not something that will continue to be part of a long-range plan,” Riley said of the rail. “We must do it now.”
Riley provided no details about how or when the light rail route would be funded or built.
But Riley said his top priority is the development of children and said he will work with the Charleston County School District to develop more after-school programs. He called on colleges, universities and business and civic organizations to increase their involvement at schools as well.
Riley said he also intends to lobby the state Legislature to fully fund kindergarten for 4-year-olds.
“A wise person said long ago the only thing more expensive than quality education is ignorance,” Riley said. “And we are engaged in global economic competition. If our children are not well educated, our economy will underperform.”
Riley, who’s been the mayor of Charleston since 1975 and who won nearly two-thirds of the vote in November, pledged to increase affordable housing, improve public safety, create a regional land-use plan with the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, increase the number of county and city parks to use as “an impenetrable urban growth boundary,” create a regional police training facility, continue to aid the development of minority- and women-owned businesses and more.
Riley also said he wants to retrofit existing bridges with bicycle and pedestrian paths.
During his talk, Riley addressed the June 18 Sofa Super Store fire that killed nine Charleston firefighters. Riley wants to purchase the land where they died and allow Charleston citizens to choose a memorial.
Riley also called for continued enhancements to the fire department to make the department a national model. The City Council recently approved a 4.5% property tax increase to help fund $2.4 million in fire department upgrades, including more firefighters and new equipment.
“That is the best way to honor our fallen heroes,” Riley said.
Newly elected council members Tim Mallard, Aubry Alexander and Gary White Jr. along with incumbents Jimmy Gallant III, James Lewis Jr. and Louis Waring also took the oath of office.
Jan. 21, 2008
Cigar Factory mixed-use building launches sales
The former industrial building known as The Cigar Factory at 701 East Bay St. has opened a sales and information center as the building’s new owner moves forward with plans to convert the property into a mix of high-end condominiums, office and retail space.
“As the largest historic building on the Charleston peninsula, Cigar Factory is a major part of the ongoing revitalization of the Charleston East side, said Boyd Simpson, president of The Simpson Organization, an Atlanta-based real estate company.
The Simpson Organization purchased the cigar factory in summer 2007 for $22 million and plans 37,000 square feet of retail space along with 26,000 square feet of condominiums priced from $349,000 to $1.5 million.
Tenants are expected to begin moving in summer 2009.
The Cigar Factory was built as an industrial plant in 1881 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been used as a cotton mill, a cigar factory and office space, and was formerly the home of Johnson & Wales University.
Condominiums at The Cigar Factory will include the original brick walls and 15-foot ceilings. Owners will have concierge service, covered parking, a swimming pool and fitness center, a pet park, a club with individual wine storage, a private garden and a rooftop deck with views of Charleston harbor.
Retail and office spaces will be designed to accommodate dining, a gourmet-style grocery store, galleries and boutiques. Offices will have parking.
Jan. 11, 2008
Santee Cooper offers zero-interest loans for solar panels
Looking for creative solutions to produce more energy without emitting greenhouse gases, Santee Cooper announced last week that the utility will offer interest-free loans to customers to cover their cost of installing solar panels or other renewable energy-generating equipment.
The maximum loan amount is $40,000. As part of the plan, the public utility will purchase excess energy back from customers and place it on the grid.
“Renewable energy is a key focus for us as we meet our customers’ need for electricity now and into the future,” said Marc Tye, Santee Cooper vice president of conservation and renewable energy. “Helping customers in this way sends them the signal that we are serious about Santee Cooper Green.”
Santee Cooper Green is the term the utility coined for its goal of generating at least 40% of its power by 2020 from sources that don’t emit greenhouse gases such as solar, wind and nuclear. Successful conservation efforts also will count toward the goal.
The state’s only public utility, which provides power to some 2 million electric customers, rolled out the aggressive agenda while fighting a public relations battle over plans to construct a new coal-fired plant in Florence County.
Environmental groups have assailed the utility, arguing that coal is the dirtiest form of producing electricity, but Santee Cooper says it can’t keep up with rising energy demands without it, and that a new plant would implement the latest environmental control technology that would meet or exceed federal environmental standards.
To talk to a Santee Cooper marketing representative about the loans, call 843-347-3399, ext. 3277, in Horry and Georgetown counties and 843-761-8000, ext. 3277, in Berkeley County.
Jan. 11, 2008
Categorized in: Area - Education
Three SC Universities rank among the best value
Clemson University, the University of South Carolina and College of Charleston all are ranked as among the best deals in public education, according to Kiplinger’s 2008 annual ranking.
Clemson claims the highest spot among the three, ranking No. 33 of 100, but fell from No. 29 last year.
USC, meanwhile, jumped 16 spots to No. 35 after dropping 20 spots in 2006.
College of Charleston also made the list at No. 70, down from 47 last year, as the cost to attend the school increased from an average of $14,762 to $17,272.
To compile the list, Kiplinger analyzed student SAT and ACT scores, university enrollment, student-faculty ratio, graduation rates, total cost and average debt after graduation. The financial magazine will release the ranking in its February issue.
Kiplinger did not mention Clemson or the College of Charleston in the article but singled out USC’s rise on the list for “a more competitive admission rate, plus better test scores.”
“The 2007 freshman class entered the university with the highest average SAT score in our history,” said USC President Andrew Sorensen.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earned top honors for the seventh straight year.
Jan. 11, 2008
Russian firm buys Chevron site for $20 million
Delphin Group USA, the North American division of a Russian petroleum firm, has paid $20 million for a North Charleston industrial site formerly owned by Chevron Corp.
The Virginia Avenue site, which has changed hands numerous times over the past several decades, and which most recently went on the market in September for an asking price of $26 million, is expected to be operational by February, according to published reports.
Delphin Group USA plans to ship various oils to the facility, where they will be mixed, bottled and prepared for sale in both domestic and overseas markets.
At full production, the plant is expected to employ nearly 200 workers and manufacture 10 million gallons of petroleum products annually.
According to promotional materials provided by Colliers Keenan Inc., the Charleston-based industrial brokerage firm that handled the sale, various affiliates of Texaco Inc. owned the site between 1910 and 1998 when it was transferred to a joint venture between Texaco and the Shell Oil Co. know as Equilon Enterprises LLC.
In 2002, as part of the merger between Texaco and Chevron, Texaco sold its interest in the joint venture to Shell. Chevron USA subsequently purchased the property, but decided not to restart petroleum operations at the site, eliminating more than 70 jobs in the process.
Chevron interviewed a number of brokerage firms in June, selecting Colliers Keenan, which had recently sold the nearby Macalloy industrial site. Colliers Keenan’s charge was to sell the property by the end of 2007.
Several elements made the land attractive to Delfin, said Hagood Morrison, who handled the sale with Amanda Kitchen, also of Colliers Keenan.
These included the site’s deep water access on the Port of Charleston’s 45-foot shipping channel, the three rail spurs linking the site to both the Norfolk Southern and CSX rail service, the site’s highway access and the fact that an on-site maintenance crew kept the facility operationally ready even after the plant closed in late 2006.
Kitchen said the brokerage received more than 15 offers for the site resulting in more than 50 visits by prospective buyers.
Morrison said much of the interest came from producers of alternative fuels. At the end of the day, however, “the group which closed was in a similar business as Chevron, lube oil blending and distribution.”
The facility is Delfin Group USA’s first manufacturing plant in North America. Its parent company, Delfin Russia, operates plants in Moscow and Riga, which is adjacent to the Baltic Sea.
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