Roof Repair in Jedburg, SC

Clarius Partners and Stonemont Financial Group have announced that Buildings 3 and 4 are available for lease at the partnership’s Omni Industrial Campus in Summerville, S.C. The two speculative buildings total nearly 971,000 square feet of Class A industrial space.

Bridge Commercial is the exclusive leasing agent in charge of the 1.3 million-square-foot industrial park, expected to be delivered in June 2023.

Omni Industrial Campus is situated on nearly 100 acres, within the Jedburg Industrial Corridor, close to Interstate 26, 22 miles from North Charleston Port, 26 miles from Hugh Leatherman Terminal and within 32 miles of the Port Charleston, one of the fastest-growing ports in the U.S. over the last decade. The development is also situated close to the 4,500-acre, master-planned community Nexton, and other residential areas, allowing future tenants easy access to the market’s workforce.

Designed to serve a variety of users

Bridge Commercial’s team led by Executive Vice Presidents Hagood Morrison and Simons Johnson, President Peter Fennelly and Associate Vice President Will Crowell are the appointed leasing brokers in charge of the development.

The project’s initial building, Building 2, encompassing 360,320 square feet of space is fully preleased to a long-term, build-to-suit tenant. The remaining two buildings will feature 36-foot clear heights, LED lightning and ESFR sprinkler systems. The 364,700-square-foot Building 3, designed to accommodate multiple tenants, will have 305 vehicle parking spots, 79 trailer parking spots, four drive-in doors and 36 dock high doors, while the 606,880-square-foot Building 4, designed for large volume distribution, will have 350 vehicle parking spots, 157 trailer parking spots, four drive-in doors and 64 dock-high doors. Additionally, all three properties will also have a speculative office component, available for occupancy starting June of this year.

READ ALSO: Heightened Industrial Demand Boosts New Lease Rates

The industrial project is the largest option near the Port of Charleston for companies looking for an intermodal distribution point in the Southeast region, Stonemont Managing Principal & CEO Zack Markwell said in a prepared statement.

Earlier this month, Avison Young was tapped as leasing agent in charge of another industrial property under development in the Charleston area. The firm will market for lease a 545,000-square-foot project in Ridgeville, S.C., that is part of Camp Hall Commerce Park, a 6,800-acre master-planned development.

Construction of the biggest speculative industrial project in the Charleston region kicks off this week with a groundbreaking event for the 1.1 million-square-foot development at Crossroads Logistics Center in Summerville.

The site, near the Jedburg Road exit on Interstate 26, is being built out by a partnership between Citimark Realty and Pure Development. The Indianapolis companies formed Citimark Pure Charleston LLC to buy roughly 131 acres fronting I-26 for $8.75 million last year.

Their first building will eclipse by 10 percent the previous record for a local “spec” project — a 1 million-square-foot structure at the nearby Charleston Trade Center.

The Crossroads project is scheduled for completion by late 2022. Plans call for three more buildings to rise in two phases totaling an additional 1.53 million square feet at the Berkeley County site.

Wednesday’s groundbreaking will feature speakers from the State Ports Authority, operator of the Port of Charleston, as well as commercial real estate firm CBRE Inc., which is marketing the project.

The term speculative in this instance means that no tenants have been secured at the time construction begins.

While such projects continue to grow in size and scope, they still don’t approach the region’s biggest-single industrial property. That distinction belongs to the cavernous 3 million-square-foot import hub built just up I-26 in Dorchester County for retail giant Walmart.

The Crossroads project is part of a boom in speculative industrial-grade real estate deals in the Charleston area, particularly along the I-26 corridor from North Charleston to Ridgeville. Almost all of it is being driven by the need to store and sort goods that retailers are importing through Charleston.

Mike White, broker in charge of Daniel Island-based Charleston Industrial, said about 5.1 million square feet of “Class A” space is set to open by the end of this year. Most of that space will be snapped up before a certificate of occupancy is issued, he added.

“The conditions of a high demand and low volume of space available will continue,” White said.

No wonder?

CNN will feature Charleston in its upcoming fourth season of “The Wonder List with Bill Weir,” but it’s not looking to be yet another wonderful tourist piece.

The series is now part of the content catalog at CNN+, the cable network’s subscriber-based streaming service.

The four new shows will focus on “fascinating locations at a critical crossroads brought on by climate change,” according to a written statement last week.

The season kicks off April 21, on the eve of Earth Day.

Weir, who has been CNN’s climate correspondent for about a decade, will anchor reports from Montana, Greenland and Hawaii as well as coastal South Carolina.

In its statement, the network suggested that the Charleston episode will look at the “surging seas and frequent floods” that “batter one of America’s most storied cities and the critical reminders of its slave trade past.”

Material event

A North Charleston-based global textile manufacturer’s next stop in its 232-year journey is in the Lone Star State.

AstenJohnson, which makes specialty fabrics for industrial customers such as paper mill operators, recently picked Waco, Texas, for a new 220,000-square-foot plant that will employ 36 workers.

The $40 million factory is expected to open in 2023 and will make “nonwovens,” a widely used material formed by bonding synthetic fibers through either a chemical, mechanical or heating process.

In this case, the specialty textiles to be made in Waco will be sold to manufacturers in the automotive, aerospace, filtration and piping industries, among others.

A local economic development group provided the 36-acre plant site, and the company qualified for $2 million in public financial assistance from the city and county, according to a report in the Waco Tribune-Herald.

“The long-term prospects for our nonwovens business are excellent,” CEO Kevin Frank said in a written statement. “Customer demand for our products has only been growing. This investment will allow us to satisfy the increasing demand and continue to offer more products and innovation.”

The global company expanded into the nonwoven sector when it acquired a Missouri-based manufacturer in 2014. It bought another plant a few years ago in New Hampshire.

AstenJohnson traces its corporate ancestry to a family-owned wire business that was started in 1790 in Manchester, England. It’s now headquartered on Corporate Road. Its only South Carolina plant is in Clinton.

1M milestone

Boeing South Carolina’s science-and-math-focused education program has learned that it’s reached a major milestone.

The manufacturer, which makes its 787 Dreamliner in North Charleston, announced last week that more than 1 million students had participated in DreamLearners, a STEM-heavy instructional outreach it launched about 10 years ago in the Palmetto State.

As part of the program, school kids have toured the Boeing South Carolina campus and have had the program come to them in their classrooms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, DreamLearners went virtual.

Students do a hands-on paper airplane activity and learn about careers in the core STEM elements of science, technology, engineering and math, as well as advanced manufacturing and aerospace.

More than 7,600 Boeing employees have volunteered to participate in DreamLearners, the company said.

Boeing celebrated hitting the seven-figure milestone last week at North Charleston Elementary School, not far from its 787 Dreamliner campus.

Hey, bow

A Charleston-born business built from formal-wear feathers made famous by celebrities has fashioned a new formation to fete its decade-old creations.

Brackish, a bow-tie retailer that launched after groomsmen’s wedding gifts made from turkey feathers proved popular, is toasting its 10 years in business with a new neckwear adornment called “Cheers.”

The latest version features a turkey feather in the center, a nod to the original design. Its colors — blue, white, green and others — are meant to reflect the Palmetto State from the salty Atlantic to the rolling hills of the Upstate.

Owners Ben Ross and Jeff Plotner, friends from their college days at Wofford, say the commemorative and limited-edition tie “instantly invokes good times with family, friends and, in this case, feathers.”

Lounging about

Edwin Hughes figures he’s spent about half of his adult life at Charlotte Douglas International.

As a member of American Airlines’ Executive Platinum club, he is a frequent visitor to the big Queen City airport, which serves a major hub for the carrier.

Now he has a new place to spend his layovers. A passenger lounge concept that’s already available at Charleston International recently opened its doors at Charlotte Douglas.

The Airports Dimensions-operated Club CLT in Concourse A made its debut March 30. It’s open daily from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and seats 105. Hughes, who lives in West Ashley, said it’s a welcome refuge from the hustle and bustle at the North Carolina travel waystation that accommodated more than 43 million passengers in 2021.

“If you’ve got a long layover and you need to get some work done or just relax, it’s a great extra amenity,” said Hughes, who travels about 40 weeks out of the year. “If you fly out of Charleston, you’ll either have to go through Charlotte or Atlanta on most flights, so it’s nice to have this place to go if you’re an American flyer.”

Anyone can access the lounge with a $45 day pass. Club CLT is also available to Priority Pass members, a lounge access membership that starts at $99 a year. Customers in the lounge are limited to a three-hour maximum stay. Food and drink are complimentary with entry.

The Club concept also has outposts in Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and 10 other U.S. airports. Club CHS at Charleston International opened in mid-2019.

As 2023 wrapped up for the hospitality industry, downtown Charleston’s biggest hotel nabbed one more recognition as it prepares to undergo a major overhaul.

The Charleston Place made Condé Nast Traveler’s worldwide “Gold List,” which identified 75 properties as getaway destinations for 2024. They were handpicked by the magazine’s editors.

The 434-room hotel and retail complex at King, Market, Meeting and Hasell streets is the only South Carolina lodging to make the cut and one of 13 in U.S. The international hotels Conde Nast singled out included The Ritz Paris and The Four Seasons Hotel Greshum Palace in Budapest.

According to the accompanying review, The Charleston Place had a “stately European elegance with a heap of Southern charm.” It gave high remarks to the dining and retail scene at the hotel, the lobby’s welcome atmosphere and accessibility to locals and added amenities like childcare and dog sitters on site.

Becky Hubbard, managing director of The Charleston Place, said being recognized by major travel media outlet helps keep the city on the map and that it’s indicative of the local industry’s success.

“When we’re creating these experiences, we’re always thinking about the kind of memories that people are going to take away once they leave,” Hubbard said. “Charleston’s hotels elevate tourism and travel as a whole.”

Last year, Conde Nast readers named Charleston as the most popular for the second year in a row. The streak follows a brief dethroning in 2021 after the city’s decade-long stay in the top spot. Rival publication Travel + Leisure ranked Charleston as the “Best City in the U.S” to visit for the 11th consecutive year.

The Charleston Place owner Beemok Hospitality Collection has a $150 million renovation starting this year. The locally based company owned by Ben Navarro and his family will kick off the overhaul with improvements to the exterior façade and the second-floor banquet spaces, according to management.

A large Berkeley County tract near the Summerville area's industrial real estate epicenter recently sold for nearly $17 million.

Rushmark Properties paid $16.8 million in late May for about 300 acres along Interstate 26 southwest of Jedburg Road and north of Dawson Branch Road, according to public land records.

The largest chunk of land in the transaction — about 263 acres — was sold by North Charleston Lands Corp. for about $15.3 million. A group of smaller adjoining parcels made up the remainder of the deal.

Business

The property is just west of a parcel off Woodhill Patch Lane near Jedburg Road that was sold for $5.75 million in October to an affiliate of Camping World.

A representative of Rushmark did not respond to a request for comment about the plans for its newly acquired property.

The Falls Church, Va.-based firm has been active in the local market for years. Among Rushmark's previous commercial real estate holdings was a part ownership with Charleston developer and investor Frank Haygood in the S.H. Kress & Co. building at 281 King St. on the peninsula. They sold the art deco-style structure for $19.5 million in 2019.

Now open

A new apartment development is now open on the Charleston peninsula.

Quarterra Multifamily, a subsidiary of single-family homebuilding giant Lennar Corp., and Cresset Partners last week announced the completion of the 303-unit Cormac Apartments where Morrison Drive meets Meeting Street Road.

Real Estate

The rental complex has studio to two-bedroom apartments with monthly rates ranging from $1,500 to $4,000. Residents have access to a controlled-access, three-story, above-grade garage as well as on-street parking and 19 electric-vehicle charging stations.

The complex also features an eighth-floor rooftop terrace with a butler kitchen. Three elevated courtyards can be found on the fourth floor, including one with a pool and clubhouse.

Cormac also includes 13,068 square feet of retail space and a pair of public ground-level courtyards. The moniker comes from the birth name of 18th-century pirate Anne Bonny, who may have lived in Charleston as a child.

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New builder

The company behind a Berkeley County tract as big as the Charleston peninsula is adding its own homebuilder to the lineup of companies already doing business at the site.

Brookfield Residential, which acquired Newland, the former developer of the 5,000-acre Nexton project near Summerville in 2021, plans to build a new collection of townhomes in the mixed-use community as its first project in South Carolina.

The builder is an affiliate of Brookfield Properties, which invests in logistics, hospitality and retail assets. Among its holdings is Columbiana Centre in the Midlands.

The Nexton townhomes will be built in the Midtown neighborhood. The 1,600-square-foot, two-story, three-bedroom properties will be priced starting in the mid-$300,000s.

They also can be outfitted with extra driveway space and a one- or two-car garage. Pre-sales will begin mid-summer with a model residence opening later this year.

Builders in Nexton have sold more than 2,600 homes to date. At completion, it's projected to have more than 7,000 dwellings, or about 17,500 residents, making it as big as the populations of Moncks Corner and Georgetown combined.

Other Nexton builders include Ashton Woods, Centex, David Weekley, Del Webb, Homes by Dickerson, New Leaf, Pulte Homes, Saussy Burbank and True Homes.

Nexton is owned by a subsidiary of North America Sekisui House LLC and is managed by Brookfield.

Rebranding

A national nonprofit with an office in Charleston that provides apartment companies with pre-screened, trained and ready-to-work talent is now operating under a new name.

The former Shelters to Shutters is now Entryway.

Real Estate

The multifamily industry continues to grapple with high turnover rates for entry-level employees. Entryway offers a unique program that focuses on sourcing talent where hiring managers may not be looking: individuals and families at risk of or facing situational homelessness.

The nonprofit offers training, employment and housing to qualified individuals who aren't living on the street but are close to it.

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SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Newly obtained documents show dozens of complaints have been filed in recent years against a Summerville youth treatment facility, alleging there are bugs, abuse, dangerously low staffing levels, violent fights and blood and vomit smeared throughout the building.

Mary Wilcox’s grandson spent time in that facility, Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health, earlier this year.

“Terror” is how she describes her feelings about the residential facility, which is for children and teens ages 7-18 with emotional and behavioral issues.

Her 13-year-old grandson was admitted to the youth residential treatment facility earlier this year.

For weeks, he stayed locked behind the doors of the facility; for weeks he recounted the horror and violence to his grandmother; and for weeks, Wilcox said she fought to get him out.

“[He] was abused in ways that most parents would say would be the worst thing to happen to their child,” Wilcox says.

During phone calls with his grandmother and an in-person visit, he detailed vicious fights, sexual assaults and abuse.

“He was struggling to deal with what was going on, and he attempted to escape,” Wilcox said. “He was handled by a staff member who slammed his head into a chain link fence causing a gash, causing blood to drop down his face.”

Her grandson’s story is not the first troubling one that has been shared. Nearly 200 pages of documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request for complaints against the facility in the past few years detail allegations of what some say erupts in the hallways and common areas and what hides, tucked away in patients’ rooms.

The dozens of complaints filed describe alleged bug infestations, inadequate staffing, filthy conditions, overmedicating and a prison-like environment.

One complaint says a staff member attacked a patient.

“On the video, it was observed that a staff member placing [redacted] into a choke hold and then it is observed on camera that same staff member punching [redacted] six times once [redacted] is taken down to the ground,” the complaint states.

Another states a patient was so heavily medicated they fainted. In a different complaint, an employee is accused of grabbing a patient by the shirt, pulling them down and kneeing them in the face.

“It does not surprise me at all,” Wilcox says. “My grandson communicated similar conditions to me. It is very alarming that this happened to my grandson; it’s alarming that children are in the facility still.”

One complaint alleges the facility frequently only has one nurse on duty with 60 patients and was so short-staffed they couldn’t provide proper treatment.

Another states there have been “numerous human rights violations” and claims patients are refused medical treatment and prescriptions.

“Supervisors explicitly tell staff to ‘treat them like prisoners because they are here for punishment’ rather than treating the patients with compassion as they go through treatment,” the complaint states.

Another complaint describes cockroaches and ants crawling around and blood and vomit smeared inside.

“[Palmetto Summerville] should be investigated,” Wilcox says. “They need to be checked out. They need to be monitored, and they need to be held accountable.”

The State Department of Health and Environmental Control is the agency responsible for investigating complaints against health facilities like Palmetto Summerville. It can also penalize them.

“When there is noncompliance with the licensing standards, the facility must submit an acceptable written plan of correction to DHEC that must be signed by the administrator and returned by the date specified on the report of inspection/investigation,” an email from DHEC states. “When DHEC determines that a facility is in violation of any statutory provision, rule, or regulation relating to the operation or maintenance of such facility, DHEC, upon proper notice to the licensee, may impose a monetary penalty, and deny, suspend, or revoke licenses.”

Last month, DHEC investigated two complaints against Palmetto Summerville, but no violations were cited, according to officials. In August, however, the facility was fined $19,000 for nine violations.

“DHEC executed a consent order with the facility in August after it was determined that it was appropriate to impose a civil monetary penalty for violations of Regulation 61-103,” the email from DHEC states.

Some of those violations, documents show, include failing to have a registered nurse immediately accessible by phone and available within 30 minutes, failing to notify DHEC of a serious accident or incident within 24 hours, failing to make sure residents were free from harm and failing to make sure medications were available for administration.

“[Patients] are further traumatized,” Wilcox says. “They are further placed into a downward spiral by being in these facilities.”

That downward spiral and that trauma, she says, prevent any effective treatment for the children who spend time at Palmetto Summerville and similar facilities.

Some studies show that could be right.

One study shows there’s not enough research to know if the interventions — therapy, activities and treatments — inside these facilities are effective or an effective use of money.

“We also don’t know a lot about what the, what treatments they’re actually getting because we don’t necessarily see the day-to-day life of these kids in these facilities,” Roderick Rose, an associate professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore and researcher in the study, says.

A common trend in the facilities: Medication. One study shows about 90 percent of stays at facilities analyzed included an antipsychotic medication, even though only 3 percent of patients were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder.

“You also see just a lot of medicating children,” Rose says.

For her grandson, Wilcox believes the best treatment has been being back home. He’s in school and playing basketball and is doing better. The trauma from the facility still lingers, however, and Wilcox says she prays other children can get the help they need outside of the gates of Palmetto Summerville.

“I am so very grateful that he is one child that escaped being in the situation he was in long,” she says. “Other children, as well, to be rescued, which is a most appropriate word. They need to be rescued from these facilities.”

Norman Bradley, the director of risk management and performance improvement for Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health released this statement:

Due to HIPAA patient privacy laws, we cannot offer comment on specific patients or their care.

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health takes all allegations of abuse seriously and completes full investigations as warranted. Any and all allegations required to be reported to the Department of Health and Environmental Control have been done, and necessary action plans have been implemented to address the issues raised. Recent site visits by DHEC have been positive and have resulted in no findings.

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health is a residential treatment facility for girls and boys ages 7 to 18, in need of a highly structured, therapeutic environment. Our patient satisfaction scores reflect the care that is delivered by our compassionate and dedicated team.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - A Berkeley County intersection has seen 13 accidents this year based on data from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety and now residents are asking for changes.

“It’s dangerous,” are two words people used to describe the intersection of Jedburg Road and Drop Off Drive.

This intersection could be a stop-and-go spot if you’re headed away from the Lowcountry towards Charlotte or Columbia or it could be a part of the routine drive to work. Residents who have lived near the intersection for years say problems are only getting worse.

At the intersection, drivers have the opportunity to turn left, right, or continue straight on all sides. The problem is the lack of a traffic signal at the intersection.

Residents say they’ve contacted the South Carolina Department of Transportation multiple times for a solution to the problem with answers ranging from “a light or roundabout was not needed in the area,” to “SCDOT does not put lights in close proximity to interchanges.”

Wendy Odom, who works in the area and is a Summerville resident, says it’s another accident waiting to happen.

“Especially at nighttime, these roads are dark, and you hardly have any streetlights coming out,” Odom said. “It’s going to be an accident one day.”

SCDOT Director of Strategic Communications Ginny Jones says the agency has been working with Berkeley County to improve Jedburg Road.

“The intersection is not eligible for a signal due to proximity to the interchange and traffic signal at the ramp,” Jone said. “However, SCDOT has been working with Berkeley County and they have recently finalized a corridor study which conceptualizes Jedburg Road improvements not only at this intersection but along Jedburg Road.”

Summerville resident William Grimes says he wants to know why it always takes an accident to end fatally before something is done about a road.

“It’s very bad. It’s very hard to get out and it’s very dangerous because you can’t see,” Grimes said. “You have big trucks coming in and out, you got the cars trying to come in the store, people taking their lunch break. It’s very backed up and it’s very bad.”

Do you know of a dangerous intersection, pothole problem or construction issue along your regular route? Submit it here.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.