Media Coverage

The Daniel Island News
July 26, 2007
Downtown Daniel Island to change dramatically in 2008

Various commercial developments underway in the region

Downtown Daniel Island will change dramatically next year when the James Doran Co. completes construction of three new buildings between Publix Shopping Center and Guggenheim Park.

The new complex will add 35,000 square feet of office and retail space, according to the company’s marketing director Kristin Hettermann. She said two major tenants have signed leases.

Carolina First Bank will occupy 3,000 square feet in the 5,000-square-foot Building 1000 on Island Park Drive.

The other two buildings – Building 500 and Building 600 – will be located side-by-side on Seven Farms Drive across from Family Circle Tennis Center. Hettermann said that Ali Baba, an upscale Mediterranean restaurant, has signed a lease agreement to occupy one end of Building 500, a one-story brick structure featuring a patio area and 9,098 square feet of office retail and office space.

Building 600, a two-story office-retail brick structure, will be located directly next to Guggenheim Park. A neighborhood-style restaurant/bar [not yet signed] has been targeted as a key tenant for the 20,912 -square-foot building, which also features patio dining.

"We are committed to bringing Daniel Island only the best- Phase II development of downtown Daniel Island will be complementary to the already highly appealing retail and commercial mix that is in place, and will be a benefit to the community at large," said James Doran Company President Shane Doran.

Phase II construction should be completed by the second quarter of 2008.

Meanwhile, the Seven Farms Business Neighborhood is taking shape at the end of Seven Farms Drive near Bishop England High School. The project is geared toward businesses needing about 2,000 to 3,000 square feet of space.

Daniel Island Company officials also said they would have news about plans to construct a marina near the Sales Center. However, they would not elaborate when contacted last week. There was no update either on an initiative to build Town Square behind Daniel Island Medical Center. The proposed lifestyle retail center is currently being marketed by Hill Partners of Charlotte, N.C.

Commercial development continues along Clements Ferry Road with construction of developer Steve Potts’ Sportsman’s Island project at I-526. But a couple of significant Clements Ferry vacancies appeared a few months ago with the news that Masisa and the Mikasa Outlet Store were closing. The Masisa building is currently listed for sale at $12.3 million and Mikasa lists for $41 million.

Reid Davis, an associate at Anchor Commercial Real Estate, said commercial real estate sales have been relatively steady in recent months but office condominium leasing had been slow. However, he noted, it seemed to pick up during the past two weeks.

Demand for Class A office space in the Charleston area has prompted developers to add nearly 2.5 million square feet to existing inventory, according to the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Business Research. Office space in the Charleston region leases for an average of $24.25 per square foot per year. This is 34 percent lower than Boston’s average of $36.77 and 49 percent below Washington DC’s average of $48.

Chamber officials also found that industrial lease rates in the Charleston region are some of the most affordable in the nation. Average lease rates range from $2.75 per square foot/per year and up.