SULLIVAN’S ISLAND — A $30-million-plus private social hub being proposed for South Carolina’s wealthiest ZIP code is probably not going to advance very quickly.
Sullivan’s Island’s Town Council didn’t give the Ocean Club on Atlantic Avenue a warm reception during its meeting Aug. 15. Elected officials indicated they wanted to wait to consider the big-ticket redevelopment project at what was known for decades as the Sand Dunes Club.
They said they hope to gather more information on the developer’s background, study traffic impacts and learn more about the financial and other implications to neighboring homes and the town.
Real Estate
They also noted the club doesn’t have to be private, and alternate proposals should be considered that all residents could benefit from — not just those who can afford the estimated $60,000 membership fee and $6,000 in annual dues under the current plan.
“I don’t think we have enough information to make an intelligent decision,” said Councilwoman Jody Latham. “We don’t want to make the wrong decision either way.”
Mayor Patrick O’Neil called it “a giant decision” that will affect residents and Sullivan’s for generations to come.
Their comments came after more than two dozen residents spoke for and against the club concept.
The majority were in favor of the idea as a community gathering place while property owners who were against the plan said they viewed it as a commercial operation in a residential district. The opposition also questioned if officials would set a precedent by approving a conditional use for the property.
Historic Charleston Foundation, with its recent reversal of the controversial decision to sell one of its homes after an outpouring of opposition, is making another pivotal move.
The preservation group plans to close its nearly four-decade-old gift shop at 108 Meeting St. on the lower peninsula by the end of February as part of its multiyear strategic plan to focus on its two museum properties and advocacy issues in the Lowcountry, according to CEO Winslow Hastie.
Hastie also pointed to the changing consumer landscape as a reason to shutter the 4,500-square-foot store that was once a gas station.
“Retail is a very volatile world, and it’s changed dramatically since (the shop) first started in the late 1980s,” he said.
The foundation opened a second retail space in 2011 in the City Market, a few blocks north of the Meeting Street gift shop, to capitalize on tourist-heavy foot traffic. The proximity of the two retail outlets is no longer ideal, Hastie said.
“The need for that amount of space is not really necessary,” he said of the soon-to-be-darkened site.
Retail
The foundation ideally hopes to lease the commercially zoned property, which is between Chalmers and Queen streets, as offices for a government agency or a professional services firm. Hastie doesn’t see the building as a good fit for restaurant or retail uses. He added the foundation would adamantly oppose any effort toward transforming the T-shaped structure into an inn.
“We will have restrictive covenants on the property,” he said. “It also doesn’t have parking. Any user will have to get creative on parking.”
The foundation acquired the property in 1986 from Exxon Corp. after paying $207,000, according to Charleston County land records. It made a few changes to the site, including the construction of a connection between the former storefront and the rear garage bays, but the building’s exterior, with its Colonial revival architectural features, remains intact.
The existing design came about to help the 1930s-built gas station blend into the surrounding historic neighborhood. When Exxon-predecessor Standard Oil decided to build the service station on the property, it demolished three historic homes built between 1782 and 1805 in 1929, stirring Charleston’s preservation movement to life.
Founded in 1947, Historic Charleston Foundation now wants to focus its attention on broader advocacy issues such as land use, development, tourism management, sea-level rise and settlement communities. It also hopes to expand its affordable housing-focused Common Cause Loan Fund that helps make home repairs for longtime city residents.
The decision to darken the retail shop is part of the recommendations in the group’s multiyear strategic plan, which included the decision late last year to sell the Nathaniel Russell House it owns down the street at 51 Meeting.
The group reversed its decision earlier this month after a public outcry, including a petition with thousands of signatures opposing the sale to a private entity.
“It’s been a rough couple of months,” Hastie said. “We are in a better place now.”
The foundation plans to keep its gift shop in the City Market as well as retail outposts in the Nathaniel Russell House and the group’s historic Aiken-Rhett House on Elizabeth Street in the Wraggborough neighborhood. The group also will focus on online sales more to generate revenue for its Lowcountry-centric products such as china, jewelry and home decor items.