Plumbers in Mount Pleasant, SC

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A fondue restaurant chain plans to expand into the Lowcountry.

Bob Johnston, CEO of The Melting Pot, said the Tampa, Fla.-based company is looking to add two locations in Charleston and Mount Pleasant. He cited the Palmetto State’s strong tourism industry as a key reason for the expansion plan.

The chain already has a presence in Columbia, Greenville and Myrtle Beach. It said it hopes to have 15 locations in South Carolina by 2025.

Liberty Senior Living wants to add more units to its South Bay continuing care facility, but it needs an amendment to a planned development because of Mount Pleasant’s moratorium on new multifamily buildings.

3: Number of new restaurants planning to open in the fall in an expanding Charleston-area shopping center.

65,000: Size of proposed new supermarket in a new retail development beside Freshfields Village between Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

2563: Address on Ashley River Road for a fast-food restaurant that recently turned out the lights.

+ More multifamily: A 110-unit townhome development is in the works for the Point Hope area of Charleston on the Cainhoy peninsula.

+ Doctor’s orders: A medical office building is being proposed in Point Hope.

+ Sliding sales: Charleston-area home sales slipped again in July for the 23rd consecutive month.

A social venue called Ocean Club is being proposed at the site of the former Sand Dunes Club property on Sullivan’s Island.

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One mother is demanding better for her children after what she said were questionable experiences at a Mount Pleasant daycare.

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - One mother is demanding better for her children after what she said were questionable experiences at a Mount Pleasant daycare.

April Gilliard said her children attended Sunshine House for two years before she ultimately pulled them from the center after hearing a toddler was found wandering near Long Point Road.

Witness reports from Sunshine House staff that were received from the Department of Social Services show a toddler escaped out of a gate while on the playground and was found by staff in the arms of a truck driver.

Gilliard said the daycare never addressed what happened to the other parents, she was made aware of the situation through a post on social media.

“I asked about it and was told that wasn’t true,” Gilliard said. “I was told it was the previous director who was trying to sabotage the reputation or the name of the center.”

Gilliard said she had her own questionable experiences at the daycare as well. Some days she had trouble getting in contact with the daycare to check on her kids. On other days, when she received pictures from staff, it looked like too many children were in one classroom.

“When I got to the center I asked, ‘How was your day, what’s going on, did you guys have to combine classrooms,’” Gilliard said. “None of that was really communicated.”

She said the social media post about the escaped toddler was her final straw.

“It makes me question what happened prior to this incident,” Gilliard said.

Documents obtained from the Freedom of Information Act show inadequate supervision at the daycare has been an ongoing problem since 2015.

According to Department of Social Services documents, eight separate visits to the center reported deficiencies in areas like improper child-to-caregiver ratio, unqualified caregivers, inadequate supervision or improper accounting for the presence of children.

Gillard said by sharing her experiences, she is advocating for her own children and other children in the community.

“These are issues that are going on and no one is being held accountable, no one is actually speaking on it, and some parents don’t have social media to find out or learn about these things,” Gilliard said.

Sunshine House provided the following comment:

This past May, at our school in Mount Pleasant on Long Point Road, a child on the playground opened an exterior gate and was able to leave the premises and walk through the parking lot.

The safety and well-being of the children in our care is our highest priority. While the child was, thankfully, returned unharmed to the school two minutes later, we are distraught that this occurred.

Following the incident, we contacted the child’s family and officially notified our state licensor and Child Protective Services, per state licensing regulations and company procedures. The teachers were placed on administrative leave pending the results of both internal and state licensing investigations. The teachers involved are no longer employed with the company.

The playground gate was functioning and closed at the time of the incident. After this incident, we worked with our state licensors to identify a South Carolina state-approved lock, which was subsequently installed.

Two teachers were supervising 12 children on the playground at the time of the incident. The state ratio for this age group is 1 teacher to 6 children or 2 teachers to 12 children.

The safety and well-being of the children in our care is our highest priority, and we cannot stress enough how seriously we take this incident. We have bolstered our operational procedures and retrained teachers and teammates on playground safety checks and other safety protocols.

The Department of Social Services provided the following comment:

The provider in question was terminated from the ABC Quality program in June 2023 due to documented serious safety violations and the provider has not appealed the decision. Providers must be enrolled in the ABC Quality program to accept childcare scholarship funds issued by the Department of Social Services per federal guidelines.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Mount Pleasant’s crackdown on new multifamily projects has created a snag for a senior living development that’s looking to expand.

Liberty Senior Living wants to add 109 residential units to its 279-unit continuing care operation at its South Bay community between Hungryneck Boulevard and Rifle Range Road.

The town had previously approved up to 398 continuing care units on part of what’s called the Central Mount Pleasant tract.

Liberty now needs another approval because of the local moratorium on new apartment and condominium developments that took effect in early 2017. The development hiatus remains in effect until at least March 2024, barring a reversal.

The town also has a building permit allocation system that allowed 500 multifamily units between 2019 and 2024, and all of them have been allocated to date, according to a planning official.

The Planning Commission will consider the South Bay request Aug. 23.

New townhomes

A townhouse project is in the works on the Cainhoy peninsula by an affiliate of homebuilder Ashton Woods.

Ashton Charleston Residential LLC wants to build a 110-unit development on 42 acres at 1236 Clements Ferry Road in the Point Hope community.

At the same Charleston address, a medical office building is being proposed on a 10-acre parcel.

A little farther northeast at 1260 Clements Ferry Road, a development with five commercial buildings is planned on 5.6 acres.

Looking around

A fondue restaurant chain plans to expand into the Lowcountry.

Bob Johnston, CEO of The Melting Pot, said the Tampa, Fla.-based company is looking to add two locations in Charleston and Mount Pleasant. He cited the Palmetto State’s strong tourism industry as a key reason for the expansion plan.

The chain already has a presence in Columbia, Greenville and Myrtle Beach. It said it hopes to have 15 locations in South Carolina by 2025.

A Chicago-area investment and management firm that once owned two Lowcountry golf courses has returned to the South Carolina coast for another round.

KemperSports announced this week that it has acquired the 18-hole Tidewater Golf Club in North Myrtle Beach.

The sale price was about $6.75 million, according to Horry County real estate records. The sellers were listed as Tidewater Golf Club Ltd. and Southern Land & Golf Co.

“Tidewater is at the top of the market and has earned the reputation as one of the region’s must-play courses from locals and visitors alike with a great design and stunning views,” KemperSports CEO Steve Skinner said in an Aug. 17 written statement.

The Northbrook, Ill.-based company said the North Myrtle Beach purchase marks its “expansion into the golf-rich Palmetto State.”

It added that it plans to bring “four decades of proven expertise in managing some of the country’s top golf facilities to strengthen Tidewater’s reputation as the premier public golf experience on the Grand Strand.”

The course is between the Intracoastal Waterway and Cherry Grove Inlet, and it measures about 7,000 yards from the back tees. Half of the holes are along the water. The posted rate for an afternoon round on Aug. 19 was $84.

Designed by Ken Tomlinson, Tidewater was named the “Best New Public Course” in America by two national magazines after it made its debut in 1990. Last year, it earned top honors from the S.C. Golf Course Owners Association.

The Grand Strand is the undisputed golfing capital of South Carolina, with more than 90 18-hole layouts that attract tens of thousands of players from outside the area each year.

The area’s profile is set to be elevated further when the PGA’s inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic will be held about 23 miles south of Tidewater at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club next May under a four-year deal.

KemperSports was formed in 1978. It’s now involved in the management or ownership of 140 golf courses, sports venues, resorts and private clubs in 26 states.

In South Carolina, the privately held company previously owned what is now the Club at Pine Forest in Summerville and Crowfield Golf Club in Goose Creek. It sold both properties at a public auction 20 years ago this month for a combined $4.35 million.

The city of Goose Creek snapped up Crowfield with a $2.6 million bid. It still owns and operates the 32-year-old golf course as a recreational amenity.

Plans to develop a small boutique hotel on a corner lot in Mount Pleasant’s historic Old Village neighborhood are being revived under a new majority owner.

Jeremy Graves of Village Inn LLC has submitted plans to build the Seabird at Hibben and Whilden streets. The town’s Commercial Site Review Board is scheduled to vote July 26 for final approval of the site, landscape and architecture plans.

Renderings show 23 guest rooms in one building with 1,185 square feet of restaurant space and a lounge.

I’On developer Vince Graham pursued a plan more than a decade ago for what then was called Earls Court Hotel that was to be an offshoot of the nearby Earls Court residential nook his company built.

The inn project faced early pushback from some Old Village residents and was stalled by years of legal squabbles with the town. A settlement was struck in 2019.

Village Inn LLC bought the property in 2021 for $925,000, and Graham remains a minority investor in the hotel project, according to a spokesperson. Graves did not respond to a request for comment.

Back at the BAR

Two notable downtown Charleston hotel projects are coming back before the city’s Board of Architectural Review on July 26.

The developer of South Carolina’s first Four Seasons property at 155 Meeting St. is requesting conceptual approval and the OK to add an eighth floor for a rooftop terrace, conservatory and pool.

Florida-based Strategic Property Partners plans to construct three buildings for the 1.9-acre corner site at Horlbeck Alley that will include a mix of hotel rooms and residential condominiums.

During the last review of the proposal in June, the BAR generally was in favor of what was presented, but members remained split over the request for the extra height.

The panel also is set to take up a boutique 18-room lodging for upper King Street.

Plans show a five-story building with parking, a rooftop area, meeting space and two ground-floor commercial spaces on a vacant lot between Line Street and the overpass where Interstate 26 merges into the Septima P. Clark Expressway.

Greenville-based Atlantic South Development is listed the developer.

Point of view

An upcoming luxury waterfront hotel went before the Board of Architectural Review earlier this month requesting final approval of exterior changes that would improve the view.

The Cooper, which is under construction at 176 Concord St., is expected to open in 2025 with 225 guest rooms on six floors.

It will be part of the locally based Beemok Hospitality Collection, which also is embarking on an overhaul of The Charleston Place across from the City Market.

The developer requested to switch from two-pane to four-pane windows on the top and bottom floors facing Charleston Harbor to improve the waterfront views from the penthouse, restaurant and lobby. Also, it asked for architectural columns on the top floor to be removed from the design plans.

The BAR had mixed feelings about the latter request. The item was deferred.

MOUNT PLEASANT — A new 9,000-square-foot dining venue soon will replace a seafood restaurant that started in 1979 in an old fish shed with 35 seats.

Sunsets plans to open in about three weeks at 97 Mill St. in the former R.B.’s on Shem Creek, which closed after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The seafood-centric offering between Red’s Ice House and Saltwater Cowboys comes from a partnership between Bottle Cap Group and Southern Entertainment, both based in Charlotte.

The two-story restaurant is designed “to focus on the views and accentuate waterfront dining,” according to Bob Durkin of Southern Entertainment. “Every seat will have an amazing view.”

The lower level features a larger deck that allows more outdoor seating while the second story includes garage door-like features to give it an open-air atmosphere.

“We really wanted to open it up outside,” Durkin said.

The project has been in the works for a couple of years since the business partners homed in on the site after longtime R.B.’s owner Ronnie Boals decided to retire and sell the property.

In 2020, an affiliate of Geyer Morris Co., a privately held Dallas-based commercial real estate development firm, bought the nearly 1-acre property from Boals for $7 million.

The existing two-story structure, built in 2003 after a fire destroyed the restaurant a year earlier, will feature seating for 284 diners on the first floor, according to site plans. Another 218 seats will be available on the second level.

“It’s the ideal location, but everything has taken longer than expected,” said Britton McCorkle with Bottle Cap Group. “We also had to install a sprinkler system, which held us up a bit.”

In addition to seafood, chef Kevin Spencer will offer entrees such as steaks, chicken and pork. Appetizers, sushi and veggie-centric dishes also will be on the menu. Brunch will include mainstays as well as some favorite items from lunch and dinner, Spencer said.

Lighter-fare salads, sandwiches and burgers also will be available.

“We will have something for everyone,” said Andrew Izrael, general manager.

A full bar with local beers, cocktails and wine also is part of the new dining spot.

“The bar includes a playful reimagining of classic items that work with the seafood-forward menu and being on the water,” Izrael said. “They will have touches of flair.”

The restaurant will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. weekdays, with later hours on weekends.

The restaurant’s partners also have other business interests in the Charleston area.

Bottle Cap Group includes Snapper Jack’s Seafood & Raw Bar on Folly Beach. Southern Entertainment is involved in developing Farm Haus Butcher & Beer Garden in Moultrie Plaza Shopping Center in Mount Pleasant. Durkin said Farm Haus is several weeks away from opening.

You’re seeing The Post and Courier’s weekly real estate newsletter. Receive all the latest transactions and top development, building, and home and commercial sales news to your inbox each Saturday here.

A fondue restaurant chain plans to expand into the Lowcountry.

Bob Johnston, CEO of The Melting Pot, said the Tampa, Fla.-based company is looking to add two locations in Charleston and Mount Pleasant. He cited the Palmetto State’s strong tourism industry as a key reason for the expansion plan.

The chain already has a presence in Columbia, Greenville and Myrtle Beach. It said it hopes to have 15 locations in South Carolina by 2025.

Liberty Senior Living wants to add more units to its South Bay continuing care facility, but it needs an amendment to a planned development because of Mount Pleasant’s moratorium on new multifamily buildings.

3: Number of new restaurants planning to open in the fall in an expanding Charleston-area shopping center.

65,000: Size of proposed new supermarket in a new retail development beside Freshfields Village between Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

2563: Address on Ashley River Road for a fast-food restaurant that recently turned out the lights.

+ More multifamily: A 110-unit townhome development is in the works for the Point Hope area of Charleston on the Cainhoy peninsula.

+ Doctor’s orders: A medical office building is being proposed in Point Hope.

+ Sliding sales: Charleston-area home sales slipped again in July for the 23rd consecutive month.

A social venue called Ocean Club is being proposed at the site of the former Sand Dunes Club property on Sullivan’s Island.

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Craving more? Check out all of the Post and Courier’s newsletters here.