Recent developments that should be on your radar

Over the past month, the Charleston area has welcomed two new hotels, over ten restaurants, + began construction on multiple office buildings + residential dwellings.

In case you’ve been busy, and have skimmed over some of this groundbreaking news, here’s a quick catch-up session.

Keep scrolling to view the businesses + developments which have opened in the last 30 days, those which are currently under construction, and see what else could be in store for the future.

NowOpen:

Downtown

Hotel Bella Grace | Photo provided by Hotel Bella Grace

🛎 Hotel Bella Grace |📍115 Calhoun St.
A 50-room luxury boutique hotel. Includes the restoration of the circa 1830 Delaney House next door.

🐠 Coast Bar + Grill officially reopened its doors following a roof collapse during a rainstorm in June.

🥃 King Street Bait and Tackle |📍353 King St.
A nautical-themed bar which features canned beers + liquors. Bar patrons can order hot dogs from the kitchen, or have the option of ordering pizza + wings from Gilroy’s located below.

🍍Playa Bowls Charleston |📍429 King St.
Serving up handcrafted acai bowls, oatmeal bowls, smoothies, + more.

🥃 Bootleg Tavern |📍541 King St.
On Aug. 19, The Getaway on King Street suddenly closed its doors–without warning. Owner Kirk Heidenreich said he wanted to “retool the brand", having now re-opened the restaurant under the moniker of Bootleg Tavern. The establishment serves seafood dishes, chicken tenders, + has a classic-themed cocktail menu.

🍣 Fuji Upper King |📍585 King St.
The latest location of this Japanese restaurant.

🍷 Joséphine Wine Bar |📍64 Spring St.
The French-inspired menu features shared plates like polenta with wild mushroom ragu, shrimp + zucchini tagliatelle, and curry-roasted carrots– all designed to be paired, of course, with a glass (or bottle) from its extensive wine list.

🍔 Edmund's Oast |📍1081 Morrison Dr.
Last month, the restaurant opened a new private dining room called The Library. The space can hold as many as 40 people, and is meant for special occasions + daytime events. Those renting the room will be able to select from a range of food + beverage packages.

🍝 Two Fat Olives at Workshop | 📍1503 King St.
Italian pop-up restaurant serving comfort foods– such as eggplant parmesan, spaghetti + meatballs, and cheese-stuffed fried olives– using local, farm-fresh ingredients.

Mount Pleasant

🛎 Hotel Indigo | 📍250 Johnnie Dodds Blvd.
A resort-style hotel whose name is a nod to Eliza Lucas Pinckney– who developed indigo as one of S.C.’s most important cash crops. (Dine at eliza’s bar + kitchen and find her portraits around the property).

West Ashley

🥑 Whole Foods | 📍1125 Savannah Hwy.
Grocery store featuring a large prepared foods section, full-service meat + seafood departments, and products from more than 60 local suppliers.

🍕 Slice Co. |📍1662 Savannah Hwy., Ste. 202
Grab a whole pie or enjoy by the slice.

🍰 Kaminsky’s |📍2 Magnolia Rd.
The latest location of this sweet treats eatery.

🍩 Duck Donuts |📍1812 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., Ste. 16B
North Carolina-based donut shop.

☕ Rudi’s Cafe |📍Inside Drayton Hall, 3380 Ashley River Rd.
Providing coffee, pastries, sandwiches, charcuterie, + libations seven days a week.

Summerville

🏥 Thaddeus J. Bell Family Health Center |📍130 Varnfield Dr.
Offering pediatrics, OB-GYN, behavioral health management, + pharmaceuticals to underserved patients.

IOP

🌮 Papi’s Taqueria |📍1012 Ocean Blvd.
Tacos + craft cocktails.

🍦Chills 360 |📍1515 Palm Blvd.
Rolled ice cream.

Sullivan’s Island

🐟 Pier 22 |📍2213 Middle St.
Seafood restaurant from Chef Brannon Florie.

North Charleston

☕ Carpenter’s Coffee |📍1551 Remount Rd.
Serving up pastries, hot, iced, + frozen coffee.

🛍 H&M |📍Inside Northwoods Mall, 2150 Northwoods Blvd.
20,000 sq. ft. apparel store.

Ladson

🚐 Mercedes-Benz Vans, LLC |📍8501 Palmetto Commerce Pkwy.
The expansion is now complete, meaning soon, the automaker will begin production on its next-gen Sprinter van. The project, which has been underway since 2016, is expected to create upwards of 1,300 jobs over the next decade.

Daniel Island

📚 East Light Academy | 📍2325 Charleston Regional Pkwy.
A public charter school which offers a Mandarin/Chinese immersion program. The state academy, currently for students from 4k-2nd grade, accepts students living in any county. It is the first school of its kind to open in Charleston.

ComingSoon:

Downtown

🌮 The family-owned catering company El PinchoTaco will open the doors to a brick-and-mortar restaurant at 616 Meeting Street this fall.The excitement kicks off with a grand opening party, which is currently set for Sept. 27.

🍹 After facing zoning issues over the past few years, The Dewberry confirmed that the Citrus Club will finally be “dropping umbrellas in drinks” this fall. While the official menu is still unknown, the club plans to serve up piña coladas, citrus-based concoctions, oysters, Vietnamese dishes, + more. Get a sneak peek of the establishment, and start dreaming of sampling the colorful tropical cocktails, here.

🛍 Upper King will soon be home to it’s first national apparel chain in recent years. Free People will open a women’s clothing shop at 466 King St. by the end of 2018. The store will occupy the first floor of the four-story building, which is the former location of HR software startup PeopleMatter.

🏥 Next summer, the new $400 million MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital will open as one of the most innovative hospitals in the state. It will be home to the only pediatric burn unit, the only Level I trauma center for children, + the only solid-organ and bone marrow transplant programs in South Carolina. MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital will also include “couplet” rooms– which will allow mothers + babies to receive care together– rather than in separate sections of the hospital. In total, the hospital will boast ~250 patient beds. You can view a time lapse of the current building construction here, as well as a live cam here. Ⓟ

🏊 The Wonderer, a private members' club– complete with a gym, pool, bar, plus event + coworking spaces– is set to open at 1705 Meeting Street. Phase one of the center– which will include a 4,500 sq. ft. event space called ‘The Garden’ + some of its wellness features– should be ready to go this fall, with the rest of the club’s features projected to be complete sometime next summer.

🏗 Set to open in Nov. 2019, 22 West Edge broke ground last month. The eight-story structure will be the tallest multi-tenant office building on the peninsula– and in the Charleston metro area. One section of the community called the “Discovery District,” is being developed as a hub for research, collaboration, + innovation– with 25,000 sq. ft. designated for MUSC Bioinformatics.

Mount Pleasant

🍞 Philly-based sub shop Primo Hoagies is making a bold entrance into the Lowcountry, with three new locations slotted to open across the Charleston region. Their first spot will open this month on Hwy. 17. The opening dates + addresses of the other two shops have yet to be announced. The franchise, which has over 90 locations across seven states, currently has only one shop in South Carolina.

Indigo Square in Mount Pleasant | Photo by @shopindigosquare

🛍 Indigo Square, a developing shopping center on Highway 17, already has six tenants lined up. Publix GreenWise– an organic supermarket, Boxcar Betty's, Rise Biscuits Donuts, Blaze Pizza, AT&T, Club Pilates, Palmetto 80 Liquors, Indigo Nail Spa, + Motion Stretch Studio will all occupy the new space. Some retailers are expected to open as early as this November.

🍴Minneapolis-based restaurant Butcher & the Boar is set to open this fall. The menu, which will be helmed by executive chef Tommy Begnaud, will be ‘meat-heavy’, but will also include items like seasonal salads + desserts. The flagship restaurant has previously been recognized as one of the top 100 steakhouses + one of the best bourbon bars in America.

👜 Traveling Chic Boutique will open in the Mount Pleasant Towne Center in the late fall. The store will rotate its merchandise, which will include: designer closing, accessories, + handbags.

Portside at Ferry Wharf | Photo by @Natasha.Chs

🏗 Construction is currently underway for Portside at Ferry Wharf. Located at 75 Port City Landing, at the foot of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge, the office building is part of a luxury development that will include a mix of office space, retail, hospitality, + residential dwellings. Already, the space is set to house New York-based Serendipity Labs Coworking + Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.

Ferry Wharf Site | Photo by @Natasha.Chs

🛎 A 158-room Embassy Suites Hotel is currently under construction, with an expected opening date of spring 2019. The hotel is part of the Ferry Wharf project.

🏗 Construction is now underway on The Jasper– a 12-story, luxury apartment complex located on the site of the former Sergeant Jasper apartment building. In addition to apartment units, the building will also include 25,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail space + 75,000 sq. ft. of office space. The project is expected to be completed by 2020. 🏗

⛪ The congregation of St. Andrew’s Church broke ground on their new ministry center– after an electrical fire, this past April destroyed the previous meeting space. Construction is expected to take 18-24 months.

West Ashley

🍻 The guys behind Mount Pleasant’s House of Brews are opening a second location. The new spot will be situated in what used to be a car lot at 2376 Ashley River Road, + will include a backyard that’s both dog and kid-friendly. Look out for its arrival sometime this fall.

🏞 The Parks and Recreation Commission revealed its plans for a new park which will be situated between Rantowles Creek + the Limehouse Bridge. The public, waterfront park will be the first to provide direct access to the Stono River. The property was donated by a group of residents who acquired it, after plans to develop it into commercial + residential space fell through.

🚒 Fire Station 11, which is being built next to the Charleston 9 Memorial, where the Sofa Super Store fire killed nine firefighters in 2007– broke ground last month. The firehouse will be triple the size of the old one, with nine windows paying homage to the firefighters who lost their lives.

North Charleston

🎨 A new art gallery is opening in Park Circle, in the building that once housed experimental art space Tua Lingua. Park Circle Gallery will primarily feature art on display, but the owner says he also plans to offer classes, as well as host talks + performances. The gallery is set to open sometime this month.

🏊‍ Construction of the new, $22.4 million aquatics center is currently underway. Last month, the City of North Charleston, in partnership with Dorchester County School District 2 (DD2), broke ground on the natatorium, located at at 8500 Patriot Blvd. The center includes seating for an audience of around 1,000; a 50 meter, ten-lane pool; a 25 yard therapeutic pool; a warm-up pool; locker rooms; and a pro shop + concessions stand. It is scheduled to be completed in late 2019.

🏀 A $14 million, state-of-the-art, three-gym complex is being built by the City of North Charleston. Each gym will have a full-size, 84-foot court, with the main gym seating up to 1,600 people. The complex, which is being constructed near the public works campus off Remount Road, should be complete by fall 2019.

👨‍🔬 Local chemical manufacturer Ingevity has broken ground on their new global corporate headquarters– which will create at least 100 jobs. The $20 million, 110,000-square-foot space will be built at 4920 O’Hear Ave., close to the Garco site. Relocation is expected by spring 2020.

Ladson

📦 Amazon plans to open a new package delivery center off of Highway 78. According to documents provided by Charleston County, the company is looking to dedicate 17,236 sq. ft. to the site– which will be where tracker tractor-trailers drop off packages before they're sorted + loaded onto vans for local delivery. Opening date is TBA.

In the works:

🏗 An 18-acre, mixed-use commercial center called Hayes Park has been proposed for Johns Island, off Maybank Highway. Plans for the center, which are currently under review by the city, include the construction of 13 buildings that would be used for retail + restaurant space. Charleston’s Design Review Board considered the building + landscape plans at its Aug. 20 meeting. Their decision has not been announced at this time.

🏗 “Mojo”– located along Morrison Dr. + Johnson St– will be the future site of “diverse housing and commercial activities.” While community meetings were held last month to discuss guidelines + expectations, updated information on the project’s design have not yet been released.

🏗 Charleston’s Board of Architectural Review was asked to approve the demolition of a three-story building at 334 King Street. According to the Preservation Society of Charleston, the building is not considered historically significant. Alterman Family Limited Partnership, the owners of the building, plan to use the site as retail + hotel space. The final decision on the demolition has not yet been announced.

🏗 A North Carolina development firm has proposed to build a five-story office building + parking deck at 1940 Algonquin Road, off Meeting Street behind the new US Foods Chef’Store– which is set to open Sept. 13.

Disclaimer: This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all of the developments in the Charleston region. If there is a development that been announced in the last 30 days that you feel should be included, please let us know in the comments below.

With all of the development happening across the Lowcountry, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with what is opening when, where new businesses are being built, and what companies are coming to Charleston.

If there is a construction project you feel we missed– or one which you would like to learn more about– let us know in a response to this email + we will grab our hard hats. 👷‍

– Justine