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Large-block office space growing in Mount Pleasant
By Kathleen Dayton
Contributing Writer
Until recently, there wasn’t much room for big business in Mount Pleasant.
With the exception of the Motley Rice law firm, housed in a high-rise at the foot of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, the town has attracted mostly smaller storefronts, locally owned businesses and cozy office parks.
Soon, companies needing large spaces will be part of the mix. East Cooper office space is getting super-sized with two large Class “A” office projects going up in one of the area’s hottest development districts, the Interstate 526 corridor between Mount Pleasant and Daniel Island.
“My experience has been that the bread and butter of Mount Pleasant is a smaller user, but as Mount Pleasant is growing, it’s becoming a more appealing place for larger users, and we think it’s very possible that an insurance company or call center will take our remaining space,” said Chris Cunniffe, broker-in-charge at Harbor City Real Estate Advisors.
Cunniffe’s listing, called Portside Center, is the largest contiguous Class “A” office space currently offered for sale in Mount Pleasant. The two-story building, under construction on Wando Park Boulevard and visible from I-526, offers 35,800 square feet.
“Wando Park Boulevard is really starting to fill out,” Cunniffe said. “We think that Wando Park Boulevard is sort of an escape valve. When users can’t find space on Coleman Boulevard or space that’s affordable near (U.S. Highway) 17 near the bridge, they’re looking at Wando Park Boulevard as the next location for their business, and it’s leading to more development on Long Point Road and the Wando Park Boulevard corridor.”
A corporate law firm has already committed to a little more than 7,800 square feet at Portside Center, Cunniffe said. The deal is expected to close upon completion of the building in November. More than 9,000 square feet remains available on the first floor. The company is targeting a medical user for the space.
“We think office space inside of I-526 is scarce, but medical office space inside of I-526 is even scarcer,” Cunniffe said.
Portside Center will be deeded with medical parking ratios, which Mount Pleasant requires to be greater than general-use parking.
“We think there’s a real scarcity in the market of new-construction, quality buildings that are available for medical users because most of the projects are built with just general parking ratios,” Cunniffe said.
“It makes it challenging to plan your building, because if you don’t plan for medical users, then when you complete the building, the town will not issue the building permits for the medical upfit unless it has sufficient parking.”
Portside Center would also be appropriate for other professional users, including architects, realtors, contractors and accountants, Cunniffe said.
Project architect Steve Graudin of Stubbs Muldrow Herin Architects, said the building is flexible for both small and large users.
“Because of the way it is laid out, there’s a lot of different options as to how you can split up the various floors,” Graudin said. “It can go anywhere from 2,000 net square feet to having a whole floor.”
Pricing at Portside Center starts at $200 per square foot. Annual lease rates would start at $20 per square foot, based on a five-year lease.
Economist Al Parish, director of the Center for Economic Forecasting at Charleston Southern University, said population growth is the driving factor for East Cooper commercial projects.
“It’s more expensive to build and it’s going to be more expensive per square foot for comparable space, so it has to be growth in the area creating a demand for that kind of space,” Parish said.
Not far from Portside Center, two large office buildings are planned off Long Point Road behind Belle Hall Shopping Center.
The Offices at Belle Hall will be 36,524 square feet each, with the completion of the first building scheduled for January.
Southeast Management & Leasing, an Atlanta developer, purchased the spot five years ago.
“Long Point Road has become a favorable location, because you are avoiding that (Highway) 17 traffic. A lot of people coming down 17 just come down Long Point Road and jump on the I-526,” said Peter Fennelly, broker for the project and vice president of Colliers Keenan, a commercial real estate firm.
Fennelly said the mixed-use aspect of the Belle Hall area also has great dynamics.
“At Belle Hall, you can go to Starbucks, drop off dry cleaning, walk to lunch and at the end of the day, you can pick up your groceries, so you’ve
controlled the amount of gas and energy you’ve extended in the environment,” Fennelly said.
While The Offices at Belle Hall and Portside Center have their bulk in common, they are being marketed in different ways. The Offices at Belle Hall will be offered for lease, while Portside Center is targeted toward buyers.
Cunniffe thinks the demand from buyers in Mount Pleasant is strong, although tenants who want to lease would still be considered.
“Just like homeowners prefer to own their house rather than rent, small business owners are catching on to that and desire to build equity in their office space,” Cunniffe said.
Fennelly said some users prefer to lease for a number of reasons, and rising interest rates are contributing to the appeal of leasing.
“National corporate tenants, if they’re not headquartered here, have a tendency to lease rather than buy,” Fennelly said. “You don’t know where the market is going to head down the road, so you have that flexibility and you have an ability to grow.”
Annual leases at The Offices at Belle Hall are $18.50 per square foot, not including the tenant’s share of expenses such as taxes and insurance.
Being larger buildings, both Portside Center and The Offices at Belle Hall will bring something different to the composition of commercial space in Mount Pleasant, Fennelly said.
By his estimates, the average building size in Mount Pleasant is currently about 9,000 square feet.
“If you’re a growing business, once you hit that 9,000 feet, what do you do? You have to move to a different building,” Fennelly said. “And if it doesn’t exist in Mount Pleasant, you have to move somewhere else.”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@charlestonbusiness.com.
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