|
Magnolia Development removes president
By Molly Parker
Staff Writer
The man brought in to run the day-to-day operations for the Magnolia development did not last long.
Late last year, real estate veteran Dan Proffitt took over as president of Magnolia Development LLC, the company that is working to build a mixed-use community on 150 acres of highland along the Peninsula’s barren Neck area.
In early April, on the heels of a public tiff with the councilman who represents the district, Proffitt was asked to step down.
Contacted earlier this month, Proffitt said he was “not at liberty to talk about it.”
He cited two reasons for his silence: that he has yet to work out the terms of his departure and that he did not really know why he was removed from that position.
“It would be inappropriate for me to make any kind of comments,” he said.
In a statement, the company said Proffitt and the Magnolia Development leadership team “mutually agreed to transition Dan’s role from president of Magnolia to a project consultant focusing on construction matters.”
“He was not fired,” a spokesman said. “He’s still on the payroll, and he’s still a very important member of the team.”
From the beginning, local developer and Charleston native Robert Clement III, a partial investor, served as the central figure behind the project. Wanting to focus on other business ventures, Clement relinquished that role in December.
The project’s main financial backer, Raleigh-based Cherokee Investment Partners, brought in Proffitt, a real estate veteran who was last working in Atlanta.
Shortly thereafter, Proffitt struck a nerve with Charleston Councilman the Rev. Jimmy Gallant, who publicly criticized Proffitt during a late February City Council meeting for failing to communicate with him and other neighborhood leaders as the company readied to move forward with the first phase of construction.
“He’s lost the confidence of the African-American leaders in the community,” Gallant said shortly after that meeting, during which the council unanimously passed a resolution keeping any of Magnolia’s requests requiring municipal approval off the agenda.
Gallant was unaware of the changeover, but said, “If they did remove him, that may open the door for some dialogue.
“I imagine they will call me,” Gallant said. “I hope we can have the relationship that we once had. When they brought these new people in, the relationship was severed. If they bring Robert (Clement) back in, I imagine we can get it back on track.”
Calls to Cherokee Investment Partners were not immediately returned. In mid-April, a spokesman for Clement said the development team planned to meet later in the month to work on leadership details for the future.
Molly Parker is a staff writer for the Charleston Regional Business Journal. E-mail her at mparker@scbiznews.com.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version