PrintPrintThe Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce doesn’t have to stay an entire decade at the location announced Tuesday for its new headquarters. The chamber president and CEO said the lease with Leeds Park Associates LLC for a new interim office allows the chamber to leave after six years if the organization reimburses for upgrades.
By Andy Owens
aowens@scbiznews.com
Published Sept. 23, 2009
The Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce doesn’t have to stay an entire decade at the location announced Tuesday for its new headquarters on Leeds Avenue in North Charleston.
Charles Van Rysselberge, president and CEO of the chamber, said the lease with Leeds Park Associates LLC for a new interim office and meeting space allows the chamber to leave after six years if the organization pays a penalty to the leaseholder for upgrades.
Before the moving from 2750 Speissegger Drive at the Ashley River Center, also in North Charleston, and into 4500 Leeds Avenue, several improvements and changes will be made to the new space. Van Rysselberge said the chamber could pay a penalty after six years to reimburse the landlord for the cost of those changes.
Van Rysselberge said the chamber could probably get out of the lease sooner, but that would likely require it to pay for some time left on the contract.
“That would be a more expensive proposition,” he said.
The chamber has been at its present location for five years and six months.
The Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce board approved the lease after a recommendation by its Quarters Task Force. The chamber’s lease runs out in about 18 months, and the current landlord, Robert Clement, has indicated that he has future plans for the property.
“We are very excited for this second interim location while we continue our search for a more permanent headquarters which will now be a few more years down the road,” Van Rysselberge said in a statement.
The recession pushed the chamber to scrap plans to build or purchase a permanent location through fundraising earlier this year. The chamber sold its headquarters on Mary Street in 2003 and moved to 2750 Speissegger Drive at the Ashley River Center in North Charleston in anticipation of building or finding a permanent home for the chamber.
The chamber plans to move in January to the new location, which will have 16,750 square feet, 1,750 more square feet than the current location.
The chamber board said the new headquarters would be easily accessible from Interstate 526 and be in a building that houses offices for some local prominent companies, including Limestone College and automotive manufacturers Cummins Turbo Technologies and Behr Heat Transfer Systems.
“We think the location is a great one for the chamber at the convergence of two interstates and the center of the region,” North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said in a statement yesterday. “We are very proud of the choice that the chamber has made.”
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