|
Two new building projects continue Spring Street’s rejuvenation efforts
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer
Bit by bit, Spring Street is becoming new again. The latest revitalization effort is taking place at the intersection of Ashley Avenue.
Among the dilapidated buildings and ramshackle houses, Byers Design Group, an architecture, land architecture and land planning firm, is transforming a long-abandoned gas station into its new office. Just across the street, Opus Development is planning four new single-family homes.
The Byers office will replace a former Sinclair service station at 125 Spring St.
“This building is considered historic,” says Sandy Byers, owner of the Byers Design Group, adding the building was erected in the early 1930s.
The age of the building certainly shows.
After sitting idle for many years, the roof over the two service bays was badly damaged and was removed several weeks ago. The concrete floor is cracked in places and missing large chunks. The interior brick walls are covered with aged spackling. The floor is dotted with litter. The distinctive smell of fuel and oil permeates the air, although Byers said the necessary environmental measures, such as removing the gas tanks and testing the soil, were taken care of before he purchased the property.
All that will change in a matter of weeks, but maybe not as drastically as some would think, Byers says.
“We’re leaving it intact. It’s a reversible renovation. Someone could come along and take it back to what it is today if they wanted to,” Byers says.
The building, like other Sinclair stations, Byers says, is done with Art Deco accents. Much of the original character of the building will remain in place.
A 1,000-square-foot addition will be built along the back and west side of the building. The canopy where motorists once filled up their tanks will be enclosed, making way for a conference room.
Two garage doors facing Spring Street will be permanently mounted, and a new roof will be installed over the service bays.
The project is slated for a September completion. When finished, the building will measure nearly 2,200 square feet. A renovation of this magnitude would typically cost about $200,000, but Byers says he will do it for less because of his firm’s work and his relationships with members of the construction community.
Byers and his six full-time and two part-time employees will relocate from the firm’s current 600-square-foot space at 237 King St.
The office’s conference room will provide a head-on view of the residential housing project slated for the opposite corner of Spring Street and Ashley Avenue.
Four homes, measuring between 900 and 1,200 square feet and designed by Byers Design Group, will begin construction shortly under the direction of Opus Development.
“They’re all going to be done in that Charleston style,” says Michael Brewer, owner of Opus, referring to the distinctly Charleston home style found throughout the city. The homes will have two or three levels, shuttered windows and siding.
Brewer says he hopes to have the homes finished by late summer or early fall. He could not provide projected sale prices for the homes.
Incentives for redevelopment
These two projects are the latest installments in an overall revitalization plan for the area.
As part of a U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s initiative to attract businesses to struggling areas, those who make an investment in Spring Street can deduct their renovation costs over a 10-year period.
They also receive tax credits for every employee they hire who lives in the area, and business owners who participate in the program for at least five years face no capital gains tax if they choose to sell their business.
Brewer says it was a family connection with the area—his grandparents once owned a store where the homes are planned—that attracted him to Spring Street. For Byers, the tax incentives, along with his building’s possibilities, sold him on the location.
“It’s an up-and-coming area, and I wanted to be on the cutting edge,” Byers says, adding he plans to be a source for new jobs in the area. His new building could accommodate 12 employees, about five more than he has currently.
Both the office and residential projects are right in line with the overall vision for Spring Street, says Christopher Morgan, interim director of the city of Charleston’s Planning and Neighborhoods Department.
“The vision is a gateway into the city,” Morgan says.
Opening the gateway
To achieve that “gateway” effect, the city adopted a 10- to 15-year plan for the area in 1998. The plan calls for a mix of commercial and residential properties, and improvements to aging, abandoned structures.
Tiger Lily flower shop, just across from the Byers project, is an example of the Spring Street revitalization. Last year, that business renovated a former gas station, helping to begin the transformation of the Spring Street, Ashley Avenue intersection.
Other projects helping to advance the city’s efforts in the area include the Charleston Not-So Hostel, which opened in 2001, and a mixed-use development at Spring and President streets.
Streetscape projects, which will go out for bids this summer, will mean new sidewalks, trees, light poles and improved curbs for the one-way thoroughfare.
“It’s all to enhance the pedestrian aspect of Spring Street,” Morgan says. “This is really an improving neighborhood, and we want to keep the neighborhood feel.”
Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@crbj.com.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version