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$5 million Planter’s Park office complex to open in Summerville in 2006
By Kim Chen Wiseman
Contributing Writer
Since its origination in the late 18th century as a haven from the Lowcountry’s brutal summer heat, the town of Summerville has come a long way.
The town’s population hovered under 6,000 until the late 1970s and the housing boom that followed. The 2000 census declared the town’s population to be more than 27,000.
As Charleston continues to become a more expensive place in which to live and do business, the need for alternative Lowcountry business space has created an opportunity for this bustling community. Crackers & Duke, a land development company formed by three local businessmen, recognizes this growing need and will develop a three-stage office park in Summerville’s hospital area in 2006. The development is estimated to cost as much as $5 million.
The office park will be called Planter’s Park and will consist of three 10,000-square-foot buildings located on Ladson Road, south of Midland Parkway. The three state-of-the-art buildings are to be strategically located less than a half-mile from Summerville Trident Hospital, Oakbrook Shopping Center and Dorchester Road.
It will be built in front of Planter’s Retreat, one of two new luxury apartment complexes also under construction.
Doug Richardson of Prudential Real Estate Co., who is marketing the development, says Ladson Road is one of the top five most heavily traveled roads in Dorchester County with 20,700 vehicles each day. Yet few business opportunities exist in the zone near Summerville Trident Hospital.
Developers of Planter’s Park hope the office park will provide space for doctors, accountants, attorneys and other professionals that require visibility and access to the nearby hospital and commercial growth.
Anchoring building one will be the Epicurean Restaurant, currently located one block away on Ladson Road. Epicurean owner Leith Bodin says the restaurant will occupy 5,000 square feet of the space and will feature a martini bar serving tapas and appetizers, a coffee bar and bistro and live jazz and blues music on weekends.
Bodin, who is also a partner in the Planter’s Park development, says he wanted to keep his restaurant in the same area, and this was a natural way for his restaurant to expand to meet its growing needs. Bodin says his new restaurant, like the remainder of Planter’s Park, will boast a dramatic art deco theme and décor.
“It just made sense for us,” says Bodin, when asked how he and his partners decided on the location. “The newest commercial building in that area was built 18 years ago.”
Bodin thinks many businesses are expanding or relocating to Summerville from Charleston and Mount Pleasant because it is a growing suburb that offers more competitive lease rates. According to Richardson, office space in Planter’s Park will be available at $18.50 per square foot, compared to Charleston and Mount Pleasant where lease rates are generally 10% to 15% higher, or $2 to $4 more per square foot.
“We’re seeing Charleston businesses bring second locations to Summerville,“ Richardson says. “They see Summerville as a high growth area, and they want to participate in that growth.”
Summerville-based Tupco Inc. will construct Planter’s Park. The development is projected to take three years to complete. Epicurean is the first tenant to sign on.
“This is a good way to get in the (Summerville) market early,” says Bodin, who says developers will build to suit for tenants who sign on during the early stages of construction. “We’re open to anything.”
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