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The changing face of Folly
By Shannon Cavanaugh
Contributing Writer
With more than one-third of its downtown properties for sale, Folly Beach could see an extreme make over. An island known as the place to let your hair down and enjoy the laid back atmosphere of the 1960s is now at the mercy of a “for sale” sign.
Just how much of Folly’s image will change depends on who buys the eight commercial properties fronting Center Street, the town’s main thoroughfare.
“It’s a very rare opportunity when you can buy a whole city block. It’s a sign of the times. Center Street is changing. In five years, it won’t look like it does now,” says Folly Beach Zoning administrator Aaron Pope. “I don’t mean this in a negative way, but Folly is moving away from the mom and pop look to a more upscale look. It’s the direct result of the dollars coming into Folly.
“The Folly Beach that was once remembered no longer exists. We’ve got at least a dozen homes valued now at more than $1 million and lots in the middle of the island going for $800,000.”
In just 10 years, the property values on Folly Beach have tripled, which is why real estate agents can ask $3,995,000 for property with 150 feet of frontage on Center Street. This city block, with its three lots, currently leases space to the local seafood and sports bar Snapper Jacks, the Beachwear and Gifts shop, the Folly Beach Brew and Ice Cream store, six apartments and one duplex.
“I’ve had a tremendous amount of interest, everyone’s called from the curious on the price to developers who want to buy it and sell it off in pieces,” says real estate agent Johnnie Bevon with Barkleyfraser.com. “Ms. (Martha) Thorton has owned and managed this property for 10 years. Financially it’s been very good for her over the years, but she wants something less labor intensive. It’s got a lot of potential as it is to lease and even more if you expanded. Depending on the developer, they could just tear it all down and rebuild from the ground up. The leases that are in place now are below market value.”
In that city block, Gina Koklas pays $2,500 each month in rent. She opened Folly’s Brew and Ice Cream last May and sells everything from hot fudge sundaes to Internet connection.
“Customers who come in here say they like the old beach feel of my store and if we get commercialized like the Isle of Palms it will destroy that feeling,” says Koklas. “It makes me kind of nervous. The landlord changes her mind a lot. Just last week she told me she took it off the market. I’ve got to look at my contract to check on my lease.”
Next door, Eli Aboudaram owns Beachwear and Gifts. He pays $3,700 a month for rent and has three years left on his lease.
“Of course I want to stay here. It’s a good location. We bring the lowest prices we can. It fits the customers who come. There’s not a lot of competition and the rent fits,” says Aboudaram. “People here want to keep (Folly Beach) like it used to be. I don’t think they can do that.”
The owner of Snapper Jacks Seafood and Sports Bar, which is located at the corner of Center and Ashley streets, did not want to comment on his plans should the building with its prime location sell, only to say his tenant’s rights are protected under state law. But with a “for sale” sign hanging over his head and the possibility of a new owner, change is certain whether it’s a raise in rent or a raze of the property.
The Folly Beach planning commission anticipated the day this city block would go up for sale and “wanting to preserve their downtown business district as a destination point” asked city council in November 2000 to amend the commercial zoning to prevent the development of high rise condos and hotels. The C-1 zoning now limits expansion to two stories with a height of no more than 40 feet from ground level.
Real estate agent Keith McCann with Dunes Properties is offering 32 Center St. for $1.8 million and 34 Center St. for $900,000. These properties currently house a liquor store, a surf shop and the Planet Follywood bar and grill.
“I moved to Folly from the Isle of Palms. I saw Folly Beach as the next place to catch on fire. There’s a group of baby boomers, a lot of them, in their 50’s who have stayed at the other country club islands and they’re tired of it. Here’s it’s not so pretentious and they can let their hair down and not feel like they’re at work with their pressed slacks or dress code. They come to Folly to relax,” says McCann.
“I don’t want this to sound negative. But just because the run down dumps are coming down doesn’t mean the laid back attitude is changing. Folks like the feel of Folly and it sells.”
If McCann had his way, that feel would include a nice art gallery to display the works of local artists, an office building that houses an architect’s office and interior design store, maybe an upscale restaurant.
The next lot over, Peggy Whitaker owns two empty commercial lots, which she is asking $1.5 million for the 40 Center St. location and a bit of Folly nostalgia, a small cottage that was once used as part of a tollbooth. She and her husband from Charleston along with her daughter and son-in-law from England bought the property seven years ago as an investment.
“Why is there so many on the market now? Because property values have risen so much here on Folly. I’m not giving it up easy. It’s a good piece of property, but I want to take the gains and move on while we have the (tax benefit). With the sale of these lots on Folly, I can reinvest that money in more property and turn them again,” says Whitaker. “The face of Folly is going to change because of the prices. People who are building these $1 million homes on the island now want a nicer and nicer look.”
Just walk down Center Street. Evidence of change takes only a look at the new 11th Street Wine and Gourmet Restaurant that opened last year. Its two-story stucco building, which replaced the former Island Grocery store, sells wines from Australia, France and South America and dinner selections such as quail, venison and spinach and poultry spring rolls.
Co-owner Larry Lewis believes there’s room on Folly for both “the old and the new dining experience.
“Last month we doubled our projections. We’re very pleased with business,” says Lewis. “We never really thought about it as building an upscale restaurant, but as an alternative approach. People come to Folly for a week’s vacation and they like variety. We know Folly is a casual beach and we wanted to create a casual atmosphere with high quality food.”
Just a few doors down, construction workers are remodeling an old barbershop and real estate office for a new Prudential Carolina Real Estate Folly branch. The new RJ’s Seashell Restaurant at 41 Center St. replaces what locals describe as “the once scary Jerry’s bar that flew a confederate flag.”
At 55 Center St., the city plans to build a new $2.7 million two-story Folly Beach Community and Fine Arts Center that will include an expanded Charleston County library service. Completion is scheduled for January 2007. And construction is almost finished on the Folly River Park on Center Street just before crossing the bridge into Charleston city limits. The park includes a dock, gazebo and walking trails.
As Folly undergoes change, newcomers, like corporate pilot John Gray, wonder if the Folly Beach that attracted them to the island will survive and will they love the new Folly enough to stay.
“I see it’s going to change. It’s an improvement, but I kinda like the old town,” says Gray as he finishes up his lunch at the Lost Dog Cafe. “I just worry we’ll lose that sense of community here on Folly Beach. Right now, it’s a little town and it’s real.”
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