By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer

It’s east of the Cooper but it’s not in Mount Pleasant. It’s in the city of Charleston but it’s not in Charleston County. It is still largely rural, but light industry has moved in and rooftops are going up.

Where are you? The answer is Clements Ferry Road, a developing corridor between Interstate 526 and S.C. Highway 41.

Back when the housing market was booming, Clements Ferry Road became a new residential hot spot. National builders scurried in, including D.R. Horton, Portrait Homes, Ryland and Centex.

“I think what you’re looking at here is real simple. It’s close to Daniel Island,” said Phillip Ford, vice president of the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association.

As development on Daniel Island took off, the nearby Clements Ferry Road corridor became the next most likely spot for growth progression, Ford said.

“You have great access to I-526, the proximity to North Charleston, to Interstate 26 and to Daniel Island shopping and schools,” he said. “You’re close to Daniel Island but you’re not on Daniel Island…and you don’t have to pay Daniel Island prices.”

John Templeton, president of Special Properties, a residential developer specializing in waterfront properties, said he bought a tract of land off Clements Ferry Road without doing much research on the area and sold most of the lots to Summerville Homes, which is building River Reach Pointe.

“It was waterfront and it was attractive and it was a good price,” Templeton said. “At that time the market was going crazy, with prices going up substantially. We couldn’t do it today. We couldn’t buy it at that price.”

Cheryl Smithem, vice president of marketing for Summerville Homes, said homes at River Reach Pointe are priced in the high $300,000s—not bad for an East Cooper neighborhood on the water.

“In some places that’s not affordable, but in the Mount Pleasant area, that’s affordable,” Smithem said. “It’s also within the city limits of Charleston, but it’s right there on the Wando River.”

Clements Ferry Road has attracted a mix of high-end, affordable and mid-priced residential development.

Tony Berry, a Charlotte, N.C., developer, had his eye on property around Mount Pleasant for a long time and chose Clements Ferry Road for Palmetto Place, a condominium project that he is marketing to working people and others who want to live east of the Cooper but may be priced out of the soaring Mount Pleasant market.

Palmetto Place broke ground more than a year ago, when the housing market was stronger, but there are no plans to downscale the project. Twenty units out of 72 have been pre-sold in the first phase, which is about 85% complete. A second phase of 110 units is planned for Palmetto Place once the first phase sells out.

“It’s definitely a different housing market today than it was when we started a year ago,” Berry said, “but based on what we’re seeing there still are not a lot of options for people to find newly constructed homes east of the Cooper for under $250,000.”

Condominiums at Palmetto Place start in the low $170,000s for a one-bedroom unit and range to the high $230,000s for a three-bedroom unit. Small businesses have begun to pop up in the area as well, including fast food chains Subway and Bojangles.

“I’m sure there’s a critical mass that has to be achieved before it would make sense for many businesses to locate out there,” Berry said. “As critical mass continues to grow, it seems like that commercial development will happen.”

Eddie Buck, president of Jupiter Holdings, a management and development company, owns the 10-month-old Bojangles restaurant on Clements Ferry Road as well as the Blue Water convenience store, which opened a year ago.

“We see things continuing to grow over there,” Buck said. “There’s a little retail center that’s being built next to us. I think everyone expected it to be much more industrial-based than it’s turning out to be. It started out that way in the mid-1990s and now it’s turning into a residential community on its own.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that land has become more valuable there than anyone anticipated because of its proximity to Mount Pleasant, North Charleston and the port.”

John Scarborough, economic development director for Berkeley County, said land values have gone up exponentially in the area. Both the city of Charleston and Berkeley County have the challenge of managing growth along Clements Ferry Road as the area transitions.

“Obviously there needs to be buffers and separation between the industrial and the residential components, but you also don’t want to spread everything out so much that people have difficulty driving to work,” Scarborough said.

“The city is responsible for the zoning of any areas in the city of Charleston and they do a wonderful job of managing growth. We are also trying to manage growth responsibly in that area, as well as all over the county. But those high-growth areas and areas of strong demand do require more attention.”

Some of Charleston’s biggest names in commercial real estate who have stakes in the Clements Ferry corridor are thinking mixed-use rather than heavy industrial.

Hank Hofford, president of Bennett Hofford Construction Co., said his company plans a

rural village-style development with mixed use on a 27-acre parcel in the area. The company also is working with a group of physicians who are planning a medical outpatient and office facility nearby.

The company also has plans to develop 50 acres near the Halsey Cannon Boat Yard that would be residential or commercial or both.

On a larger scale, the company has a joint-venture project with McAlister Development to replan 250 acres that formerly were part of the Mikasa distribution and retail facility.

“That’s being master-planned for several neighborhoods and some commercial space also,” Hofford said. “I think it’s a wonderful place to be. It’s kind of the outer belt of growth for Charleston and Mount Pleasant.”

NAI Batten & Moore, which specializes in commercial and industrial real estate, is marketing the 783,000-square-foot Mikasa facility at 1780 Clements Ferry Road, which Mikasa will vacate in May following company plans to downsize operations. The property is listed at $41

million.

“We are currently being courted by a number of folks interested in joint development of the property,” said Charlie Moore, a principal with Batten & Moore. “It could be mixed-use; it’s ideal retail frontage close to I-526. We’ve had a number of banks and fast foods and other retail uses contact us, but we want a comprehensive development plan.”

Moore said he expects development along Clements Ferry Road to get a jump-start in March when existing sewer capacity is increased.

“That’s really going to unstop a lot of pent-up development out there,” Moore said.

Retail will follow any residential development, he said.

“Daniel Island-type shops, those will be coming, as well as retail and residential services such as banking and grocery stores,” Moore said. “Look at Long Point Road and I wouldn’t doubt you’ll see similar development along Clements Ferry Road.”

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