Retail Center Planned for Industry-Laden Palmetto Commerce Park in North Charleston
By Warren L. Wise wwise@postandcourier.com
In a sea of cavernous industrial structures, a retail center will soon sprout in North Charleston.
Charleston Town Center, a collection of three buildings with spaces for multiple tenants, is in the works across from Atlas Commerce Center on Palmetto Commerce Parkway in Palmetto Commerce Park.
One building will be 10,147 square feet with space for five shops. Another will have four shops in 8,046 square feet, and a final one will have two shops housed in about 4,400 square feet. The smaller building will offer a drive-thru window.
The roughly eight-acre development is a project of Atlas Capital Group of Miami, which believes it will fill a void in that section of the city.
“As the area has exploded with both workers and residents, there still isn’t a place to get a cup of coffee or lunch within 15 minutes,” Atlas Capital principal Warren Zinn said. “We believe this project … will change that and will also provide a gathering space for the community.”
Zinn said several of the workers in the area from Boeing Co., Mercedes-Benz Vans and other businesses in Palmetto Commerce Park now go to a nearby cafeteria at Roper St. Francis’ office campus because there are few other options in the area.
“When I’m in town, I have to drive to Bojangles’ (on Ladson Road) to get a cup of coffee,” he said. “I said, ‘Wait a minute. We need some retail up here.’”
No tenants have been lined up, but Zinn said interested prospects so far include food service and medical-related businesses.
A large parking lot in the rear of the development next to a pond will feature green space and a venue for a seasonal farmers market, art or performances.
Three outdoor patios on shop fronts and two playgrounds for children ages 2-5 and 5-10, respectively, will be offered behind a 50-foot landscaped buffer next to the four-lane parkway, which is said to carry about 23,000 cars a day.
Zinn expects to have permits in hand for construction to begin in October or November with completion by next spring.
The retail parcel is being bought and carved out of a 40-plus acre tract owned by Weber USA Corp., which acquired much of the property in the former Ingleside Plantation site between Interstate 26 and Palmetto Commerce Park about 20 years ago. Zinn said the retail parcel is under contract to be purchased.
Commercial real estate firm Avison Young of Charleston is handling leases for the proposed retail center.