Incredible Income Producing and Short-Term Rental Opportunity in Downtown Charleston

I can’t tell you how many calls I receive asking the question, “Where can I buy a place where I can do short-term rentals” or “What can I buy that has the potential to cash flow?” And always, for the most part, I have to disappoint. Positive cash flow is tough because of high insurance and taxes on historic buildings...

New on the Market: HARLESTON row – 6 new rowhomes in Harleston Village

You may recall way back in December 2013, I wrote a post entitled “Turning Blight to Beauty“, and at the bottom of the post, I gave you a little teaser of a project I was working on with Julia F. Martin the Architect, and Jeffrey Roberts of Ecovest and JJR Development. It was a mere blighted parking lot then. And...

We’ve got Behemoths on the B.A.R. Agenda June 3

Update June 5 – The BAR ruled as follows: Jasper – DENIED. Apartment Building – WITHDRAWN. Hotel – APPROVED. _____________________ Three Behemoths to be precise. Three projects so large, so complex and so controversial, they had to have their own separate meeting happening June 3 at 4:30PM in the Charleston Museum Auditorium (because many many many people will be attending)....

Colonial Lake Torn Up. Sergeant Jasper Torn Down.

Way back when I was a student at the College of Charleston in the mid-nineties, my Charleston world was very, very small. I lived in the French Quarter (though it wasn’t called that silly name then), worked there too, partied on Market Street, and walked or biked a few blocks to school. I rarely ventured west of Coming or north...

Charleston’s About to Get Taller and Techier

Tuesday night the Charleston City Council unanimously approved the City of Charleston’s request to change the height zoning on a particular area of Morrison Drive from 55 feet to 85 feet. Why does this matter?? 1. Because that rarely happens, and 2. Because it was done so to enable the construction of new 76-foot tall buildings up to 350,000 square...

Cigar Factory to Host a Foodie Paradise

By now us locals know that two businesses have officially announced they will set up shop in the Cigar Factory – once slated to be condos, now to become a commercial venture with retail and office space occupying this historic building. Garden & Gun Magazine will be taking down a mammoth 20,000 square feet (of 244,000), and a local restaurant...

The Elliotborough Explosion – A look inside one of Downtown Charleston’s hottest up-and-coming neighborhooods.

Hold on to your hats dear readers… The Elliotborough neighborhood in Downtown Charleston is on the rise – and it is rapid. While I have been writing about this neighborhood and its developments for years, nothing compares with what is about to come. Take a look at this map I made for a little more insight. The blue shapes are...

Turning Blight to Beauty with Ecovest Development and Julia F. Martin, Architect

Since the beginning of June, I have been lucky enough to be living out my own personal real estate fantasy. No, not my house-with-dock-and-view-coupled-with-Downtown-pied-a-terre one. The other one. You see – one of the reasons I love this business of real estate here on the Charleston Peninsula is because it is incredibly diverse. From $50,000 to $5,000,000, from teeny tiny...

The Cigar Factory – YES. Condominiums – NO.

I love being right. Back in January of this year, I wrote a post called “Charleston Shines in 2012, So What’s on Tap for 2013?” In that post, I predicted that the Cigar Factory would rise again. Many of you have asked me about the luxury condos planned, but all I had to tell you was that it was still...

See where Charleston’s booming – by looking at the Board of Architectural Review agenda

When Charleston booms, so does the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) approval agenda. Normally a mix of house additions or renovations, sign approvals, and a smattering of commercial building renovations or constructions, the most recent agendas have been full of Downtown Charleston game changers. We’ve seen proposed designs for new hotels and infill on Meeting Street, building renovations on Upper...

There’s a Whole Lotta Building Going On in Downtown Charleston

Soaring residential real estate market aside, it is commercial and development activity that can give you true insight into a local economy’s present and near future. And make no mistake – Charleston is on a MAJOR upswing. Always the ones with the inside scoop, the Preservation Society posted a few new photos regarding this matter on their Facebook page today...

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