kitchen countertopsNear Summers Corner, SC

New development in the Summers Corner neighborhood south of Summerville continues to move along.

Lennar Carolinas plans to build 211 homes on 86 acres in a development called Azalea Ridge Phase 7 southeast of Beech Hill Road and Summers Drive.

The Miami-based home builder recently asked state environmental regulators for permits for stormwater, wastewater and water line construction.

The development is part of the 72,000-acre East Edisto Tract. About 53,000 acres that flank the Edisto River in the tract in Dorchester and Charleston counties are protected from development under a 2016 agreement.

Changing hands

A 48-unit apartment development on James Island and a multi-tenant commercial building in Mount Pleasant are now in the hands of new owners in separate deals.

Nashville-based real estate firm Durham Hill Capital LLC recently paid $8.5 million for The Charthouse, a four-story multifamily development at 1559 Folly Road, according to Andy Batkins of Charleston-based Woodlock Capital, which brokered the deal for the seller.

Hoplite Capital Strategies LLC, an arm of Charleston-based Hoplite Capital Management LP, is an equity partner in the purchase.

Greensboro, N.C.-based 1559 Acquisition Co. LLC was the previous owner. It acquired the 3-acre site in 2015 for $490,000 and built the apartments two years later.

Also changing hands is a 7,500-square-foot former McDonald’s with three tenants in Mount Pleasant.

The free-standing structure now housing Dunkin’ Donuts, Scoogie’s Chicago Style Deli and Headley Family Chiropractic at 840 Coleman Blvd. sold for $1.55 million, according to Buddy Bebergal and Will Moore of Carolina Commercial Real Estate, who handled the sale for the buyer.

The new owner is MG Mount Pleasant LLC of Columbus, Ohio.

Dunston Powell, also of Carolina Commercial, handled the sale for the seller, 840 Coleman LLC.

Bebergal said the new owner bought the property as an investment and does not plan any immediate changes.

The nearly 1-acre property last sold in 2011 for $825,000, according to Charleston County land records.

Topping out

A new $30 million, five-story office building under construction in downtown Charleston has officially topped out the steel frame.

Workers celebrated the topping out of the 84,000-square-foot structure at 677 King St. on Sept. 2.

Completion is expected late next spring on the Atlantic South Development-owned building. No tenants have been announced.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - People living in the Summers Corner development are reaching out to representatives and federal post office officials for help with persistent mail delivery issues.

Packages delivered a few days late or a letter arriving a few houses down aren’t the only problems plaguing those who live in the Summers Corner development.

Christy Hurley has lived in Summers Corner since 2022. She says she understands a few weeks of understaffing and a misplaced item occasionally, but her service has been inconsistent for a year.

“We started noticing certain things missing such as debit cards, credit cards, we would have to call those companies and say can you just send a new one? That’s when I started to get nervous because that’s personal information,” Hurley says.

Talking with neighbors, a few people thought it seemed like a community-wide issue. Damone Walsh is one of the residents who helped create a tracking system to get a sense of what is going on.

Over a 90-day period, people living in Summers Corner contributed to a neighborhood-wide spreadsheet tracking mail mishaps. They range from missing tax documents and cards with money, to empty packages left in mailboxes. Their recordings found about 100 issues.

“Frankly, we were surprised. I mean over just during that 90 days, 78 days of actual mail service, at least one to two people were having mail problems every day, every single day and just in our community,” Walsh says.

The spreadsheet creators believe their numbers may be underreported as well. The neighbors sent letters to South Carolina representatives Graham, Scott, Mace and Clyburn, as well as the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Inspector General.

“It just makes us think that there’s something systemic as opposed to individual problems. I mean, it may be both, but ultimately, I mean, let’s, let’s get it fixed,” Walsh says.

Walsh and Hurley say the postal service will often respond to an individual complaint, citing they are understaffed, or contractors are doing the deliveries.

“Everybody expected and was willing to accept if it’s a couple days off, well, that just makes sense. There’s a lag between whenever they scan it and whenever they deliver it, but then it went on for days, weeks and then just never just never delivered,” Walsh says.

Hurley says she’s gotten to the point that she doesn’t trust the service when it comes to important deliveries.

“We just sent out notices for my college daughter’s graduation and I had to inform all of our family. I said, Look, we’re having so many issues, I would prefer you not send money, gift cards, anything like that in the mail,” she says. “We got a graduation announcement for my sister and the back was torn open. And I said this is getting a little crazy.”

Walsh says the group decided to reach out to their representatives because USPS is a federal service, they need help getting answers from.

“We have a right to expect mail service. It’s embodied in our in our laws. And several people have reached out to the Postal Inspector and the postmaster and complained repeatedly and got nothing, just no result,” Walsh says.

Representative Nancy Mace’s office provided the following response to the community letter:

We’ve gotten a few inquires about this post office and have talked with our postal contact in Columbia. Their response has been that a lot of post offices, including this one, are experiencing staffing shortages and significant slowdowns. They are looking into it though so I’ll add in your inquiry to the others we’ve sent – will help us build the investigative case against them so the PS will have evidence to help find solutions to the issues.

Senator Lindsay Graham’s office also responded asking for more information from Walsh, who submitted the letter.

“We all recognize and believe that most of the Postal Service employees, they just want to do a good job, but it just makes us think that there’s something systemic as opposed to individual problems. I mean, it may be both, but ultimately, let’s get it fixed,” Walsh says. “I think consistent delivery, and I think a component would also be responsiveness from the leadership from within the Postal Service is what we’re looking for.”

The United States Postal Service provided the following statement:

The Postal Service strives is working hard to provide the best possible service to our valued customers. We apologize for any mail services issues that may have been experienced by customers living in the Summer’s Corner community. Some of the proactive steps we’ve taken in Summerville, SC include hiring additional personnel, as well as making staffing adjustments. Local management at the Oakbrook Post Office will continue to work with customers in Summer’s Corner to ensure every effort is being made to meet or exceed their expectations. We urge any customers with concerns or questions about their mail delivery service to contact the Postal Service immediately so that we can look into and resolve those concerns promptly. Customers have a variety of options for contacting the Postal Service, including contacting their local Post Office, calling 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777), or visiting our website.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Last week, a fire devastated the Apel family's home in the Summers Corner community.

A GoFundMe was quickly started to support the Apel family and in just a few hours, the $5,000 goal had already been reached.

Yet people continued to donate and in 24 hours? The fund had reached about $11,000.

Read More: Flames envelop home in Summers Corner community of Dorchester County

As of Monday morning, donations were just over $12,530, with people still actively donating.

The GoFundMe states the money will help the family replace all that was lost in the house fire and support them until they reestablish a new home.

The photo used on the page shows two adults and four children.

Read More: Dozens give back in North Charleston on Easter Sunday

Flames could be seen shooting out of the kitchen of the home on Gnarly Oak lane at around 5 p.m. Friday.

The homeowner said the fire started on the porch of the home and quickly spread. Fire officials said the cause was an apparent electrical issue.

Everyone home at the time was able to escape without injury.

They might not have the bright lights of the big city, the hustle and bustle of crowds on Fifth Avenue or the Miracle Mile, but South Carolina’s metropolitan areas have an appeal all their own.

Not surprisingly, people from large cities across the country have been discovering the benefits of the Palmetto State’s smaller metro areas and have been moving in droves since the pandemic to improve their work-life balance.

As of July 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reported South Carolina’s population of 5.19 million was 1.4 percent higher than the previous year, and the metropolitan centers accounted for much of the growth.

“These areas have a lot of the same amenities as the bigger cities, like New York and Chicago, good retail, entertainment; they still have that city vibe, that’s what makes them so attractive,” said Laura Ullrich, an economist at the Charlotte branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

As the population grows in Charleston, Greenville and Charlotte-Gastonia at the North and South Carolina border, like the Pied Piper, companies are following the crowd of young workers and taking advantage of other amenities the state has to offer.

“Companies want a place where younger people are moving,” said Ullrich.

Add the state’s location on the East Coast, Charleston’s port and tax incentives related to driving additional population growth, and it’s an ideal enticement for businesses to invest in the state, said Ullrich.

Walmart Inc., encouraged by Charleston’s vibrancy, growing population, the state’s pro-business environment and its proximity to the deep-water Port of Charleston, opened a 3 million-square-foot import distribution

“One of the advantages of being a member of this vibrant community is the region’s existing infrastructure, including the Port of Charleston and Interstates 26 and 95,” said Charles Crowson, director of corporate communications.

Other large corporations and smaller businesses are, like Walmart, establishing themselves or expanding in and around the state’s bigger metropolitan areas.

It’s showing up in employment numbers. Statewide, seasonally adjusted figures from the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce shows 79,900 new jobs were created since July 2021. Charleston drove 23 percent of the growth, with 18,400 jobs added. Greenville was second with 12,300 new positions, or 15 percent of the total.

Over the last 12 months, $3.8 billion in new investments have been made through 115 projects developed across the state, said Kelly Coakley, director of marketing and communications at the S.C. Department of Commerce.

“We’ve tracked about a billion dollars’ worth of capital infusion announced in the Charleston region over the past year,” said Megan Fink, director of marketing and communications at the Charleston Regional Development Alliance. “That includes capital raises by local firms as well as capital investments by local firms.”

In the 10-county Upstate region that includes Greenville, “We have been remarkably successful coming out of and during COVID,” said John Lummus, president and CEO of the Upstate SC Alliance.

He attributed much of the state’s good economic fortune to the statewide policy that allowed manufacturers to be considered a necessary business and stay open during the pandemic.

From 2020 to last month, 22 new projects brought a total investment of about $495 million to Greenville, according to the alliance.

At its new Dorchester County distribution center, Walmart employs more than 1,300 workers. It anticipates hiring and investing in the training and development of more than 200 more local full-timers.

And for manufacturers — one of the leading job growth sectors in the state — South Carolina has a “real advantage over competitor regions,” said Lummus.

“The state has an incredible manufacturing economy and high-tech companies in the manufacturing sphere,” he said. “In the Upstate, we have 110,000 people working in manufacturing and 2,100 manufacturers.”

Looking at the unemployment rate — 3.2 percent in July — one might think that the industry is having trouble going to find the workforce they need, Lummus said.

“But they are finding workers from employed and underemployed people who can make more by moving up into higher tech jobs,” he said.

Combine that with ReadySC — a workforce training program that is part of the state’s technical college system — and manufacturers have a healthy pool of workers to draw from.

The same holds in Charleston and its suburbs, where Volvo Car USA announced it would build its first US plant in 2015 to manufacture its S60 mid-size sedan and XC90 sport utility vehicle.

“The Lowcountry offers easy access to international ports and infrastructure, a well-trained labor force, an attractive investment environment and experience in the high-tech manufacturing sector,” said Katherine Bergmann, head of communications and community relations. “All of that, combined with the quality of life, makes Charleston a great place to live and build a career.”

Volvo expects to grow its workforce over the next year and is looking for talent from all areas and demographics. As it competes for workers, recruitment challenges exist, Bergmann said.

But workforce challenges are particularly prevalent for smaller businesses in growth sectors, including leisure and hospitality, where 6,000 jobs have been added in the Charleston region over the last 12 months as the industry continued to recover from the pandemic.

One of the Charleston area’s longtime restaurant chains knows the labor challenges all too well. The Kickin’ Chicken is now closed on Tuesdays at all five locations throughout the Lowcountry because it can’t get enough help.

“It’s a struggle at all locations,” said Chip Roberts, president and co-founder of the 25-year-old dining chain. “The problem is from top to bottom, from management all the way down. It’s thin all over.”

The restaurant group should have about 250 employees, but Roberts said it’s operating on about 150.

The Kickin’ Chicken has done better during the summer on hourly staff, but Roberts said, “If they don’t feel like coming to work, they don’t. You are already thin, so what are you going to do, fire them?”

Roberts said the chain considered closing part of the dining rooms to limit demands on the waitstaff, but he noted the restaurants still need someone with management skills to open and close.

“It’s hard to find some skilled labor and cooks,” he said.

Roberts pointed out it’s easier to find help in the Charleston area’s suburbs of Ladson, Goose Creek and Summerville.

Marilyn Knox with Culver’s restaurant experienced that firsthand.

When the franchisee opened her second Charleston-area Culver’s frozen custard and ButterBurger restaurant on Ladson Road on Aug. 29, she already had all 60 new employees lined up.

Knox said it took about a month to hire all the workers she needed at the new restaurant site.

She believes the secret is the way the company takes care of its employees through incentives, bonuses and holiday parties.

“People want to feel like they are part of a team,” she said.

At the newly opened Pasture & Grain restaurant in Mount Pleasant, owner Ira Hill remembered being fully staffed almost immediately after announcing the new eatery planned to open in a former pizza restaurant in June.

“As time went on, we lost 40 percent of those we hired,” he said in mid-August.

“It’s been a labor of love for interviews,” Hill said. “We are short-staffed, but we’re not poorly staffed. It’s universally challenging. You want quality workers as well.”

He also is well aware of the challenges throughout the food-service industry in hiring and retaining workers.

“We are entering the business at one of the worst times in the industry, so we have to get it right and provide quality.”

Construction is another sector grappling since COVID-19 with a nationwide labor shortage driven by a lack of qualified help, and that could impede progress in areas that need improvement to ensure the continued growth of South Carolina’s metropolitan centers.

In South Carolina, more than 90 percent of companies responding to an Associated General Contractors of America survey said they have positions open. Nearly 80 percent are having difficulty finding workers to fill them. Employers that belong to the trade group attribute the crunch to a lack of candidates with the specific jobsite skills they need.

“There is plenty of work to perform and not enough people to do the projects,” said Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCIV) — A Summerville family says their $535,000 dream house has turned into a nightmare.

“This is what we wanted. We fell in love with the outside, the exterior, everything,” said Michael O’Hea, who moved into the house in the Summers Corner neighborhood in June of 2017. He says immediately after moving in, he and his wife noticed defects cropping up throughout the house.

“You see the cracks in the wall you see the cabinets coming off the wall,” Brandy O’Hea told ABC News 4.

Floors are also uneven in several parts of the home, and two cracks have formed on the both sides of the home’s exterior.

The O’Heas also described mold issues with the home and drainage problems that required the installation of a French drain.

Dan Ryan Builders constructed the home, which the O’Hea’s say is a "Keenleand II" plan.

ABC News 4 called and emailed Dan Ryan builders requesting an interview and asking if the home was being examined for structural issues. Dan Ryan’s regional president emailed the following:

“We are aware of the O’Hea’s concerns with respect to their house. We are in the process of scheduling an engineer to inspect the house and will take appropriate action thereafter.”

The O’Hea’s say Dan Ryan Building sent two structural engineers in the spring who performed a visual inspection of the home, but those engineers were no-shows at the next scheduled appointment.

“We’ve had no shows. Contractors showing up with no materials, no paint,” Michael O’Hea said. “We had seven different personnel but it’s past that now.”

The O’Heas said several of their neighbors are experiencing similar issues with the Keeneland II model. Representatives from Dan Ryan have not yet commented on that.

As it stands, the O’Heas simply want their little slice of suburbia back in one piece.

“I want my home,” Brandy O’Hea said. “I want the home we paid for. We put everything in this home.”

The Better Business Bureau’s website shows 57 complaints filed against Dan Ryan Builders in the last three years, but it also rates the company an A+.

The BBB’s website lists some of the criteria for that score as pertaining to how quickly and appropriately the company has handled complaints.

Dan Ryan told us the building company scheduled its structural engineer to inspect their home less than two days after we contacted them for this story, but that engineer is scheduled for October.

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The O’Heas say they’re considering a class action lawsuit.