Development on massive scale

The economy is gasping for air, but a German manufacturer and a Charleston real estate developer will unveil plans today for a huge commercial development near Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 78.

No tenants have been secured for the North Charleston project, and details were scarce Monday. But the basic plans call for a 300-acre complex that blends big-box retail stores, office space, hotels, restaurants and maybe a supermarket and a movie theater.

It's being touted as "the largest commercial development in the history of South Carolina," three times the size of the Centre Pointe complex across from the North Charleston Coliseum, according to a news release touting today's announcement.

"This is very big. This can carry (city revenues) for another 15 years," Mayor Keith Summey said, referring to the amount of time it took to develop Centre Pointe.

The scale of the proposed mixed-use project provoked mixed feelings.

"Wow, that's huge. What do they know that we don't know?" said Frank Hefner, a College of Charleston economist. "It's good that someone is optimistic about the next couple of years."

The complex is proposed for the largely undeveloped Ingleside Plantation/Blue House Swamp area between Ashley Phosphate Road and U.S. 78. The first phase would be about 110 acres on the north end of the site near U.S. 78.

It will be developed by Summerville-based Weber USA, a major automotive parts manufacturer that owns about 1,500 contiguous acres at Ingleside.

Weber, a privately owned German company, is forming a joint venture with the Charleston-based Weiser Companies, which worked for years on the Centre Pointe project before getting it off the ground. Company officials were unavailable for comment Monday.

The project is a gamble given the state of the economy, but Hefner said other commercial real estate developers across the country are taking the same approach: building during a downturn to position themselves to capitalize on the eventual rebound.

The site has been looked at previously by Cabela's, the hunting and fishing retail giant that stirred a political fire storm last year when the General Assembly approved tax incentives to lure it to the state.

Summey said the Ingleside commercial project won't compete with existing nearby retail centers such as Centre Pointe or Northwoods Mall because it will cater to customers who live and work in the developing Summerville-Goose Creek-Moncks Corner corridor.

It also could diversify the region's retail base by attracting companies that aren't operating in the Charleston area now.

Hefner said that while this type of development sometimes draws in new businesses and customers, it also sometimes "cannibalizes" the existing retail market.

"It's going to change the competitive arena," he said. "It's really a question of how much development is going to take place up there. And that's an open question."

The news flabbergasted a regular shopper at Northwoods Mall and a regular Citadel Mall shopper.

"I think it's foolish. I really don't think it's necessary," Karen Hunter of Hanahan said as she headed into the Belk department store at Northwoods. She said she thought it would affect business at the mall, but that she wouldn't shop at the new center because it's too far for her.

"We really don't need anyone competing with the stores we have now. I think we have plenty of shopping in Charleston," said Donna Jarrell of West Ashley, who shops at Citadel Mall.

The news drew mixed reactions from two residents in Colony North, a community just east of the Ingleside tract. Everyone in the community knew something was coming; they just didn't know what, said Melissa Schleich, whose home backs up to the property.

"I'm not super-thrilled about it," she said. But, yes, she probably would shop there; it will be so close. Across the street, Bridney Williams said she'd like a retail outlet that size to open there, saying it would be more convenient.

The proposed development is another large commercial complex in a city with a stated goal of creating urban, mixed-use residential and business areas, helping defuse a "sprawl" trend of development that has people living and traveling long distances from where they work and shop.

The city has been championed for its sustainable living efforts and criticized for an annexation binge that encourages urban sprawl.

Summey said the first phase of the project doesn't include residential building but future phases could. There are residential zones in the overall 1,500-acre Ingleside tract.

"We're slow right now," he said, "but we will continue to grow."