RICHARDSON COLUMN: Charleston area's apartment industry heats up

The Lowcountry's apartment front is a burgeoning one as investors continue building more units based on the region's improving economy and growing population.

The latest is the 280-unit multifamily community adjacent to the Ingleside Plantation Apartments near U.S. Highway 78 and Interstate 26 in North Charleston. The new apartment community, which hasn't been named yet, merely adds to what is already a large list of projects in the pipeline in the Charleston area.

The latest report by multi-family housing information firm Real Data projects 1,550 units under construction in the region, with another 4,700 units proposed for development.

That includes some massive projects like the 325 units that are part of The Boulevard mixed-use development on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant, which is scheduled to be completed in early 2013, according to the report.

Real Data's report highlights more than a dozen apartment units proposed for the region with the largest concentration in Mount Pleasant, West Ashley, Summerville and James Island.

Meanwhile, existing apartments are increasingly changing hands. One of the latest deals: Savannah-based Kole Management has acquired The Palms, a 408-unit garden-style apartment community on Royal Plam Boulevard in West Ashley's Orange Grove area for an undisclosed price. It marks the first Lowcountry venture for Kole, which owns nine rental properties in the Savannah region.

Credit check

The S.C. State Housing Finance and Development Authority has launched a program that provides a federal income tax credit to qualified homebuyers of up to $2,000 per calendar year for each year they occupy the home as their primary residences. Go to SCHousing.com/MortgageTaxCredit for details.

Tyrone Richardson can be reached at 937-5550 or twitter.com/ty richardsonPC.