Harmony Hall still not completely settled

While the controversial Harmony Hall sale was pending, state Rep. Chip Limehouse was hesitant to discuss how much his family's real estate company would make from the $10 million land deal.

But after the sellers refused to pay what he claimed they owed, he had no choice but to go to court and disclose his earnings on the sale.

Limehouse, R-Charleston, and his family's company, Limehouse Properties, were recently awarded a $300,000 default judgment for the unpaid portion of his $500,000 commission on selling Harmony Hall, a future Charleston County park.

Harmony Hall's sellers, however, claim they are caught in "a case of greed and deception."

Limehouse Properties sued Toogoodoo Plantation in November, two months after the county's Park and Recreation Commission paid $10 million for the 434 acres in Meggett.

The park agency's deal drew much criticism: some questioned the level of secrecy with negotiations, the short time that the sellers owned the land, the price tag, the site's proximity to other county parks and the fact that the state lawmaker's family-owned business brokered the deal.

In Limehouse Properties' lawsuit, the company claimed the owners of Toogoodoo Plantation, Peter and Susan Stanley, had a written agreement to pay a commission of a half a million dollars for Harmony Hall's sale. But the Stanleys paid only $200,000 in September, according to court documents. A circuit court judge found the real estate company was entitled to the full commission.

Read more in Saturday's edition of The Post and Courier.