Green is color of new industrial park

ON BUSINESS

Its profit potential aside, the $175 million industrial park that Trammell Crow Co. is getting ready to build near Summerville will have a decidedly green tinge to it.

The Dallas-based developer said it will seek LEED certification, short for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, from the U.S. Green Building Council for the initial building, calling it a first for a major industrial structure in the Charleston region.

Work is set to begin this month on the 505,000-square-foot structure. Completion is scheduled for mid-2009.

The project will kick off the first phase of Trammell Crow's planned 315-acre Omni Commerce Park. If fully built out, the former commercial nursery property would house seven cavernous industrial structures with nearly 3 million square feet of space for use as warehouses, distribution centers and light manufacturing, according to plans filed with Berkeley County.

Crow paid a hair more than $6 million this month for the first 97-acre parcel (or about $62,000 per acre) along the westbound lanes of Interstate 26 near Jedburg Road. It has options and rights to buy the remaining acreage for undisclosed prices from Eastway Properties LLC.

The leasing duties for the first phase of Omni Commerce have been awarded to Bob Barrineau, veteran industrial real estate broker at CB/Richard Ellis Carmody of Charleston, which keeps things within the family.

Not facing the music?

Lowcountry chef and restaurateur Louis Osteen might be bolting from the arrogantly shabby confines of Pawleys Island for the arrogantly ostentatious Las Vegas strip, but he still has some legal loose ends to deal with in Charleston.

Osteen's L&M Restaurant Inc. , which does business as Louis's at Pawleys, is being sued by Broadcast Music Inc. and a handful of song writers, including the duo who make up Hall & Oates, for allowing unauthorized public performances of copyrighted songs from BMI's library. Also named as defendants are Osteen and his wife, Marlene.

The alleged copyright infractions took place May 18, 2007, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston.

BMI singled out nine tunes played on that date at Louis's without authorization, including such well-known ditties as "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," "Knock on Wood," "Mustang Sally," "Old Time Rock' N Roll" and "Maneater."

BMI and the other plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages and payment of legal fees. In a court filing, the Osteens have denied any legal liability, saying the songs were performed by independent third-party musicians.

The most interesting part of this otherwise routine — some might say heavy-handed — lawsuit is that the Osteens suddenly stopped cooperating.

They didn't respond to repeated recent phone calls and other communication attempts from their defense lawyer, who has filed a request with Judge C. Weston Houck to withdraw from the case. Osteen has consented.

Osteen, who helped put Lowcountry cuisine on the map, opened his first restaurant in 1980 on Pawleys and went on to become a celebrity of sorts in the food world as executive chef at what is now Charleston Grill in Charleston Place.

Osteen then opened Louis's Bar and Restaurant at 200 Meeting St., a costly venture that fizzled and closed in 2001. He is scheduled to shutter Louis's at Pawleys and the adjacent Fish Camp Bar this Friday.

We're 99th!

Charleston's perch in the broadcasting universe improved slightly last week, when Nielsen Co. released its new TV market ratings for 2008-09. The region is now ranked 99th in the country in terms of size, up from the No. 100 slot, a move based largely on population growth.

It's unlikely the advance into two-digit territory will translate into any meaningful extra advertising revenue for local television stations. Last year the 99th spot was held by Johnstown-Altoona, Pa.

The Columbia viewing market did even better by Nielsen's latest tally, climbing two places to No. 79.

Reach John McDermott at 937-5572 or jmcdermott@postandcourier.com.