After 9 years and $20.5M, King St. work completed

Nine years and $20.5 million later, King Street's face-lift is complete.

All the disruption from closed-off streets, ripped-up sidewalks and blocked parking spaces is over.

City officials and merchants celebrated the conclusion of the $4.5 million final phase of the three-pronged project Thursday amid the new granite curbing and bluestone sidewalks, new street lights

and newly paved streets with brick crosswalks.

'The changes are amazing,' said Mayor Joe Riley. 'It's a breathtakingly beautiful shopping corridor.'

The massive undertaking

was a bit behind schedule because of the layers of underground work involved.

Property owners along King Street were assessed about 17 percent, or $3.5 million, of the total cost.

Cream of the crop

The state's top-rated travel properties retained their distinct status for 2010, leaving no room for new South Carolina members in their elite circle.

The Woodlands Inn in Summerville remained the only property in the Carolinas to land a Five Star rating from Forbes Travel Guide (formerly Mobil Travel Guide) and a Five Diamond nod from AAA for both accommodations and dining.

The Sanctuary Hotel at Kiawah Island Resort earned another Five Diamond and Five Star rating for accommodations.

Also the Spa at the Sanctuary claimed a Five Star in the spas category.

The Wentworth Mansion was the only property in downtown Charleston to earn the Five Diamond distinction.

Buying on credit

Charleston-area home sales surged 31 percent to 721 transactions in October as buyers moved to take advantage of a temporary $8,000 federal tax credit that recently was extended.

It ranks as the largest year-over-year increase in sales since the local real estate market began bottoming out several years ago. But last month's sales figure is still dwarfed by the number of homes for sale in the region, which stood at 10,631 as of Tuesday.

Buyers were drawn to cheaper home prices in Dorchester and Berkeley counties, which saw the most sales growth.

Charleston County homes, which sold at a median home price of $205,000, saw sales increase by only 9 percent.

Overall, the typical home sold last month for $169,631, the lowest price in more than five years.

and palmetto trees

described by contractors as working in the neck of a bottle

They included removal of decades-old utilities and trolley tracks and addition of new water and sewer lines, burial of overhead electrical wiring and installation of new curb-side stormwater catch basins.

Air traffic control

The traffic that Boeing Co.'s expansion at Charleston International Airport will generate is getting close look.

Charleston County Council's economic development committee agreed to pursue a $150,000 state grant to study that area's traffic-improvement needs.

The decision to seek the funds came as the Chicago-based aerospace giant announced a ground-breaking ceremony for its new 787 aircraft assembly plant to take place this Friday, Nov. 20. The event is closed to the public.

New dimension

An open space in front of the S.C. Aquarium soon will become home to a so-called 4-D theater where visitors can not only see and hear a dolphin jumping out of the water but feel a splash of the wet stuff. The aquarium plans to launch the 52-seat immersion experience from Toronto-based SimEx-Iwerks in May.

S.C. Aquarium CEO Kevin Mills said guests will feel their seats moving and animals scurrying across their feet. Aquarium officials have not finalized the cost of admission.