North Charleston sets path for revitalization of former Naval Hospital and Shipwatch Square

The City of North Charleston and Chicora Gardens Holding LLC are set to enter into a purchase agreement, which will transfer approximately 40 acres from the City for $9.2 million.  In October of this year, the City of North Charleston was the high bidder in an online auction conducted by the General Services Administration (GSA) for the former Naval Hospital located at 3600 Rivers Avenue.  After negotiations with GSA, the City purchased the 10-story, 368,000 square foot hospital on 23 acres for $2 million.

The developer will begin a due diligence period and will present a master plan for a Planned Development District to the City of North Charleston’s Planning and Zoning Department.

The project is expected to be a collaborative effort along with private businesses to utilize the best talents, innovation, and ideas to create a destination to bring together the community.  The area’s master plan is focused on attracting commerce and residents to the area with a plan for a sustainable interactive environment. 

An initial plan is to develop a mixed use project that will include a grocery store, office building, bank, restaurants, medical and dental services, pharmacy, library, and a continuing care retirement community with senior apartments, assisted living, and hospice services.  The project will also contain extensive public parks and gardens.

Chicora Gardens Holdings LLC has engaged Davis and Floyd for engineering work to include the initial site plan, structural analysis, and for the parks and gardens landscape architecture and design. Chicora Gardens is represented by Rick Brownyard of Mt Pleasant, SC.

Shipwatch Square: its history and current redevelopment updates

Update #7 September 20, 2012
An image of the cleared site taken from the former Naval Hospital.

Update #6 August 28, 2102
All of the building on the site have been cleared and grass has begun to grow.

Update #5 April 9, 2012
A Post and Courier article by Robert Behre from a recent interview with North Charleston Mayor R. Keith Summey.

North Charleston gambles big on old Shipwatch Square shopping center

Update #4 March 2, 2012
Demolition continues at Shipwatch Square with only a few buildings remaining.

Update #3 January 12, 2012
Building 2, which was parallel to Meeting Street Road (former home to Woolworth's and Belks) has been demolished, as has the bank at the intersection of McMillan and Rivers Avenue.

Update #2 November 21, 2011

Demolition continues.

____________________

Update #1 November 8, 2011
The demolition of the old Shipwatch Square is ongoing.  The building that formerly housed a Chinese restaurant and the Howard Johnson restaurant has been demolished, as well as the shopping center building parallel to McMillan Avenue.  The contractors are currently demolishing the bank building (former home to Wachovia, and before that South Carolina National Bank) at the corner of McMillan and Rivers Avenues.

The removal of asbestos containing materials from the remaining two shopping center buildings is proceeding.  Afterwards, the final two buildings will be demolished.

Please note that Shipwatch’s last remaining tenant, “Citi Trends,” has relocated to the shopping center on Rivers Avenue at Aviation Avenue.  Auto Sound Specialist (747-0047) remains in business at its current location, as does “Lord of the Harvest” in the former movie theater at the corner of McMillan Avenue and Meeting Street Road.

___________________

November 7, 2011

History of Shipwatch Square

In 1895, long before Pinehaven Shopping Center, the City of Charleston established 600-acre Chicora Park north of the its boundaries along the Inland Trail.  The Trail itself was a vital route of commerce, carrying goods between the sea coast and the Midlands of South Carolina.  Over the next decade, the United States Navy took possession of 1,575 acres along the west bank of the Cooper River, consuming the Park through its expansion.  Eventually, a 20-acre site was developed just outside of the Naval Base gates for the Pinehaven Sanatorium, a health care facility for tuberculosis patients.

In 1958, the Pinehaven Shopping Center was built on the site of the former sanatorium and consisted of 200,000 square feet of retail business. Pinehaven’s landmark structure was a central circle tower that bore the its name and held all of the lighting for the parking lot hidden within the top circle of the tower.
The shopping center opened for business September 17, 1959. Two grocery stores, a national retail clothier, one national five and dime store, one large local retailer, one bank and numerous small businesses made up the complex.  In future years a cinema was added.  The shopping center was very successful for decades and the occupancy of tenants remained high.  As the area continued to develop from the presence of the Naval Base, the center was renamed Shipwatch Square.

Although the shopping center began to decline with the establishment of area indoor shopping malls, a major blow came when the US Navy announced the closing of the Naval Base and Shipyard in North Charleston, displacing 12,000 civilian and 8,000 military employees. This was a large economic setback to the immediate area as many of the workers would use the retail outside of the base to shop and dine. Winn Dixie was the last major tenant, vacating the center in 2005 as part of the chain’s closure of all its grocery stores in South Carolina. The rest of the center maintained a few lower tier establishments, but was generally unoccupied.

In 2002, the City created a new vision for the 3,000 acres south of I-526 and east of I-26 from Cosgrove Avenue to the Cooper River known as the Noisette Community Master Plan. Real estate ventures began to rise as investors bought into the City’s new vision. Shipwatch Square was purchased by new stakeholders who had an ambitious development plan. However, the US economy began to slip in 2008 and the new development did not progress.  The City was patient in encouraging private enterprises, but in the end, redevelopment was not initiated.

Redevelopment begins

The City of North Charleston purchased 16.4 acres of the center in 2010, leaving the corner property for the former developer to negotiate a sale with a drug store.  After the developer’s negotiations fell through, the City acquired the final parcel on the corner of McMillan and Rivers Avenues in 2011.

North Charleston has created a number of conceptual plans for the property and is working with the surrounding businesses and an adjacent church to find the appropriate mix of tenants and financing to make the redevelopment successful. The City intends to create a complete master plan and secure development partners for its implementation.

The City approved a lease with Walgreens and a local developer to become the first tenant in the new center. The drug store chain will lease the property for 3 years and thereafter have the option to purchase the parcel located at the corner of McMillan and Rivers Avenues.  The City is also in negotiations with a bank to locate on site.

The City feels that housing should be major component of the development to attract residents into the immediate area. The North Charleston Housing Authority is investigating building its new offices at Shipwatch Square. In addition, the city has received interest in relocating to the site from Charleston County Library, Clemson University Extension Service, Fetter Health Care Clinics, Charleston County Health Services, the Pinehaven Post Office, and the Small Business Administration.

According to the US Department of Agriculture, the area around Shipwatch Square has been classified as a food desert.  The Mayor and City Council are committed to attracting a full-service grocery as the anchor tenant of the location’s redevelopment.  This effort may also include community or urban gardens, farmers markets and educational activities for the community. The City is currently in discussion with several grocery store chains.

The City of North Charleston remains very optimistic about the success of the redevelopment.  This is a wonderful opportunity to create a new community in the south end of the city and provide the residents a deserving quality place to work, live, play, and shop.

Citizens speak out on potential Pinehaven Post Office closure

A public meeting was held to discuss the possible closure of the United States Postal Service’s Pinehaven Post Office on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at St. Matthews Baptist Church.

The Pinehaven Post Office resides within a neighborhood where many rely on public transportation, yet the USPS held a public meeting in a different postal code district to receive public comments regarding its closure. The City of North Charleston felt it was best to convene a public meeting in a central location, so all of the area’s residents had an opportunity to provide input.

We encourage the public to continue to send their comments to the local postmaster.

Timothy D. Shaw
Postmaster
United States Post Office
7075 Cross County Road
North Charleston, SC 29418
timothy.d.shaw@usps.gov

Two petitions were circulated and signed at the meeting.
Petition One
Petition Two

The following are comments received from the public meeting attendees:

Gretchen Wright
USPS told us to use the supermarket to buy stamps, but there are none in our area. This logic is flawed.

Elais Bartman
The next closest Post Offices are across the Ashley River and up Rivers Avenue. The lack of transportation of many of this area’s residents will keep them from being able to get to these Post Offices.

Herb Cunningham
The next closest branch is 5.4 miles away. We have a lack in mobility. The only way we have to reach the other Post Offices is to take a bus. Why are the disadvantaged shut down first. This is a slap in the face.

Mr. Olsen
A lot of senior citizens are in this community and depend on the Post Office. If things are so bad, how can the USPS spend millions on advertising with the NFL?

Stanley Smalls
This postal district is predominantly people of color and senior citizens. Why is the USPS targeting a disadvantaged area? Rivers Avenue is too far way for many. The initial public meeting conducted by the USPS should have been located in this community, not in another postal district.

Paulette Dunham
This Post Office has always been successful. It is unfair to remove it.

Sinclair Jenkins
The Rivers Avenue Post Office is very difficult to transverse. The traffic is terrible when crossing Rivers Avenue.

Clair Laughlin
If the Pinehaven Post Office services such a large area, then why would you close it?

Clinton Brantley
This is a moral issue. It is about services, accessibility, and our senior citizens. They all should be considered.

Harriet Brown
We have lost so many other daily conveniences, and the Post Office would be a final blow. Many of the area’s residents lack transportation.

Bill Stanfield
The lack of clarity on the criteria of the decision to close the Pinehaven Post Office is disturbing. There are more public transportation riders here than in any other area. This is becoming a civil rights issue by the USPS taking away from the disadvantaged.

Lannette Poor
This community has a lack of transportation and we need the Post Office in our community.

Ms. Chisolm
The US Congressmen that represent this area should be present, but are not.

Leatrice Eddy
Moving the Post Office would create chaos. The mail is already late, how much later can we expect to receive our mail?

Patricia Brown
This Post Office is in the middle of a community and provides many services past providing postage stamps. The decision to close the Post Office is based on a flawed criteria and the USPS should reconsider.

Vanderbilt Evans
A timeframe has not been adequately communicated. If the USPS is using crime as part of their criteria, they should not. The USPS provides a service that others cannot due to federal law. This Post Office serves several communities and a reason for its possible closure has not been given.

Kenneth Blake
Why not close another branch, like Sullivans Island where the affluent live, so this community can continue to be served.

Robert Lee
I have held a post office box at the Pinehaven Post Office for 20 years. Closing the Post Office is a disservice to our community.

Judy Miller
I feel the community needs to look at the legal ramifications.

Pearl Middleton
Other conveniences have vacated the area. Why is the Post Office taking this service away?

Bernard Walker
I live in Mount Pleasant, but volunteer at a public school in the area. Whenever something negative has to happen, it always seems to happen to the minority communities. Others should be taken into consideration. The USPS is spending money frivolously in other areas and needs to reflect upon itself. Leave this Post Office alone.

Miriam Fraser
It is possible to pay for other governmental expenses, but not this one. That is a shame.

Erica Fludd
I attended the first meeting held by the USPS, which should have been held in this community. If the mail carriers are out longer, then they run a greater risk. Will they deliver mail in the dark? The mail is already late.

Javon Mack
The USPS has done an inadequate job at distributing information about the closing. I knew nothing of the previous meeting. They deliver millions of letters everyday, but can’t notify the public of the meetings they are holding a meeting.

Nathaniel Shivers
I do not understand why the USPS is shutting down this branch. The word about this has not been spread sufficiently. We get so much junk in the mail, but the USPS did not use their full ability to notify us of the last meeting.

AJ Davis
It is very telling that no representative from the USPS is present. It does not make logical sense to close this centrally located Post Office. Many of the area’s residents are on fixed incomes and are unable to travel to other locations. There are still individuals in this community that are unaware that the Post Office may be closing.

Ms. Sparkman
Every time there is a spending cut, we are hit first.

The Pinehaven Post Office is located here:
View Pinehaven Post Office in a larger map