Sandlapper Classic Coming Up!

I received this note from Gettys Glaze, CEO and Broker In Charge of Sandlapper, and thought I should pass it along to you all! This really is a great event with opportunities for sponsorship, volunteering and enthusiastic cheering for your home team!

"Hello everyone! Sandlapper Real Estate Group is at it again – getting involved in the community. The 2nd annual Sandlapper Classic high school track and field event is Saturday, March 1 at West Ashley High School. We are expecting approximately 2000 student athletes from all over the state to participate in events from 1600 M dash, shot put, 100 M High Hurdles, Long jump, pole vaulting and many others.

Go to http://www.sandlapperclassic.com/ and see a video and interviews of the students that participated in the last year.

We are looking for area sponsors to help us make this a wonderful experience for these students. We have sponsor levels that range from $100 to $1500. Please visit http://www.sandlapperclassic.com/ to find out how you and your company can help. Click on the sponsor tab and you will see all of the ways you can get involved."

Sales Center Opens for New Cigar Factory Condos

I am pretty much always in favor of revitalization and mixed-use development, so this project looked good to me from the first. As the particulars take shape this property promises to be cool – very cool. Be sure to check out the link to their new site, which is not very informative, but does give a good feel for the tone they are trying to set. This should be fun to keep an eye on!

"The former industrial building known as The Cigar Factory at 701 East Bay St. downtown has opened a sales and information center as the building’s new owner moves forward with plans to convert the property into a mix of high-end condominiums, offices and retail space.

'As the largest historic building on the Charleston peninsula, Cigar Factory is a major part of the ongoing revitalization of the Charleston East side,' said Boyd Simpson, president of The Simpson Organization, the Atlanta-based real estate company that owns the property. The Simpson Organization purchased the former cigar factory in summer 2007 for $22 million and plans to create 37,000 square feet of retail space along with 26,000 square feet of condominiums priced from $349,000 to $1.5 million.

Tenants are expected to begin moving in summer 2009.

The Cigar Factory was built as an industrial plant in 1881 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been used as a cotton mill, a cigar factory and office space.

Condominiums at The Cigar Factory will include the original brick walls and 15-foot ceilings.
Owners will have concierge service, covered parking, a swimming pool and fitness center, a pet park, a club with individual wine storage, a private garden and a rooftop deck with views of Charleston harbor.

Retail and office spaces will be designed to accommodate dining, a gourmet-style grocery store, galleries and boutiques. Offices will have parking."

For the full Charleston Regional Business Journal article: http://charlestonbusiness.com/current/14_2/briefs/11214-1.html

For the Cigar Factory, Charleston website: http://cigarfactorycharleston.com/

$20M from Delfin USA for North Charleston Site

With Boeing, Vought and Global Aeronautica already in North Charleston, Google coming to Goose Creek, it looks we will soon add another substantial, international presence, suggesting that the north area really is the "coming" place! I love that I'm here, now to be a part of these exciting times!

"Delfin Group USA wasn’t looking to establish a manufacturing beachhead in North Charleston. But when the perfect opportunity arose at the Chevron Corp. property late last year, the Russian petroleum firm had no choice but to jump at it, said Tony Williams, who orchestrated the $20 million deal on the parcel for the company.

'What a nice piece of property,' said Williams, a Delfin Group USA vice president, recalling his reaction on his first visit to the shuttered Chevron plant on Virginia Avenue. 'I can honestly say that in 30 years of looking at facilities for sale, I’ve only seen one I thought was better, and that was several years ago in Antwerp, Belgium, and largely due to the fact that logistics in Northern Europe are so phenomenal.'

Delfin Group Russia, formerly Luxoil, has operated plants in Moscow and in Riga, Latvia, for decades, but it was only 16 months ago that Marcos Bagdasarian, a Delfin principal, established a North American division in Atlanta.

Enlisting Williams, a 30-year veteran of the oil and lubricant industries and a native of Manning, S.C., as his vice president, Bagdasarian wanted to simply set up a U.S. purchasing office. Williams, however, came with an expertise in land deals and managing international operations. His background included founding Global Alliance, a firm that managed three lubricant mixing plants in South America.

In 2007, the two had been scouting sites near Atlanta and Savannah to establish a scalable production facility, ideally with a rail connection. While searching, Williams and Bagdasarian received a call from a real estate agent they knew who had the 'perfect' location for them in North Charleston.

The Virginia Avenue property, which has changed hands numerous times over the past several decades, and which most recently went on the market in June for an asking price of $26 million, is expected to be operational by February, Williams said.

The site had been in use as a service station or lubricant oil terminal since 1910. Delfin plans to ship raw oils and additives to the facility, where they will be mixed, bottled and prepared for sale to automotive, commercial and industrial users. The product will then be shipped out to its principal markets of Europe and West and North Africa, and the Asian Pacific rim.

At full production, the plant is expected to manufacture 10 million gallons of petroleum products annually and employ between 120 and 170."

For the full Charleston Regional Business Journal article: http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/current/14_2/news/11204-1.html

For my website highlighting the area near the site: http://parkcircleonline.com/