Chimney Sweep in West Ashley, SC

CHARLESTON — Fencing and yellow caution tape already surround part of a West Ashley shopping center, where construction on the long-awaited redevelopment project along Sam Rittenberg Boulevard will finally begin after a ceremony planned by city officials and developers on May 7.

The overall proposal covers 35 acres that combines the larger Ashley Landing shopping center and a vacant lot across Sumar Street where a Piggly Wiggly once stood. Plans call for more than 6 acres of green space, a four- to five-story apartment complex with 285 units, 100 townhomes and 240,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

"We're addressing what people have been wanting there," said Councilman William Tinkler, who represents the district where the site is located. He called the investment completely unprecedented for West Ashley, home to more than 40 percent of the city's population.

Demolition of part of the existing shopping center will kick off the construction. This will make way for a new Publix. The grocery chain is currently located across the parking lot in the middle of the planned development.

Publix will remain open during construction, as will many retail and commercial spaces along the periphery of the shopping center.

The same can't be said for the Crunch Fitness or Charleston Stage's West Ashley Theatre Center, which are also slated for demolition.

The theater production company preforms at the city-owned Dock Street Theatre downtown, but rehearses and holds classes and programs at the West Ashley location.

The developer behind the shopping center's upgrade is renovating a vacant 10,000-square-foot space for Charleston Stage in the same development, according to Marybeth Clark, the company's artistic director.

"We're not going away," Clark said. But there will be a pause in their fall classes as they wait for the new location to be complete, she said. The new space will feature more studios, office space and theater seating than they have currently.

"Ultimately, we will have a beautiful new space in a beautiful new center," said Clark, who hopes to be in the new location by the start of next year. "Between now and then, it will be inconvenient."

West Ashley project a longtime coming

People visiting the shopping center should expect to be "inconvenienced for the next few years," Tinkler said. But once the dust of construction settles, he believes the "vibrant community" left behind will be worth the wait.

The city and county are both planning improvements to traffic around the site, which Tinkler said is one of the biggest complaints for residents who live nearby. He hopes the investment will encourage additional traffic mitigation from state authorities.

"This is revitalization," Tinkler said. "We're finally realizing plans that were envisioned 20 years ago."

Back then, his father sat on City Council, and every councilman since has pushed for redevelopment of the area, he said.

Past proposals ground to a halt as council failed to come to a consensus last year about what to do with the smaller former Piggly Wiggly site the city bought in 2017. When Mayor William Cogswell took office, he began courting developers with deeper pockets to tackle the larger redevelopment effort.

The overall plan will cost taxpayers an estimated $48 million, with another $300 million investment from Edens, a Columbia-based real estate company that owns properties in Mount Pleasant, Kiawah, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and California.

Edens purchased the Ashley Landing shopping center in October for more than $38 million, and in December paid the city $1.1 million for the 3-acre Piggly Wiggly parcel, according to county property records. That's nearly $2 million less than the city paid for the property in 2017.

The city also changed how it approves development along the busy commercial corridor in order to fast track the project. The property sits in a tax-increment financing district, or TIF district, which the city is relying on to fund its portion of the site's public infrastructure. That will include $10 million for affordable housing; $9.6 million for public streets and right of ways; $4.7 million for parks and green space; $1 million for a 3,000-square-foot community space; and $13 million for stormwater infrastructure.

A TIF essentially allows municipalities to borrow against future tax revenue generated from improvements to blighted properties and reinvest it back into the district. The West Ashley TIF was created eight years ago, and according to county tax records, still hasn't accrued any revenue. If the city doesn't issue any bonds within the next two years, then the TIF expires.

If all goes to plan, construction is slated to complete in 2028.

Reach Ali Rockett at 843-901-1708. Follow her on Twitter @AliRockettPC.

Proposed rendering of Ashley Landing site (Edens).

WEST ASHLEY, S.C. (WCIV) — In West Ashley, city leaders and developing company Edens, plan to break ground on the Ashley Landing Shopping Center revitalization project next week.

READ MORE| Charleston unveils $300M redevelopment plan for West Ashley's Sumar Street site

Construction fencing is now present around the old Big Lots building as the project prepares to go underway.

This development is years in the making, and was officially approved by the Charleston City Council in September 2024. Following approval, Edens obtained ownership of the approximately 35-acre parcel of land, included the lot on Sumar Street, where Piggly Wiggly once stood.

The development company now aims to build a new town center for the community to enjoy, with a variety of renderings public on its website.

Charleston City Councilmember for District 9, William Tinkler, says he thinks this is the largest investment in West Ashley's history, with the city pledging $45 million, and Edens contributing $300 million.

“It's really good that they're giving back to the community here in West Ashley," says Bubba Walkins, who grew up in the area.

READ MORE | Charleston City Council pushes forward with major redevelopment on Sumar Street

Tinkler says the public funds will be focused on infrastructure.

"The city's got some projects planned on Old Towne Road that are going to lead to some traffic infrastructure there that I think is going to benefit," he said.

Edens is required to conduct a traffic impact study for the project, and Charleston County will also be looking to make improvements on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard and Old Towne Road.

Nine acres of storm water retention will be built underneath the property to help with flooding in the area.

Tinkler says ensuring available affordable housing is also a focus.

"One of the benefits of this project is to be able to provide housing, and housing that those folks can afford." Tinkler says a certain portion of housing created will be workforce housing.

The public is invited to attend the ground-breaking on Wednesday, May 7, at 10 a.m.

A West Ashley gym will power down for good next month, leaving customers crushed.

O2 Fitness at 1119 Wappoo Road sent an email to members at 2 p.m. April 18, stating, "our lease terminates at the end of May and we have been unable to find a path forward to maintain."

The final day is May 31 with the closure time scheduled for 7 p.m.

The gym anchors the Ashley Oaks Plaza, situated in the middle of a group of tenants that include West Ashley Hardware/TrueValue, Los Reyes Mexican Restaurant, Kings Sushi, Lavish Nail Salon, Ultratan and newly added Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids.

"As a local company born and raised in the Carolinas, with roots in Charleston going back 25 years, this is a disappointing situation," the email said.

The Raleigh-based fitness chain first opened the West Ashley location in January 2019.

The gym was one of three workout centers, including Daniel Island and Moncks Corner, to replace existing facilities O2 inherited after its purchase of the former East Shore Athletic Club's Charleston-area operations in 2013.

"These three upgrades, along with the addition of our beautiful James Island club late last year, help showcase our commitment to providing the Charleston-area with first-class fitness facilities,” O2 Fitness founder and CEO Michael Olander previously told The Post and Courier.

Memberships to the West Ashley location remain active at O2 Fitness on Folly Road, with no action required, the company said.

The chain operates 19 fitness centers, mostly in North Carolina.

A sandwich chain that's operated in South Carolina for more than 80 years has added a West Ashley stop.

Groucho’s Deli, led by Max Miller — the great-grandson of founder Harold “Groucho” Miller — opened at 975 Savannah Highway in St. Andrews Shopping Center.

Miller has been working for the family business since growing up Columbia, where his grandfather opened the first restaurant in 1941 in the Five Points area.

“When I was 12 years old, I remember my dad used to pull a bar stool up and set me in front of the cash register,” Miller said.

After attending the College of Charleston, he opened his first Groucho’s Deli in Mount Pleasant in 2020.

The West Ashley outpost is Miller's second franchise, co-owned by Nick Basile, a lifelong friend and the former manager of the Five Points Groucho’s.

“He and I worked there almost every day in high school,” Miller said.

The West Ashley shop renews Groucho's presence in Charleston after the downtown location at 364A King St. closed in 2022 after 20 years. The franchise owner stated he had been priced out of the market.

Another Groucho’s Deli opened in Summerville in 2017 and is still going strong and another is in Mount Pleasant.

The deli, known for its “dipper” subs, large salads and signature “Formula 45 Sauce, was first franchised in the early 2000s by Bruce Miller, the third generation to operate the restaurant. The chain has grown to 32 locations in three states, with about three new stores added a year.

The count has come far since its namesake founder to Columbia in 1941 after spending his childhood in a Philadelphia orphanage with "a handful" of original recipes for potato salad coleslaw and dressings for salads and sandwiches.