Homes for Sale in Summerville Place neighborhood in Summerville, SC

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Located at the corner of Berlin Myers Parkway and Highway 78, a 57-acre multi-use property will bring new development to the Summerville area by early 2025.

The property, named Sawmill, will include 474 multi-family apartment units, offices, restaurants, hotels, stores, banks, outdoor spaces and a 40,000-square-foot Roper St. Francis facility.

Summerville spokesperson Mary Edwards said the task to get the development started was a long process.

“It’s something that people have been wanting for a long time, and council has really supported the developers, too. It’s a big deal for us; I mean, it’s a new big development that’s coming to our area,” Edwards said. “It’s something that’s needed. It’s something that the public has really wanted.”

The developers, Lee & Associates, said in a news release that “a new walkable community designed to better connect residents with the fun they want and services they need will be anchored by a major healthcare system.”

Although not everyone in the area is excited about the new development. Some members of the Summerville community shared their concerns on a Facebook post with over 400 comments mentioning traffic problems, school enrollment and housing availability.

Located near the development, the Spinx gas station may see increased traffic with the upcoming construction. Employee Rona Emons, shared her concerns.

“I don’t think we can really handle it because this road is already always backed up; it’s already hard to get in and out of the store,” she said. “I think that’s going to make it a lot worse unless they try to widen the road somehow, which I don’t know how they can do that. But yeah, it’s going to cause a lot of congestion in this area.”

In response to the concerns, Edwards said the city and developers studied research before deciding if the project was appropriate for the area.

“The town is growing really fast,” Edwards said. “So, we know that people want to come here, and they want to experience the area. We want to be able to provide these types of options for people when they come.”

Construction on the health care facility and multi-family apartment units will begin in early 2023.

“I’m kind of excited,” Emons said. “I’d like to get out. You know, it’d be nice to see something new in this area. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it in some ways, and otherwise, I’m kind of a little leery of it.”

Overall, the project is expected to cost $200 million.

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SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Some businesses say prioritizing a sense of place in the town of Summerville is most important and sometimes that means new development, despite what some people might think.

Dorchester County has a proposed plan to turn 500 N. Main St., also known as their main county building, into a hotel, retail spaces, a parking garage and more.

Some businesses located in the heart of Summerville, like Eva’s Restaurant, think change is about time.

“If we don’t have growth, we don’t have a future,” general manager Tina Howard said.

Eva’s Restaurant has been serving the town since 1944. With the proposed development, Howard says she’s not worried about competition.

“I think it would benefit us as a small business with, you know, bringing in tourists,” Howard said. “...I don’t feel it would hurt us personally because we have such a strong, established business.”

Diane Frankenberger, the owner of People, Places & Quilts, says she’s watched Summerville grow for over 30 years. She says with the old post office as the new public works art center, the old Coca-Cola company as the new YMCA and an old hardware store as her own business, she believes both the county and town councils prioritize preservation.

“You have to go forward with the future,” Frankenberger said. “We still can’t have the same houses around here and the old town hall and no computers and blah blah blah. And so, it’s keeping a sense of place, but moving forward with an eye towards the future.”

The county has already approved plans to preserve part of the county building, which once was the old hospital, and improve the current Veteran’s monument.

“I think when people are calling names or say, ‘Don’t do something,’ let’s wait and see and work together and make the best use of what we’ve got there,” Frankenberger said.

Howard says she wants her 6-year-old grandson to be able to experience a flourishing Summerville, just like she has all her life.

“A lot of people complain about the growth and ‘People will stop coming here, we’re full, don’t come here,’” Howard said. “Without growth, we don’t have a future. The future is growth.”

Frankenberger says she’s ready to move forward.

“No more gas on the fire,” Frankenberger said. “Let’s put water on the fire.”

Dorchester County provided the following statement about the proposed plan:

Dorchester County is looking forward to having greater capacity and flexibility to complete the following projects from fee revenues of the redevelopment:

Funding to preserve the façade of the old hospital building.

A new civic park and improvements to the Veterans Memorial.

An additional $8 Million in funding to DD2 schools to supplement $2 Million from the TIF.

Provide $20 Million in funding for a Community Recreation Facility in the Summerville area.

Provide $2 Million in additional funding for streetscaping and improvements to Main Street and Cedar Street.

Provide credits for workforce housing for teachers, firefighters, law enforcement, and first responders within the multi-family development for at least 15 years.

A modern County office building and additional Class A Office Space in the downtown area.

A new downtown hotel and restaurant to provide much-needed retail and hospitality amenities in the downtown area.

Create additional parking by providing for the construction of a parking garage in the downtown area.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

On the heels of a community coming to grips with a Dorchester County proposal to tear down a historic hospital, Summerville residents now find themselves contending with the prospect of a 100,000 square-foot stadium being built on a 40-acre natural parcel in the Woodlands area.

The rumors began spreading like wildfire upon a report that surfaced in early April about a Town Councilman, County Councilman and a department head trekking to Myrtle Beach to view a multi-purpose sports coliseum that could serve as a model for future development in the heart of Flower Town.

Summerville Mayor Ricky Waring tackled those rapidly sprouting whispers during an April 12 outdoor meeting with private citizens who live in and around the Gadsden Manor neighborhood.

The outgoing mayor — who won’t be seeking re-election in November — explained that the Town is the current proprietor of the discussed land site, which was purchased in 2020 for $6.5 million.

He further mentioned that despite claims of County Councilmember Jay Byars initially generating the consideration of adding an indoor sports venue, the only plans that have been discussed by Town Council to date are paving the way for a park and playground, along with commercial components on N. Maple Street.

“No sports center has ever been discussed on this property until very recently when Mr. Byars stood up at the end of a meeting (a March 15 Town and Council workshop at Seacoast Church),” said Waring.

During last month’s session, the mayor recounted Byars offering to relieve the Town of its $11 million share to finance the Maple Street project in exchange for Summerville Council’s consent of placing the proposed sports arena in or adjacent to the Gadsden property.

“And at that time, we never even answered him. We just took that as information. And as of today, the whole Town Council, I’m talking about the Town Council as a whole, has never answered him,” continued Waring.

“Now there’s been talk and all that among different members of Town Council, [but] I never talked about it. Whether it was for or against, we never had decided whether we would do it.”

The one-time fire chief and Town Public Safety Director reiterated that what Byars or any other County Councilmember desires relative to the Woodlands parcel is irrelevant due to the Town owning the land. What’s more, he stated that Town government doesn’t have the monetary resources to spearhead the development of a sports complex, which is estimated to cost somewhere between $25 million and $30 million.

And while that kind of venue, he noted, could be revisited years down the road, Waring definitively quashed any thought of this project having any hope of seeing the light of day in the immediate future.

“If you see that going on, you better go to your Council meeting and vote people out of office because we’d be in so much debt,” the mayor observed, as civilians in attendance reacted to his comments with thunderous applause.

“Where all of this other talk came from, it’s gotten all of y’all stirred up. That’s a bunch of malarkey because you can go to Town Hall and ask to look at the books — there’s no money to do it.”

Town Councilmember Terry Jenkins followed the mayor by offering listeners the unvarnished truth of recent events, or as he phrased it: “The gospel according to Terry.”

Jenkins owned up to flying out to Myrtle Beach with Byars for an up-close-and-personal view of the sports facility, but maintained that nothing has been decided insofar as placing an arena in Gadsden.

“The only thing we said at that (March 15) meeting is that this is something that we ought to explore not specific to this property, specific to if we should accept the money, [and] if we do, what type of complex might we build, where might that complex go?,” imparted the Summerville native.

One unabashed proponent of a future complex is Clemson University Coordinator of Online and Enterprise Programs Bob Brookover, who championed the addition of that type of enclosed public space at a Special Town Parks & Rec meeting on March 30.

Also in attendance at the Gadsden Manor gathering, along with a few of his County Council colleagues, was Byars, who willingly took the stage and absorbed all the arrows tossed in his direction.

The former science teacher and baseball coach made no apologies for presenting his “idea” to Town Council, opining that Summerville deserves “nice things,” and that a new center would keep parents of gymnasts and basketball players in their hometown instead of seeking adequate practice venues in Mount Pleasant, Columbia or Savannah.

Keeping folks in town, he argued, would only benefit retail in the Summerville area, particularly in how it relates to families dining out after a game and/or practice session.

“I tell people all the time: whether you’re 3 years-old or 93 years-old, we want you to have something to do here. The same thing for this idea — it’s an idea. There’s a possibility to build using ... TIF funds and if you can get that $11 million (from the Maple Street project), we can go ahead and let the County build the road. And as Terry said, as Ricky said, ‘Nothing’s been voted on.’ We’re just having a discussion, trying to figure out can it work? And so, if it can work, how do we move it forward?” detailed Byars.

A sketch diagram of the proposed arena was distributed to attendees, which featured the aforementioned 100,000 square-foot rec center, a parking space for 375-plus vehicles and a 100-foot buffer separating it from the adjacent Woodlands neighborhood in a general area bounded by the Maple Street Extension, W. Richardson Ave, Old Postern Road and Parsons Road.

During a subsequent Q&A session, one resident confronted Byars, mentioning that his schematics don’t like “an idea,” but rather “a plan,” to which the elected official replied that the referenced document was a just a rough outline drawn years ago.

Byars went on to share his commitment to enhancing Summerville’s quality of life, and reminded constituents of County Council efforts to protect the Woodlands area in the past by fending off proposed Section 8 housing.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - A new fire station is coming to the town of Summerville, making it the town’s sixth station.

Summerville Fire Department Chief Richard Waring says the new station will be built on Miles Jamison Road, right next to the Coastal Center. He says right now, they’re finishing up site work for the new station, and they hope to finish by December. The plan is for them to start clearing land by Jan. 1, Waring said.

There is not an address assigned to the site yet, but Waring says it will be located between the traffic circle and the Coastal Center on Miles Jameson Road. It would be on the same side of the road as the Coastal Center.

Waring says Fire Station 6 is going to improve their efficiency, especially as Summerville continues to grow.

“Just looking at the response times and what not for the area that this station’s going to serve,” Waring said. “Neighborhoods such as Summerville Place, the Lakes of Summerville, and those neighborhoods that are in town, it’ll improve our response time to those areas, and that’s what we were looking to do.”

Waring says the closest Summerville fire station to this area is on Trolley Road in the Oakbrook community. While that station averages about a seven to 10 minute response time to the area, Waring says the new Fire Station 6 will get them down to a less than five minute response time.

Waring says Summerville Fire is working with Dorchester County on the land agreement for the new station. While it is in town limits, he says they are going to be able to serve some areas in unincorporated Dorchester County as well.

Waring says they’ve renovated two existing stations over the last few years, but the last new station in town was Fire Station 5 in Knightsville. That was built back in 2014.

“Well, it’s just, it’s exciting,” Waring said. “Anytime you add a new fire station facility, it’s great for the department because it gives us a sense of pride for a new facility, and it’s also a better service we’ll be able to provide for our citizens, so we’re excited for that.”

Waring says Fire Station 6 will have the same features as the other stations in town, like work out equipment, diesel exhaust systems, and safety features on the building.

Fire Station 6 will have one fire engine and 12 firemen based out of it.

Waring says they are hiring for new members and those interested can apply on the town of Summerville’s website.

Copyright 2021 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The winding, half-acre bicycle motocross track in Scott McGuigan’s Berkeley County backyard is hard to miss.

The “pump track,” made of red clay and a coating that prevents it from eroding, is the result of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of labor, McGuigan said.

The track near Summerville was created to serve as a practice space after the McGuigans moved to South Carolina from San Diego in 2014.

At that time, his three young sons were already BMX riding and racing.

But there was a problem.

In California, the kids had multiple tracks to train on near where they lived. But after they moved to the Charleston area, the closest practice track was more than 100 miles away.

“In order to even stay competitive, we had to build a track out here,” McGuigan said, who works as a civilian attorney for the Navy.

In March 2015, McGuigan brought in 400 yards of clay, or around 30 dump trucks worth, to his backyard. He rented small heavy equipment and enlisted a few fellow BMX advocates to help move and shape the dirt into place. The entire operation took about three weeks.

Since then, the track has undergone multiple expansions and has doubled in width, McGuigan said. The jumps and turns are three times higher, and the length of the track has also significantly expanded.

“As the kids grow and get faster, we have to try to keep up with them and build it faster,” he said.

McGuigan and other Lowcountry BMX parents have been working toward getting a sanctioned pump track built for years. Now, he’s hopeful that a potential partnership with the Cane Bay Family YMCA could lead to an official track in the area by the end of 2020.

A ‘fighting spirit’

Jonathan, Joshua, Jacob and Jenna McGuigan, aged 12, 10, 7 and 3, respectively, all started biking at a young age — most of them as early as 2 years old.

“Jenna is our newest rider,” McGuigan said. “We call her ‘Baby Shark.’”

Most days, the kids will come home from school, do their homework, and ride bikes on the track or complete a workout in the garage that McGuigan converted into a mini-gym. Between local, regional, state and national BMX competition circuits, they travel almost every weekend of the year for races.