Crowfield Board Approves Long-Awaited Plantation Square Rehab

The board of the Crowfield Plantation Homeowners Association gave unanimous approval Thursday night to a proposed self-storage, office and retail center to replace the old Food Lion at Plantation Square.

The vote was limited to allowing the use of the site for the proposed development. Specific design plans will now have to be submitted to the homeowners, per the Crowfield Plantation covenants.

The property was gifted to the University of South Carolina Foundation years ago, but the school has had a difficult time unloading the site. Meanwhile, vandals have torn up the abandoned shopping center. Now every door is boarded up and sealed with sheets of metal. The only fresh coat of paint the aging building has seen arrives to cover graffiti.

Charles Carmody, the lead broker on the site, told Crowfield residents that he has pitched the site to a number of grocery stores and retailers, but they haven't wanted it because it doesn't front on St. James Avenue.

On Thursday, there was some questions from residents about the appearance of the site, but HOA board chairwoman Barbara King said the vote was strictly about whether the site could be used for self-storage.

"Right now, the use of the property is derelict," she said.

Self-storage developer Albert Heyward said he has been looking to develop a site in Goose Creek for several years. When development fell through, he decided to pursue the Plantation Square spot.

Now that the homeowners have given their initial OK, Heyward plans to annex into the city and begin the design process with both the city's Architectural Review Board and the HOA.

Heyward said he was hopeful to get through the approval process in the next three months and quickly convert the existing shopping center building to climate-controlled storage over roughly six weeks. The rest of the site would then be developed slowly over the next six months.

"We want it to be a first-class project," Heyward said, encouraging residents to visit his Mt. Pleasant site for an example. "We want the wow factor."