Charleston Real Estate Market

 

    The Folly Beach Boat says it all!!

      Hope your New Year celebration was a safe and happy one. No matter if you took advantage of the family style event arranged by the City of Charleston or something a little more raucous , I do hope your menu plans included some greens for folding green and some hoppin’ john for good luck. The economy can use a little injection of Lowcountry luck.

      The non-partisan Milliken Group has just released their annual rankings of the economic health of metropolitan areas around the country. The Charleston-North Charleston market moved up to 11th place nationwide, up from 19th last year and 30th in 2009. Praised not only for our move into aerospace, the report also highlighted the stable military and high level technology industry already in place and growing.

      Move over LA, the votes are in. The most attractive people live in …drum roll please, Charleston? Yes, the hottest of the hots are in Charleston followed by San Diego, San Juan, Denver, Austin, Miami, Savannah, Honolulu, Phoenix and last, but not least, Nashville.

      Of course, right on the heels of this news comes the US News and World Report Health Page that states Charleston is the fifth (no pun intended) booziest city in the country. The ranking further explained that 8.7% of our residents drink heavily. This put us just behind Austin, Boulder, Melbourne and Reno.

      But the Travel Section of the same magazine named King Street one of the country’s top ten places to shop.  They state that while Atlanta has always been thought of as the shopping Mecca of the southeast, “Charleston is more appealing. …Buckhead’s mega-malls can’t compete with the charms of King Street…” The article applauds our Southern hospitality and the mix of big names with family-owned boutiques and clothiers. Mentioned in particular were the third generation landmarks like Bob Ellis and M. Dumas.

      While the collards are cooking on the first, head down to Dunleavy’s Pub, on Sullivan’s Island, hosts of the Polar Bear Plunge. Freezin’ for a Reason benefits Special Olympics and has to be one of the wildest around.

      The Dock Street Theatre will host “Time Machine-Mozart in Prague” on the 7th at 7:30 pm with the Charleston Symphony performing.

      If you’ve wanted to try different restaurants but your pockets weren’t deep enough, you are in luck. Charleston Restaurant Week is back. January 12-22. Enjoy prix-fixe 3 course menus for $20, $30 and $40.

      On the 12th, follow up that great meal with an evening of music. The Charleston Symphony will present Scheherazade at the Gaillard at 7:30 pm

      Blasted: Assorted Projectiles and Explosives of the Civil War is a unique exhibit opening on the 13th at the Charleston Museum. Shown are the varied, sometimes revolutionary and downright rare shells and small arms projectiles used in the conflict.

      The Museum celebrates its 239th birthday with an oyster roast at the Dill Sanctuary on the 14th from 2-5. Oysters, bluegrass and curator-led tours, all on the banks of the Stono River make for an enjoyable day.

      Locked and Loaded, the 2012 Comedy Festival is set to go. Hosted by Theatre 99 and the Charleston City Paper, the four day festival has booked some big names to fill our grey winter days with lots of laughs. The festival venues are spread across town and the fun starts on the 18th.

      The art scene has a new exhibit heading our way. The Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston, sixty evocative pieces, landscapes and life studies will open on the 20th.  Lectures on Rebirth, Refinement and Rivalry: A Charleston Renaissance Symposium will accompany the opening… A curator-led tour will be held February 2nd and March 1st.

      Don’t forget the 7th Annual Music and Oysters for Wildlife January 21st at the Seewee Outpost   2-4 PM.

      The new year means it’s time to be thinking of a new healthier you. So, head over to the Total Health Fair at Omar Shrine Convention Center in Mt P on the 21st and 22nd.  Antoine Dove from the Biggest Loser will be the guest speaker. If he doesn’t motivate you…..well….

      Winter is the best time to enjoy your home. If you’re like most folks you also start looking closely and see things that need some work. Just in time, it’s the 9th Annual Charleston Home + Design Show on the 27th-28h at the Gaillard. (psst…on Friday Jan 27th, admission is free from 11-6).

      The 32nd Charleston Boat Show is at the Charleston Area Convention Center on the 27th-28th with boats, accessories and fishing classes. 

      A Night in the Valley, a black tie wine dinner event with a Spanish theme will be held at the College Center at Trident Tech at 6:30 on the 27th. The dinner /auction will support scholarships & academic programs.

      The Charleston Jazz Orchestra presents Symphonic Swing at the Charleston Jazz house 185 B St Philip St on the 28th. 

      Music of a different sort on the 28th and 29th when Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day tickles your funny bone at the Dock Street Theatre.

      The world’s largest Oyster Festival is back on the 29th with its shucking contest, oyster eating contest and all round good time at Boone Hall.

      Not too much in sports in January. On the 7th is the Bulldog Breakaway New Year’s 5 K at the Citadel.

      The Charleston Marathon for Youth Endowment for the Arts covers the weekend of the 13th. The Youth Marathon is at 3:30 on the 13th. Saturday has the Marathon and Half Marathon starting downtown. Sunday at 8am is the start to the 30 and 60 mile bike ride. All events are at the Navy Yard at Noisette unless otherwise noted.

       Tryouts for the Lowcountry Elite basketball teams will be on the 12, 14th and 15th at the Salvation Army Gym on Ashley River Road.

      Women’s Tennis Weekends at Kiawah will be held the 20th-22nd and the 27-29th,

      On the 28th is the Charlie Post Classic. Named for Dr. Post, an avid endurance athlete, he died from injuries from a bicycle accident in 1984.  The 15K and the 5K are run on Sullivan’s Island beginning at the Fire House at 8:30.

      Dancing is big in Myrtle Beach in January. There’s a 4 day event called the 12th SOS Mid Winter Break. Learn all you ever wanted to know about the shag on the 28th and the SC Square & Round Dance Convention. in Myrtle Beach on the 27th.

     28th is the Hilton Head Snow day, make a snow angel or a snow man.

     The PGA Championships will be played on the Ocean Course at Kiawah August 6-12th. The Pete Dye course was named by Golf Magazine as the toughest in America in its January 2012 issue.

     Martin Luther King Day is the 16th, both a federal and state holiday.

 In business news, we have some good news to talk about.

     Sportsman Boats is planning a new facility in Dorchester County. The $2 million facility will create 30 jobs. Sportsman Boats build salt water boats 20 to 25 feet in length with deep v hulls and center consoles.

     The first SC-built Dreamliner is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2012. Boeing also opened its Interiors Responsibility Group. The plant began with undeveloped land in Ladson and the project was finished on schedule and under budget. The plant will employ 150 people chosen from a pool of 50,000 applicants.

     SCE&G has just finished the largest single rooftop solar installation in the southeast.  Made up of more than 18,000 thin-film solar laminates, the 2.6 megawatt system covers 10 acres on the roof of Boeing’s 14 acre final assembly plant. This makes the plant the only one in the world able to assemble commercial aircraft with 100% green power.

     MUSC has been busy collecting grants.  The NIH has awarded the Hollings Cancer Center an $800 K grant to study the disparities in cancer.  African Americans from the Sea Islands are deal subjects for this study because they are the most homogeneous black population in the country.

      Also, MUSC has been awarded a $10.5 million research grant from the NIH to fund a biomedical research center. The inter-college grant is the first of its kind  at MUSC. It is a joint effort by the Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine.

        TWL, a maker of precision automotive parts will expand its location here. The $5million investment will create 35 jobs bringing the total of 90 workers.

     Cargo Composites, a maker of air cargo containers, has announced the creation of its new headquarters and assembly facility in Berkeley County. The $700,000 investment will generate 40.jobs.

     Keep your fingers crossed this is the wave of the future for the Lowcountry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Around Town, Lowcountry Lifestyle on January 6th, 2012