Week in Review

Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier

Plans to redevelop this property between Meeting and King streets in downtown Charleston took a step forward last week when the city's Board of Architectural Review approved revised designs for the proposed Midtown project.

Midtown gets BAR's OK

The city of Charleston's Board of Architectural Review voted 4-1 to give conceptual approval to the Midtown project, an ambitious $150 million proposal that developers say could remake the entrance to downtown Charleston. After an initial rejection two months ago, developers behind the project returned to the board with more building details and an internalized loading-dock system, appeasing the concerns of many nearby residents.

Port traffic soars

Thanks in large part to the weak dollar, February was the second-best month in the history of the State Ports Authority for exports of loaded containers. Further, exports of breakbulk cargo — goods that are difficult or impossible to transport in standard-size shipping containers, such as automobiles — are up by 77 percent.

The flow of goods through Charleston's docks, many of them products of Palmetto State manufacturers or suppliers, has helped reduce the impact of a general downturn in cargo shipments nationwide.

Rental outlook guarded

Charles Dalton, a research analyst with Charlotte-based Real Data Apartment Market Research, painted a guarded picture for local apartment managers and developers last week. His firm found that the vacancy rate across Charleston is 9.6 percent, the same as last year but 2.2 percentage points higher than in 2006.

Dalton predicts the figure will climb into double digits this fall, once the industry's busy season ends. As a result of the rising vacancies, Dalton's firm predicts the area's median rent will grow extremely slowly or even stagnate.

Parish case costs decline

The government is spending less to investigate Al Parish as its case against the fallen economist winds to a close, but the tally is still more than $6,000 a day. The receiver handling the case has asked a federal judge to approve $340,306 in fees for work in January and February at an average rate of $247 an hour, pushing the total cost of the treasure hunt to more than $2 million.

Similar bills in the first two months of the investigation were roughly twice as high. However, as Parish's June 26 sentencing approaches, most of the heavy lifting has been done.

'Green' cantina planned

The owners of Taco Boy on Folly Beach are opening a second location, in Charleston's upper peninsula area, while trying to minimize the impact the new venture will have on the environment. The restaurant, which could open by the end of the year, will be built on Huger Street near the base of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

Owners Karalee Nielsen and Tim Mink of Rev Foods plan to build the restaurant around the remains of an industrial building, adding "green" improvements.