Minutes. Present: Mark Smith, Chair; Elton Carrier, Ken Glasson, John Burn MPW Staff: Eric DeMoura

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1 TOWN OF MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Tuesday, October 6, 2015 Municipal Complex, Building A, Public Meeting Room Ann Edwards Lane Mount Pleasant, SC Minutes Present: Mark Smith, Chair; Elton Carrier, Ken Glasson, John Burn MPW Staff: Eric DeMoura Mr. Smith called the meeting to order at 1:07 p.m. He stated that all committee members were present. Mr. Smith thanked all for their flexibility with having to rearrange the committee meetings, and he commended Town staff and everyone involved with the first responders during the recent storm. Mr. Smith thanked Mayor Page and Mr. DeMoura for deploying assets and resources to help our neighboring municipalities that did not fare as well as the Town did. 1. Approval of Minutes from the August 31, 2015 meeting and the September 1, 2015 special meeting Mr. Glasson moved for approval of the August 31, 2015 minutes. Seconded by Mr. Carrier. All in favor. Mr. Glasson moved for approval of the September 1, 2015 minutes. Seconded by Mr. Carrier. All in favor. 2. Overview of a project known as Ferry Wharf at Bridgeside II Mr. Smith stated this item was placed on the agenda at his request as chair of the Economic Development Committee. Mr. Smith stated that he wanted to discuss and understand from an economic development impact only, the scope and significance of this project, if approved, and also understand the vision that the developer has and help the

2 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 2 committee see the end result. Mr. Smith stated that this item will be appearing later today on Planning Committee agenda, as well. Mr. Smith stated that at this meeting they are looking at the project from the economic development perspective. Mr. Smith introduced Mr. Michael Bennett, the developer of the project. He asked Mr. Bennett to walk the committee through the entire project and make sure they understand the opportunities before the Town of Mount Pleasant. Mr. Michael Bennett thanked Mr. Smith and everyone for being here and inviting him here about his development. Mr. Bennett referred to a presentation (attached). He stated he bought the land a little over three years ago, and he has been studying the plan for three years. He stated that it is a total of 36 acres including marsh of which 18 acres are high land. Mr. Bennett described the metes and bounds of the property. He stated that when they purchased the land, it was entitled for 330,000 square feet of office, 450 hotel rooms, 60,000 square feet of commercial, and 73 residential units. Mr. Bennett pointed out they are not asking for any change in that density. He stated that oftentimes, when there is a request for increased height it is in order to increase density. Mr. Bennett stated they are asking for some increased height in areas he pointed to in the presentation, in order to build some Class A office buildings for the Town of Mount Pleasant. He stated they believe that is the economic driver and a great opportunity for Mount Pleasant: highend Class A, regional law firms and national insurance companies, and banks. He stated in order to do that, they have to build a first floor office building that has 20 feet. Mr. Bennett stated that John Holder is going to be building the office buildings with him; he is a preeminent office developer in the southeast. Mr. Bennett stated that the first floor has to be 20 feet and all the floors above it need to be 14 feet; additionally the heating and air, electrical and plumbing, etc., which results in a net of at least 10 feet. He said that is what they need to get Class A office tenants.

3 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 3 He referred to a blue line on the presentation which represents the requirement they have from a setback perspective. The red dash lines shows what he is going to be providing to the Town; it is significantly more than what they are required to do. Mr. Bennett said he is going to create a beautiful waterfront park that ties into the Town s existing waterfront park. He said the park will be open to the public. Mr. Smith asked Mr. Bennett to elaborate on the park in terms of it tying into the Town s existing park. Mr. Bennett referred to a walkway already in place that connects to the existing waterfront park. He stated they have studied downtown Charleston s Waterfront Park for months, and they have tried to fashion it a little after that. He said there will be hardscape, and landscape, and a walkway. In between two buildings he pointed to on the presentation will be a continuation of the park and a continuation of the streets that are in front of that. He said it is not unlike what they have done in downtown Charleston at the waterfront park where the waterfront condominiums are. Mr. Bennett said they think they are going to give Mount Pleasant what they believe is its finest waterfront facility. He stated the trail goes past the Renaissance now; it will ultimately one day weave through the proposed Medal of Honor Museum site. It will also weave through the land they are leasing from Patriots Point, approximately 60 acres of land, and will end up ultimately at the golf course of Patriots Point. Where it goes beyond that is to be determined. He stated that is the land that they have control over as of this date. Mr. Bennett stated the waterfront park will have granite curbing, blue stone sidewalks and patio areas, and red brick, gas lanterns. He said they brought some of downtown Charleston with those influences from a hardscape and landscape perspective, and they toned it down because now they are coming to Mount Pleasant and it should be a little less formal.

4 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 4 Mr. Bennett referred to the slide showing the two height perspectives. He said they are entitled to build 80 feet, and he referred to the rendering of the project based on what they are entitled to build with 80 feet maximum building height. He said what they want to do makes it a better project, makes the two office buildings much grander. He said they want a little more height on the right. He said they are proposing an eight-story building. Most of the buildings in that area are six or seven floors, albeit thin floors. He said they want grander buildings, more height; they are not getting more density or more square footage. He said they want to be able to build some grand buildings. Mr. Bennett referred to the two office buildings on the right against the garage (on the rendering), and he stated that the eighth floor is at 104 feet when you are standing on it, and the ceiling would be 14 feet taller, so it would be 118 feet at the top of that structure. Mr. Bennett said he could put a flat roof there; they are proposing a steep roof on it they think is very handsome. He said they think the plan shown on the top of the page is a better plan than the one on the bottom part of the page. With respect to the plan shown on the bottom of the page, they are fully entitled for what they are doing; they would be going to the Design Review Board for approval of the various buildings. Mr. Bennett stated they can make it look ok; however, it will never look as good as what the top plan can do, as it gives them some diversity in height. He said the height on the right against the bridge enables him to build beautiful one-, two-, and three-story buildings that he referred to on the rendering. Mr. Bennett referred to another slide showing the varying heights. He stated the project includes a grand hotel on the waterfront with a rooftop pool, rooftop bar, a grand space for weddings, and other uses. Mr. Bennett questioned if this is what we want here [pointing to the image of the single-height buildings], then stated this is what he wants to do [pointing to the images of the multi-height buildings]. He has owned the land for three years, and he has been working with the Town of for four or five years. He has been motivated and encouraged to pursue this. He said it is a great plan, and he hopes they all support it.

5 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 5 Mr. Bennett referred to another slide that shows the various uses from the traffic circle on Harry Hallman Boulevard, three-story buildings marked retail and restaurant, ten-foot sidewalks on each side. They will have bistros and cafes, retail, and outdoor dining; a beautiful three-story building in the center of the property; two long warehouses marked restaurant; one-story buildings somewhat reminiscent of some old warehouses in downtown Charleston; hotels, parking, and another hotel. He said condominiums are a future project. Mr. Bennett referred to a slide showing building height in relation to bridge height. He said the building on the left is 104 feet. The eave is at 118 feet, the rooftop is 142 feet, and the rendering shows how it looks in reference to the bridge. He said the hotel is about 118 feet and the building on the far right is 90, 106, 125 feet. Mr. Bennett said this is the economic development opportunity for Mount Pleasant. He said this project represents somewhere over $300 Million worth of development. He said we are not going to build Volvos and Boeings here, but we can get their high-end law firms, banks, and insurance companies. He said they think this has the chance to be the greatest office complex in our entire community being on Charleston Harbor. Mr. Bennett referred to the next slide showing the building with 104-foot height, 118-foot eave, and 142-foot roof. He referred to another building that will have a restaurant on the first floor with meeting space and social space on the second floor. He said they look at that as somewhat of a marriage of the Exchange Building in Charleston and Alhambra Hall. They would like to see the Town of Mount Pleasant using that facility like a meeting today.

6 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 6 Mr. Bennett referred to the next slide showing an artist rendering of the project showing the lower and higher scale at the ramp of the bridge. He said it is a very good plan. Mr. Burn asked how many square feet meeting space are in the building. Mr. Bennett replied there are 7,500 square feet on the second floor. Mr. Bennett referred to a section of the slide that shows the main street off of the traffic signal. He said there are ten-foot sidewalks; there will be bistros and cafes, some retail. He said the second and third floor could either be some residential, apartments; it could be offices or an extended stay suite for the hotel. He said they have not decided what it is going to be yet, but it is approximately, 50,000 square feet of commercial space that they would develop in either office or residence/hotel. Mr. Bennett stated that he studied this for three years. He thinks this is old Mount Pleasant [pointing to some smaller buildings on the slide]. There are thick walls on the first floor that are going to be stucco or brick, and there might be a porch that overhangs part of the sidewalk somewhere. He said the second and third floor will be wood siding. He said he thinks it is beautiful, and he hopes they all agree. Mr. Bennett said they spent a lot time trying to figure out what the right look is. Mr. Glasson asked what the economic impact that this project has on the Town. Mr. Bennett said it is north of $300 Million. He said he has not done the analysis to tell what kind of property tax that generates or how many employees that hires. He said he was invited to come here last week. He said he would be happy to do that for a future meeting, but it would take some time to figure out all of that economic development. Mr. Bennett said what he is proposing to do is the information he has to share with them. He said that a 150,000 square foot office space is probably 500 or 600 employees in each one of those office buildings, and the beauty of

7 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 7 this site is that, for one it is very visible; right at the foot of the bridge. So if people are living in Mount Pleasant they get to it; if they are not living in Mount Pleasant, they do not have to ride all the way through Mount Pleasant to get to the site. Mr. Bennett said you could not pick a better site to have a huge economic development project for the Town. He said he owns this land; it went up for a competitive bid, and he bought this land because he paid significantly more than anyone was willing to pay for it. He said it is far in excess of $10 Million just to buy the land. Mr. Bennett said he looked at the land as being on one of the greatest harbors and one of the greatest locations in the world. Mr. Bennett said this is one of the great harbors of the world, and this site is one of the great sites, and it is worthy of a grand development. He said by getting a little bit of height against the bridge, which is not necessarily economic, but the height is because he has to have a twenty-foot ceiling; that is what is going to enable him to try to go get the regional law firms, insurance companies, and banks that are coming here. He said they are going to deliver the finest office building in this community. Mr. Bennett said if he cannot get that height, then that building will be 80 feet and it will 100,000 square feet instead of 150,000. So he will have to build the other 50,000 of that building and the other 50,000 of the other office building in some other location on that site. He said what that does is it does not enable him to build buildings [he pointed to on the slide], which are somewhat the heart of the entire development that he thinks that can be an iconic building for the Town of Mount Pleasant. He said to attract the businesses he mentioned earlier, they have to do something very special on the rest of this site. He said they just cannot make this a suburban office park. He said they are going to do something very special, and he thinks this is what this plan does. Mr. Bennett referred to the pedestrian area in between the two warehouses, which would be red brick, blue stone, hardscape, landscape, outdoor dining backing up to what they think is an iconic building. He referred to the warehouse study; most of that would be heated and conditioned space on each end. He said it would probably be open areas

8 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 8 and maybe they could get basket weavers and other community projects going in there, through the alley way and ends of these buildings. It would be a fun thing to do on a Saturday morning in Mount Pleasant. Mr. Smith asked Mr. Bennett to go back to the slide of the overview of all the buildings. He asked Mr. Bennett what would be inside each of those buildings. Mr. Bennett referred to the harbor front and to the bridge. He pointed to the first office building that they propose to build, a parking structure, and Embassy Suites hotel, another 150,000-square-foot office building. Mr. Smith asked if the two office buildings would be anchors on either side and if they would be similar in size and design Mr. Bennett replied in the affirmative. Mr. Bennett said they are two bookends; they somewhat cover the garage and the hotel goes in front of it. He said it is a well thought out plan, and hopefully they will get a chance to implement it. Mr. Smith asked about the next building along the coast line. Mr. Bennett said that is the high-end, harbor-front hotel. This will truly be the only luxury hotel on the harbor. It would probably be between rooms, it would have high-end conference space, social space, meeting space, and rooftop facilities. He said the building on the end would be a proposed residential building, condominiums. He said they are zoned for 73 [units]. Mr. Smith asked about the center in front of the hotel. Mr. Bennett said those are the two warehouse buildings; they are onestory buildings. He pointed to the two-story building that they think is

9 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 9 going to be an iconic building. He pointed to the main street, and he pointed to a building that is probably going to be moved down to another site which they own, and the entitlements he mentioned include that site. Mr. Smith asked if that is also a commercial building. Mr. Bennett said they think that would be a hotel also. Mr. Smith asked the committee if they had any questions about the layout, design, [or] economic impact for the town. Mr. Burn asked if that is the only parking deck on the project. Mr. Bennett replied in the affirmative; they think it will be eight levels, and they can get 800 to 960 cars in that facility. He said the requirement is about 1,400. He thinks they will have several hundred in surface parking. He said the condominium building which is going to require approximately 125 to 140 spaces would park underneath that building. He said he has been in touch with Joe Rice who owns the adjacent property who will build one or two more buildings on his property ultimately. He said that if Mr. Rice builds two buildings, he would need some kind of parking structure, and they have had conversations about putting parking on his site. Mr. Bennett said you cannot build a building until you have the parking for it. He said one thing good about this is the office buildings are 8 to 5 users, and the hotels and restaurants are post 5 o clock users. Mr. Smith asked Mr. Bennett if there was anything else he wanted to present to the committee. Mr. Bennett apologized for not being ready for Mr. Glasson s question. He said he will work on that.

10 Mr. Glasson asked what percentage would be residential. Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 10 Mr. Bennett said there will be 73 residential units out of 330,000 square feet office and 450 hotel rooms. He said there is 800,000 square feet of commercial buildings; the 73 residential units will be a very minor amount. He said there is so much residential demand in Mount Pleasant, and the town struggles with all of that density. This is the anti-density; they do not have any residential; it is all commercial fueling economic development and growth in Mount Pleasant. He said it is a great location. If 1,500 or 2,000 residential units were built instead, it would impact the community in ways that office offices building do not. He said he thinks this is a great development tool, at the right location, and at the right time for Mount Pleasant. Mr. Stuart Whiteside with Seamon Whiteside said with respect to traffic, this project will participate in the improvements that will ultimately be done at Patriots Point Boulevard and Coleman Boulevard. He said it is a major participant in those improvements. Mr. Smith introduced Ms. Amy Livingston, the new Business Development Officer. He also recognized Ms. Ashley Richardson, the Cultural Affairs and Tourism Officer. Mr. Smith stated that we know as part of a thriving community we not only need to have housing options for all residents at all income levels, but we also more importantly need to employ people and have people employed. He noted that the Chamber of Commerce reported that 25,000 cars a day leave Mount Pleasant and approximately 17,000 cars per day come into Mount Pleasant on a daily basis which is why we have the traffic issues we have, because our residents who live within our communities are driving elsewhere to go to work and our workforce has to come into town. Mr. Bennett said they think this will change a lot of that.

11 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 11 Mr. Smith asked about the total amount of commercial space. Mr. Bennett stated it is approximately 800,000 square feet. Mr. Smith said that would be several businesses that would employ many people. Mr. Smith asked if there was anything further from the committee. Mr. Smith stated they wish Mr. Bennett the very best, and they do hope that they get some jobs that continue to happen in our town to keep our town employed and our town moving forward. He said this agenda item is going to the Planning Committee so he will not take any questions related to planning or development; this is strictly an economic development meeting. Ms. Pat Sullivan asked what the timeline is and what the total number of people expected in that area at build out is. Mr. Whiteside stated that as mentioned earlier, there are two office buildings at 150,000 square feet apiece, there would probably be 500 employees in each office. Then the hotels would have occupants and a large staff. Mr. Bennett said for the three hotels it would probably be 400 or 500 people. He referenced the office buildings, retail, restaurants, and residential component. He reiterated that all of this was entitled before he bought the land. Ms. Sullivan asked about build-out time. Mr. Bennett stated it has taken him three years to get the plan looking like this, and he thinks they could conceivably start moving dirt in the

12 Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015 Page 12 second quarter of next year. The first phase would be the main street, the buildings he pointed to on the slide, the iconic building, the warehouses, an office building, the parking facility, and one hotel. Mayor Linda Page, 1458 Short Street, Mount Pleasant, thanked Mr. Bennett for presenting them with an opportunity to move forward on this project. Mayor Page spoke of the challenges of a residential tax base versus a commercial tax base and what it actually means to town services. Mayor Page mentioned the accommodations tax opportunity and what the accommodations tax means to the Town. Mayor Page said she personally is glad they are not looking at massive apartment complexes even though they are at a six percent ratio assessment because what this could potentially mean to the Town is not only wonderful employment opportunities, but a tax base that is owned property; it is not leased property. She said they are not dealing with a state lease which could be problematic for the Town as Patriots Point will be as we move forward. Mayor Page thanked Mr. Bennett. She said we are looking in the right direction; high-end office space and an opportunity for high-end employers are good for the Town. She said she appreciates the potential. Mayor Page stated that four percent ratios and single family homes put a very big drain on services whereas six percent assessed properties that also offer employment opportunities give us a better base. 3. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:41 p.m. Submitted by N. Dispenza Economic Development Committee October 6, 2015

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