Robert Pratt of Re/Max Pro Realty represented the seller, Jurisprudence LLC, in the sale of 7,022 square feet of office space at 112 W. 4th North St. in Summerville to Ellie Holdings LLC for $1.5 million. Zach Hines of Spencer Hines Properties represented the buyer.

Other commercial real estate deals in recent days in the Lowcountry include the lease of a retail space on Camp Road. Trey Lucy and Kevin Shields of Belk Lucy represented the landlord in the lease of 4,255 square feet in Suite B at 1234-1238 Camp Road on James Island to Tidewater Carts. Christi Copenhaver of Palmetto Commercial Properties represented the tenant.

Hot Properties highlights recently sold or leased commercial properties in the Charleston region. Send in your transactions using our online form.

Robert Pratt of Re/Max Pro Realty represented the buyer, RLP LLC, in the purchase of 1.16 acres of triple-net ground lease space at 3878 Ladson Road in Ladson from 3878 Ladson Road LLC for $1,472,125. Britt Raymond of SRS Real Estate Partners represented the seller.

Jenna Philipp of Palmetto Commercial Properties represented the landlord, RCB Development, in the lease of 2,704 square feet square of warehouse space at 1750 Signal Point Road.

Jenna Philipp of Palmetto Commercial Properties represented the tenant, Sanders Inc., in the lease of 10,103 square feet of industrial space at 7635 Sandlapper Pkwy, Suite 200, from Sandlapper One Associates LLC. Robert Pratt of Re/Max Pro Realty represented the landlord.

Jing “Julia” Donovan of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic represented the tenant, James Pugh, in the lease of 900 square feet of retail space at 1286 Yeamans Hall Road in Hanahan. The landlord, 1268 Yeamans Hall LLC, was represented by Brent Case of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic. The retail business will be a liquor store.

Christi Copenhaver of Palmetto Commercial Properties LLC represented the tenant, Tidewater Carts, in the lease of 4255 square feet of retail space in Suite B at 1238 Camp Road in Charleston from Christi Copenhaver. Kevin Shields and Trey Lucy of Belk Lucy represented the landlord.

David Newman of Harbor Commercial Partners represented the tenant, Formula Automatic Door Co. Inc., in the lease of 2,755 square feet of office space at 2671 Spruill Ave., Unit C, in North Charleston from 2681 Spruill LLC. Clarke Attaway of Lee & Associates represented the landlord.

Jing “Julia” Donovan of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic represented the tenant Vape FX LLC in the lease of 900 square feet of retail space at 1288 Yeamans Hall Road in Hanahan. The landlord, 1268 Yeamans Hall LLC, was represented by Brent Case of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic. The retail business will be a vape shop.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Former President Donald Trump took the stage at a campaign event in Summerville Monday predicting a record-breaking win in the South Carolina Primary as he campaigned for a second term as commander-in-chief.

Trump is speaking Monday afternoon at Sportsman Boats in his first visit to South Carolina since the Silver Elephant Gala last month.

He told the crowd that his last two years in office were the best two years South Carolina boat builders and South Carolina businesses have ever had, saying that boat builders couldn’t make the boats fast enough.

“When I left the office business was roaring like a 400 horsepower Mercury outboard motor,” Trump said. “But then the economy slammed into a pile of rocks known as crooked Joe Biden.”

He promised to end Biden’s “war on American energy” and reclaim energy independence.

“In other words, we will drill, baby, drill,” he said.

Trump said he won South Carolina twice by record numbers and pledged to do it again.

“We did phenomenally here. We’ve always done well here and we’re going to do it at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” he said. “So we broke the record twice. We’re going to break it a third time. We’re going to break our own record.”

He said he intends to “take back our country and we’re going to make America great again.”

Before Trump’s speech, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told the crowd he went into the State House about a month after Trump went into the White House.

“And South Carolina has been booming ever since,” he said. “But then in January 2021, everything changed.”

McMaster said his administration has had to fight the Biden Administration “every day.” He cited the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for military personnel, and accused it of destroying the nation’s borders and the nation’s energy independence.

“From 2016 until now, [the Biden Administration] has been doing anything and everything they could, legal, illegal, ethical, unethical, unheard of, unprecedented, to do one thing: That includes two bogus impeachments and full-of-baloney indictments to do what? To stop one man, to stop our man from being president of the United States,” McMaster said.

Dorchester County deputies said earlier on Monday that Trump’s visit to Summerville would cause delays on Highway 78 from Summerville east of Berlin G. Myers Parkway to Jedburg Road at Mallard Road. Drivers in the area are asked to search for alternate routes if they don’t live or work along Highway 78 and are encouraged to use other entrances to neighborhoods in the area.

Traffic delays are expected to last through about 5 p.m. Monday but the delays could be extended.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

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.

Jason Tucker reports that business is booming at the boîte known as La Cuisine du Chevalier, or La Chev, by the locals. The 40-seat restaurant, which translates to “the knight’s kitchen,” garnered rave reviews by online contributors when it opened in November at the former soup restaurant called Ladles in the Shoppes of Summerville.

It only recently held a grand opening celebration.

Tucker, who has lived in Summerville for the past 16 years, is no stranger to the restaurant business.

“My background is extremely diverse and it started back when I was 15-years’ old scooping ice cream in Central Pennsylvania,” he said.

Related content: Charleston rooftop bar, restaurant to renovate, rebrand

Over the years, Tucker has worked in numerous restaurants, from chains like Buffalo Wild Wings, Cracker Barrel and the Hilton, to groups like Charleston Hospitality and more. After bartending his way through college in Virginia, the hard-working transplant accepted a management position from his employer, which took him to Summerville, where he has been ever since.

The father of two boys is also the operating partner at Wine & Tapas in Summerville and was buoyed by the popularity of the business. This inspired him to open a new restaurant, this time with a French flair.

“They call the area the French Quarter, but it lacked a French-themed restaurant, which never made sense to me, especially with the growth we are seeing in this area,” he said.

Tucker said that La Chev was designed to evoke the feeling of walking down the Champs-Élysées.

“It’s a cute café that’s quaint and all about the food and wine,” he said.

It doesn’t hurt that Tucker worked in the wine distribution business and is well-versed on what’s exceptional. He said that his goal is to bring people in by rivaling the quality that a customer would get in downtown Charleston.

“It’s all about the ingredients and there’s a lot of precision and thought that goes into each of our dishes,” he said, adding that chef de cuisine Jonathan DuPriest, who grew up in Knightsville, is Johnson and Wales-trained.

When it comes to dishes, Tucker said that the most popular lunch items that they serve are the French Dip and the shrimp and grits.

“A lot of people judge the quality of the restaurant by their shrimp and grits,” he said.

As for dinner, Tucker offers quite a few specials, ranging from steak dishes, to surf and turf, scallops, crabcakes, and salmon.

“Everyone says that it’s the best salmon served in the Atlantic Coastal area,” Tucker said.

For now, La Chev is taking reservations, except for the bar and outside area, so last-minute plans to dine can be accommodated if guests don’t mind sitting in either area.

Tucker also recently announced that they will be open on Sundays for brunch.

“We’re currently working on the menu which we will implement sometime around the end of July,” he said.

Kurry Seymour was a Ladles customer who was wowed by his first visit.

“This place brings a refreshing vibe to the Knightsville area and I am impressed by the décor, which was converted into a very fine, but very cozy dining experience,” he said.

Reviews like this are music to Tucker’s ears.

“I never thought I’d be in a situation where I’d be running two separate restaurants, but I love the feeling one gets when someone is happy with an experience. Making moments special is the best feeling in the world and having the opportunity to have someone really love what you’re doing, well, it doesn’t get any better than that,” he said, with a smile.

Stefanie Kalina-Metzger is a contributing writer for SC Biz News.

Lori Hammond, aka Lori McCracken, aka Lori Blakely, 54, of Summerville, Christopher Conrad, 41, of Holly Hill, Catherine “Cassie” Needham, 38, of Manning, and Jontrell Wright, 37, of Orangeburg, were sentenced to federal prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud for submitting fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications and misusing the funds.

Evidence presented during the sentencing hearings established Hammond submitted more than $11 million in fraudulent loan applications for PPP and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) loans for her enrichment and the enrichment of her co-conspirators. The loan applications contained inflated employee and payroll funds, were often submitted on behalf of companies that did not exist or were inactive and included fake business addresses and fraudulent tax documents. More than $5.8 million in PPP and EIDL loans were paid to Hammond and her co-conspirators.

“While millions of South Carolinians were struggling during the pandemic, these defendants defrauded the systems meant to provide relief,” said Adair F. Boroughs, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. “We will continue to pursue bad actors such as these and hold them accountable for exploiting these resources for their own gain.”

Hammond personally received $3,162,038.50 in PPP and EIDL loan funds. She spent the money on personal expenses, including purchasing a home, luxury vehicles, a golf cart and plastic surgery. She was sentenced to 80 months imprisonment, followed by a three-year term of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,722,932.50 in restitution, representing the remaining outstanding unpaid loan funds.

Conrad fraudulently received $898,300 in loans and spent the funds on unapproved personal expenses. He was sentenced to 12 months and one day incarceration, followed by a three-year term of supervised release and ordered to pay $898,300 in restitution.

Needham fraudulently received $1,244,200 and used the funds for improper personal expenses, including purchasing property, a golf cart, a pool, home improvements and plastic surgery. She was sentenced to 21 months incarceration, followed by a three-year term of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,244,200 in restitution.

Wright fraudulently received $561,700 in loan funds and spent the funds on personal expenses. He was sentenced to 15 months incarceration, followed by a three-year term of supervised release and ordered to pay $561,700 in restitution.

“These sentences reflect the severity of PPP loan fraud,” said Steve Jensen, special agent in charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office. “Such crimes challenge the integrity of relief programs designed for those who need assistance most. The FBI is committed to holding offenders accountable and safeguarding loan programs to ensure the public’s trust in our financial systems.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Limehouse prosecuted this case. The Hon. David C. Norton presided over the sentencing hearings in Charleston.