Tree Servicein Mount Pleasant, SC

MOUNT PLEASANT — A 20-year-old home overlooking Charleston Harbor at the mouth of Shem Creek has set a new residential sales record for South Carolina’s fourth-largest municipality.

The 7,015-square-foot, Southern-style mansion at 100 Haddrell St. in Mount Pleasant was sold April 17 for $14.95 million, far above the previous record of $8.65 million set two years ago for another home in the town’s pricey Old Village area.

The new owner is 100 Beach LLC, according to Charleston County land records.

The sale appeared to be an all-cash deal, as no mortgage has been recorded with the Register of Deeds. It was an off-market transaction, meaning the home wasn’t publicly marketed or listed.

The 1.32-acre property last changed hands in 2010, when the previous owners bought the five-bedroom, 5½-bathroom house for $7.5 million, setting a new record residential sale price at the time for Mount Pleasant.

Built in 2003, the waterfront house includes a dock, elevator, three-car garage and a saltwater pool.

Nancy Hoy with Carolina One Real Estate represented the sellers. Alex Brener, who was with William Means Real Estate at the time of the sale but has since joined Carolina One, represented the buyer.

The transaction suggests that the upper stratosphere of the residential market is largely unaffected by rising interest rates and other economic challenges.

Last month, a few blocks southeast of Shem Creek, a home at 205 Ferry St, was sold for $8.4 million.

Last week, in downtown Charleston, a pre-Revolutionary War-era house at 13-15 Meeting St. changed hands for $12.6 million.

On Sullivan’s Island, three homes have fetched prices ranging from nearly $8 million to more than $10 million this year.

“As Charleston continues to grow and gets more and more exposure, we are definitely attracting more serious high-dollar buyers to our community,” said Michael Scarafile, president of Carolina One, the largest-volume residential real estate agency in the Lowcountry.

The uptick in interest by deep-pocketed buyers for luxury housing started with COVID-19 as people began to work remotely and sought a better quality of life, Scarafile said.

“That hasn’t stopped,” he added.

Lyles Geer, president of William Means Real Estate, said the recent flurry of big-ticket purchases is being driven in part by low inventory levels for top-tier homes.

“There is a lack of supply in the ultra-luxury market,” Geer said. “When those homes do become available, they fetch a much higher price.”

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – A new taco shop is set to open in Mount Pleasant this spring boasting unique flavors set in a tropical theme.

The owners of White Duck Taco Shop, which originated in Asheville, North Carolina, have been renovating the former Sticky Fingers restaurant on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard for the past year.

A complete overhaul of the building included opening the ceiling and removing some walls to create a larger feel inside the establishment. Bamboo is being used to section off seating areas and fresh paint will brighten up the once-dark barbecue joint.

Muralist Lacey Hennessey was brought in from Greenville, South Carolina to help merge the planned color scheme to give the restaurant its tropical feel and showcase floral themes, a large VW bus, and even a surfing duck.

“We’re very proud of what she accomplished here,” said Laura Reuss, who owns the restaurant.

The bar area will feature big-screen televisions and windows will open up to an outdoor lanai with bar service in addition to its deck area. “It gives an open-air feeling even though we’re in the middle of Mount Pleasant,” said Reuss.

Reuss has been working in the restaurant industry since she was a teenager. She left Park City, Utah in 2010 – working in restaurants at ski resorts – to later open the first White Duck Taco Shop in North Carolina.

The idea was to create a fun atmosphere where patrons would feel comfortable enjoying great, from-scratch food at affordable prices.

“We had been working at four- and five-star restaurants. We really wanted to be more approachable to everyone. So, we came up with the idea of White Duck Taco Shop,” she said.

The new restaurant ushered in new life for a part of Asheville that was still in its growth phase – the River Arts District.

“We were in Asheville, we actually moved there to start the brand. It was really a mom-and-pop organization, we just couldn’t keep up—it was crazy,” she said of opening the new shop.

The new location in Mount Pleasant will be White Duck Taco’s 14^th venture.

Reuss and her late husband had roots in the Charleston area. And after reopening its other locations post-COVID-19 pandemic, she decided that it was the right time to bring the restaurant to the Lowcountry.

“I spent about seven, eight months looking for the perfect location with a lot of help from other people, and we came across Sticky Fingers,” she recalled.

A crew came in to determine how best to transform the former barbecue restaurant into a brightly-colored taco shop. After a few bumps in the road, thanks to logistics and delivery woes – White Duck Taco will soon serve customers just in time for the summer season.

Reuss described the menu as unique fusion tacos. “We do everything from fried oyster tacos, pork belly tacos with pickled watermelon rind, we have Thai peanut chicken tacos … the whole idea was to take really cool flavors and just put it in the form of a taco so that you could eat almost internationally.”

If you order a sandwich or burger off a menu, you only get to try one style or flavor at a time. Here, you’ll be able to select three variations in one sitting.

“The taco is the new American way,” she said. “Everyone loves a taco and a beer.”

Reuss is eyeing an opening in mid-to-late April depending upon final approvals from the Town of Mount Pleasant.

MOUNT PLEASANT — David Breen knows the games people like to play.

The Boston native has been around the arcade and entertainment industry since he was 7 years old when his parents started a roller-skating business in 1978.

With several other ventures since then, including the continued operation of five bowling and game businesses in the Northeast, the 51-year-old East Cooper transplant is bringing a new concept to the Lowcountry.

Breen, CEO of PINZ Entertainment Group, and business partner Jim Smith plan to launch MIX on June 1 in the 11,122-square-foot space that once housed Butcher & The Boar restaurant at 730 Coleman Blvd.

Patrons who visited the most recent dining venue before it closed in 2021 will notice a couple of features that Breen decided to incorporate into the entertainment site.

“We kept a lot of the penny floor around the bar on the inside and the wall of heads behind the bar, ” Breen said. “We just painted the heads and turned one upside down for fun.”

The duckpin bowling area includes eight lanes. Next to the wall of heads, which includes well-known figures such as Einstein, customers will find a curling platform, ax-throwing cages and numerous other games. The curling game is not on ice. Discs are on rollers that are tossed from one end.

In addition to the repurposed indoor bar, the site offers an outdoor alcoholic beverage area and patio, including a swing table and small stage built around a tree. Ping-pong and cornhole also will be available.

“We redid the outside bar by taking walls down because it was so dark in here,” Breen said as he walked through the site and talked about the changes. “We wanted to open it up and make it more appealing.”

A separate speak-easy site has been created out of part of the former expansive kitchen area. It will be available for private gatherings and accessible by pass code only. Just beyond the door, guests can get a peek of the behind-the-scenes workings of the duckpin machines before wandering down a black-lit hallway with duckpins mounted on the ceiling as light fixtures.

In addition to a mix of a dozen local and national beer offerings, MIX will have what Breen calls “elevated bar food,” including appetizers, burgers, flatbreads and salads.

The venue offers two sets of restrooms, including one accessible from the patio and another inside. The inside facilities have been totally redone, and visitors will find Abraham Lincoln with a mug of beer on the wallpaper leading to the indoor restrooms.

Breen’s other ventures, as well as the 33,000-square-foot skating venue his parents owned for many years, include rock climbing, bowling, laser tag, bars and restaurants.

Breen’s five other entertainment venues in the Northeast operate under the PINZ brand. Similar to Stars & Strikes bowling and arcade sites like the one on Ladson Road in Summerville, they are in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and upstate New York.

MIX, in a site leased from Charleston developer The Beach Co., is a new venture altogether.

“We wanted to try a new concept to see how it would work,” Breen said. “I took one look at this when it was a restaurant and decided this is the right place. I think it has turned out to be a great site for us.”

Breen is not alone in the PINZ Entertainment Group business. His wife, Susan, handles payroll.

Breen plans for MIX to be open 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m.-midnight or 1 a.m. on weekends. The center will be family-friendly until 7 p.m. After that, it will be for those 21 and older. Reservations are recommended for certain games.

He plans to open another MIX in Florida, possibly as soon as 2024, but he’s not divulging the location since it’s not totally lined up yet.

MOUNT PLEASANT — A prohibition on new apartment and condominium developments has been extended for a seventh year, until mid-March 2024.

Previous plans to extend the town’s apartment and condo ban into 2025 were scaled back just before the most recent moratorium extension was approved.

Municipalities need a justification to impose a moratorium, and the latest reason for Mount Pleasant is that more time is needed to rewrite zoning regulations to match up with the town’s Comprehensive Plan.

Previously, the moratorium was said to be needed so that the town’s infrastructure could catch up to its rapid population growth.

A 180-day moratorium was imposed in 2016, and after it expired the town imposed a new one in March 2017 that’s been in place ever since.

Mayor Will Haynie said the zoning code update should be accomplished within a year, so a two-year extension of the moratorium was not needed.

“We all agree that governing by moratorium is not the best way to do that,” he said, just before Town Council’s unanimous vote on March 14, with Jake Rambo absent.

The town’s rapid development and population growth, and the resulting traffic, has prompted residents to elect Town Council members who pledged to slow things down. And so they have.

In addition to the moratorium, Mount Pleasant limits annual building permits, particularly for multi-family buildings. Even without a moratorium, there are no permits left this year for apartments or condos.

An earlier permit limit was in place from 2001 into 2008, and focused on single-family homes.

More recently, the town greatly increased its impact fees for development, reduced the allowed height of new buildings in many areas, and has been changing zoning rules to allow fewer dense residential developments.

Charleston Trident Association of Realtors representative Josh Dix was the only person to address council members prior to the moratorium vote. He urged that they not approve it.

“In order for us to plan for the next generation we need housing options, and single-family homes are not the only answer,” he said.

With all the restrictions, some residents may wonder why some new apartment complexes have been built nonetheless. Just two months ago, the 224-apartment Atlantic Beach House opened on Ben Sawyer Boulevard.

That apartment complex was initially blocked by the town in 2015 but was later allowed as part of a 2017 settlement that ended a lawsuit against the town.

Growth and development was a top election issue in the town in 2015, and Mount Pleasant became the most-sued municipality in the state for development-related disputes.

Other apartments created in recent years were either approved prior to the moratorium or allowed under existing development agreement contracts with the town. The last time a new apartment development was submitted to the town for review was in 2015.

The town moratorium has since 2019 included an exception for “attainable” below-market-rate housing, but no such apartment or condo developments have been proposed.

Brandon D’Agostino was a member of SOCiETY, formerly MethodRide, for two years before taking his biggest stride yet: buying the business. Having been named the best cycle studio in Charleston several years in a row, including 2022, D’Agostino was thrilled to take the MethodRide legacy to the next level under a new name.

“Our team and community are second to none,” said D’Agostino. “I wanted to preserve that for Mount Pleasant and hopefully bring it to other cities in the future.”

D’Agostino initially discovered rhythm-based cycling by accident. A friend turned him onto it after buying a Peloton, a popular subscription-based stationary bike that is designed to bring the cycling studio home. D’Agostino wanted to try a live class before investing in a bike, and now, he’s glad he did. That small decision turned into fate.

By trying an in-studio class, D’Agostino discovered the unique magic that happens inside a cycling studio, in the dark, when working alongside a team that tends to grow into a bona fide community.

“I have a musical background,” explained D’Agostino, “so riding to the beat of amazing playlists is what attracted me to becoming an instructor. Our coaches put a lot of thought into their playlists, curating an experience for every ride— it might make you laugh or even cry. It gets deep in there sometimes,” he said, only half kidding.

While many online and app-based workout subscriptions aim to create interactive and community-based experiences, nothing can replace the face-to-face, side-by-side energy of a group of riders working toward similar goals. D’Agostino chose the name SOCiETY because he believes that the studio exists for the community.

“Even the logo and how we spell it is significant,” he stated. “The I in SOCiETY is lowercase on purpose—it represents our members, who are at the center of everything we do.”

D’Agostino wants members to remain individuals and to be true to themselves while growing alongside the community they have so fervently built as parts of a unit.

He and his team are in the process of expanding their current location. They have leased additional space to provide functional strength training classes this fall. The innovative classes will be high-energy, athlete-style training which will sculpt the body while providing functional benefits that promote longevity and energy. They have also started offering childcare during many of their classes, which the kids love. D’Agostino loves seeing the kids get excited to visit the studio alongside mom and dad.

Looking ahead to next year and beyond, D’Agostino would like to expand to several locations in South Carolina and around the Southeast. There are many places where he believes SOCiETY would thrive in offering indoor cycling, strength training, childcare and the luxury boutique experience. Most of all, there are many places he can see building community through the love of the sport.

For more information, please visit SocietyCHS.com, or call 843-867-3339.

By Isabel Alvarez Arata

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