(L- r) Joe B. Overfelt, Southern Tide representative, Virginia Beach; Bo Faulkner, MUSC, Charleston; Allen Stephenson, Southern Tide CEO, Greenville; Perry Lancaster, Britton’s, Columbia
Columbia- based US Development operates under three principals: David Bryant, president; Tom Prioreschi, CEO; and Jeff Prioreschi, executive vice president.
In the works are 11 projects, mostly in the Southeast, which encompass more than 2 million square feet. Furtherest along is The Dakota, an apartment building targeting senior tenants on Lady Street near the corner with Marion Street.
The Dakota, named for John Lennon’s apartment building on Central Park West – the same building as the setting for Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” – strives for New York style and convenience. Particularly convenient is the dining service, where daily meals are to be served in the building’s dining room.
The Dakota will have its own scheduled transportation to nearby grocery stores, banks, shopping centers, and churches.
With 115- 120 housing units, The Dakota has a critical mass of population to support an in- house beauty/ barber shop, which can also cater to outside customers.
The wellness program includes massage therapy, periodic blood pressure screening and cholesterol checks, and scheduled exercise and fitness classes, including yoga.
The monthly rental covers electricity, water, sewer, and trash removal.
US Development has engaged Revere Healthcare, which owns and operates approximately 10,000 similar residences across the country. The Dakota will be operated by Revere Healthcare.
The push for downtown living is a national trend picking up on lifestyles of convenience and safety in the preserved cores of the country’s largest cities and among smaller walkable communities, such as Charleston and Savannah, where downtown living has always been fashionable.
College towns have plentiful housing stock and thriving retail centers, both focused on the adjacent campus, and the memories of the convenience of college towns have something to do with the current trends in urban living.
The Dakota is scheduled to begin construction by the fourth quarter of this year, and tenants will be moving in about a year later.
On Tuesday morning, May 12, S.C. State Senator David Thomas (R- Fountain Inn) stood on the floor of the Senate to introduce Allen Stephenson, founder and CEO of Southern Tide, manufacturer of the Skipjack Polo shirt and the Channel Marker shorts. Stephenson saw his Southern Tide’s business grow 800% last year. Make no mistake. That’s eight hundred percent.
Stephenson’s goods are sold in 31 states and 240 stores including Britton’s on Devine Street.
The Channel Marker shorts are inspired by Charleston’s Hugh “Bo” Faulkner III, chief lobbyist for the Medical University of South Carolina. Faulkner is a “legendary man of the water way,” as the shorts’ hangtag says.
The Intracoastal Water Way navigational instructions printed on the pocket bag along with the Channel Markers label on the inside are complemented by subtle details like the red and green thread on the back pocket buttons. The thread colors represent the “red- on- right-returning” navigational system used by mariners all along the Intracoastal Water Way and around the world.
Allen Stephenson will be greeting visitors at Britton’s, 2818 Devine Street, this Saturday, May 16, from noon until six.
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