AC Repair in Johns Island, SC

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Charleston is working with Charleston County and the state on a plan to expand Maybank Highway off of Johns Island between River Road and the Paul Gelegotis Bridge, often called the Stono River Bridge.

Coming onto Johns Island from the bridge to River Road are two lanes of traffic that become the Northern Pitchfork. Going the opposite way, leaving the island, two lanes of traffic condense into one between River Road and the bottom of the bridge. On the bridge, traffic opens back up to two lanes off the island.

“So, we desperately need that one lane going off the island to turn to two lanes to alleviate that pressure, and that feeds right into the bridge. It already has two lanes,” District Three City Councilman Jim McBride says.

Right now, the strip of roadway is owned by the state, but the city is proposing to take over management of it to make the project happen. McBride says he is eager to see the project happen and alleviate traffic on Johns Island. He explains that the city controlling the road would create more flexible project conditions.

“The mayor recently took a portion of King Street to add more parking, for example. So he and the city taking that portion of Maybank just allows a little more flexibility on the width of Maybank. SCDOT has certain requirements for its roads, depending on who you talk to, whether it’s 12 feet or 14 feet wide. So the mayor’s proposal is 11 feet wide, which would save some money and some time and a few trees,” McBride says.

McBride says if taken into city control, the city would maintain the few miles from River Road to the bridge, but the county is part of the discussion when it comes to funding the expansion. There’s no price tag on the project yet, but the county is behind the preliminary work that’s already been done.

“The county, to give them credit, already spent a million dollars to survey and plan the extra lane off of Maybank Highway. And this discussion has been going on, actually, for decades,” McBride says.

McBride says he is working with County Councilman Jim Boykin about what the future payment would look like.

“The money would still likely come from the county, and they have money left over from the I-526 extension project that is defunct now, so hopefully some of that money will come to this project, and we can get this going quickly,” McBride says.

McBride says the city, county, and hopefully the state’s goal, as well, is to find the quickest way to get the project going. He also notes there’s the option for the state to remain in charge of the roadway but agree to a smaller lane width, creating a partnership, something the city is open to.

“So I’m just glad that this conversation has been started, and it’s kind of got attention, and because we really need the county to allocate some money for that project. Again, it’s already been permitted, it’s already been designed. We just need a couple more permits, and this thing could get started relatively soon, like within a year,” McBride says.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A real estate group hopes to revitalize a former tomato packing facility on Johns Island to create a commercial and industrial complex.

Behind a rusted old fence sits the old DiMare tomato packing facility off Main Road. It’s been there sitting empty for a decade and a half, but Johns Island resident Pamela Frazier remembers it in its heyday.

“That’s my very first job I ever had in my life,” she said.

At just 16 years old, she was excited to get to work.

“I worked on the boxes, put the boxes together for the tomatoes to be packaged,” Frazier said.

The Charleston County Finance Committee’s meeting agenda shows Obelisk Real Estate Partners is looking to change that by investing $21 million dollars into the property.

Over the next two years, the plan would be to maintain the existing footprint of the property as well as make upgrades to the structures. They want to retrofit spaces for warehousing, storage, distribution, and light manufacturing use.

However, Frazier is concerned more about how it may affect the already-busy Main Road.

“It’s not going to be a good thing because the traffic on Main Road is awful,” Frazier said. “All my life, I’ve lived here and I’ve never seen so much cars, the road is damaged, you have a hard time getting to, and people are late for work and other things. It’s not needed.”

She and others who have lived on the island for decades said back when the tomato packaging facility was still operating, the road was not nearly as busy as it is now.

Frazier prefers the site stay empty.

“I would hope they continue with what they do. That’s where the firefighters go for their training so I figured they would keep it for that,” Frazier said.

Thursday’s agenda refers to the potential project as an opportunity to bring economic development and jobs to the neighborhood.

The property has not officially been sold yet. Charleston County’s Finance Committee meets on Thursday to discuss the Economic Development Abandoned Building Special Tax Assessment.

JOHNS ISLAND — An undeveloped island that belonged to a Quaker colonist's family for 220 years will soon be home to 10 new households.

Hoopstick Island, a 55-acre private property between Kiawah and Johns islands, was first formally conveyed by an English royal land grant in July 1717 to Abraham Wright.

The land was part of a larger 96-acre property that Wright passed down through his female lineage until the family sold it in 1937.

More than 80 years and several owners later, an Atlanta-based investor and developer paid $7.5 million for the property that is zoned for a maximum of 10 estate lots — eight with deep-water access.

Reservations are now open for the first phase of sales.

SFG Hoopstick Island LLC, is an affiliate of developer Stonemont Financial Group of Atlanta, is the owner, according to Charleston County land records.

Sean McDonell, senior vice president with Stonemont Financial Group, said this is the company’s first venture into the Charleston market and was presented by a friend of the owner.

“Once we got our arms around it, it wasn’t necessarily that Charleston was never a target on our market list as much as it was the opportunity was so unique and that’s why we pursued it,” he said.

Charles McIntosh with The Cassina Group, which represented Stonemont in its 2022 purchase and is also handling the lots sales, said the previous owner of the property was looking for a private place to create a family compound. It bought Hoopstick, which is why the 10-unit development plan was already in place.

Stonemont saw no reason to change the plans, McDonnell said.

“One of the thoughts we had was you’ve got this undeveloped piece of property that dates back a long, long time," he said. "So we want to take our time and really think through what’s going to be developed here so that we preserve as much of the natural part of the island as possible. It would almost be a shame to move too quickly and make sort of uninformed decisions.”

During the three years of planning, McDonnell said his firm spent time with land planners, architects and builders, asking their ideas and experience in developing similar property — what worked and didn't or what they would have done differently.

The island will be sold in phases. The first four lots are listed, with one under contract. The asking price was $3.45 million for 20.11 acres — a mix of 4.61 acres of high ground and 15.5 acres of marsh.

The smallest of the four, with 4.03 acres of high ground and 8 acres of marshland, hit the market May 9 for $2.75 million. The other two are going for $3.2 million and $3 million and are between 6 and 8 acres.

Once developed, the island with over a mile of deep-water frontage along Bohicket Creek, will be gated, but McDonell said the plan is to keep the property as natural as possible.

The single existing causeway leading the island will be resurfaced with shell aggregate, not asphalt, he said. The enclave won’t have an amenity space, but will have a common green area for a potential garden.

Development plans also call for keeping as many trees as possible, McDonell said. Buyers can then design their houses and layouts based on the natural layout of the environment.

“There is a set of architectural guidelines for the property, but the vision is for the homes to be a Lowcountry style and blend with the surroundings,” McIntosh said.

Robertson Allen, founder of The Cassina Group, said he anticipates closing on all lots in the first part of 2026 given the demand for waterfront living and the lack of available property.

“We’re surrounded by water, but true deep-water opportunities are not a dime a dozen,” he said. “I feel like Hoopstick gives someone a unique opportunity to have a short-dock and an estate-sized piece of property very close to town.”

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Lowcountry swept the South Carolina High School League 5A baseball state championships on Saturday. James Island won the Class 5A - Division 1 State Championship and the Berkeley Stags claimed the Class 5A - Division 2 State Title.

Baseball

State finals

5A - Division 1: Game 3

James Island 6, Lexington 5 - The James Island Trojans won the Class 5A - Division 1 State Championship with a walk-off win against Lexington. The Trojans Jake Amman hit a walk-off RBI-single in the bottom of the 8th inning to lead them to a 6-5 win. It’s the James Island baseball team’s second straight state title and fourth overall. The Trojans moved up from Class 4A to 5A - Division 1 this season. It marks their first state championship in the state’s largest class.

5A - Division 2: Game 2

Berkeley 9, Catawba Ridge 4 - The Berkeley Stags claimed their second state championship since 2022 with a 9-4 win at Catawba Ridge. The Stags completed the sweep of the copperheads in two straight games.

2A: Game 3

Batesburg-Leesville 8, Philip Simmons 5 - The Iron Horses fell in a series-deciding Game 3 against the Batesburg-Leesville Panthers. It’s the panthers first state championship since 1949.

Softball

5A - Division 1: Game 3

Byrnes 5, Summerville 4 - The Byrnes Rebels snapped the Summerville Green Wave’s state title streak with a 5-4 win in nine innings. The Green Wave had won the previous two state championships. The Rebels Addy Waters hit a walk-off 2-RBI single to take the 2025 State Championship. Heading into Game 2 of the series, the Green Wave had also won 83 straight games. Byrnes snapped the win streak in Game 2 of the Best-of-3 series with a 9-8 win.

Summerville finishes the season with an overall record of 33-2.

The North Carolina-based grocer confirmed May 23 it will take over its current Kj’s Market at Maybank Highway and Bohicket Road on Johns Island.

Both chains are owned by Alex Lee Inc. of Hickory, N.C.

"We're confident Lowes Foods will offer an experience more tailored to this area's unique demographic," Tim Lowe, company president, said in a written statement.

The current Kj’s Market will remain open during the remodel and brand conversion.

Customers are already seeing areas of the store under construction, including at the entrance.

The conversion is expected to be completed by next year, according to Kelly Davis, senior director of guest engagement with Lowes Foods.

Customers should start seeing the chain's food items added to shelves around October.

The overhaul will include a refreshed interior and more higher-end items, like dry-aged beef, more locally sourced products and a bigger specialty cheese section.

Davis said the owners debated at length about whether to remodel the store and keep it a Kj's Market or convert it to Lowes, ultimately deciding to bring a new grocery store concept to the fast-growing area.

“Kj’s locations tend to be in smaller towns, and we felt the area matched Lowes Foods,” Davis said.

The current Kj's Market took over a space that was formerly occupied by Bi-Lo, which is no longer in business.

The supermarket remains one of the main food-shopping destinations on Johns Island. The next-closest option for residents is a Food Lion about three miles away on Maybank Highway.

The conversion will mark Lowes Foods' fifth location in the Charleston area since Alex Lee acquired 20 Bi-Lo stores in 2020 from Winn Dixie parent Southeastern Grocers.

Lowes expanded to the region in 2017 when it opened a supermarket on Dorchester Road in Summerville. Its other Lowcountry stores are in Mount Pleasant, West Ashley and Hanahan.

Davis said Johns Island store is the third former Bi-Lo in the area to become a Lowes Food, following prior conversions in Hanahan and West Ashley. Both stores remained open during construction, closing for just two days "for a final push" before the grand opening.

The Hanahan and West Ashley locations were opened in 2021 to rave reviews, including the ability to shop while sipping a beer or wine purchased from the store.