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Travel to Mount Pleasant outside Charleston, South Carolina to explore the real estate market and learn how to live like a local.
Lowcountry
Welcome to Downtown Charleston, SC: Target now officially open in King Street
By Mark A Leon
Some of you may remember 211 King Street as the former “Forever 21” while others go back further to the days of “Saks”.
Now the beautiful corner commercial lot is home to Target.
Tonight the Target tram held a soft opening with goodies and refreshments. The initial enthusiasm from shoppers and guests is an indication that this will be a refreshing addition to downtown Charleston.
If you have never been to an urban Target, you may be surprised to find the square footage and item offerings smaller than the larger mall or stand alone locations. Don’t worry, you won’t be disappointed. For locals, vacationers, and students, you will find almost anything you need with the high level of quality and customer service you have come to expect from Target stores.
Here are a few shots from the new store:
Summerville, SC’s First Cat Cafe is coming, but they need your support
Cat cafes first appeared in Taiwan, and their popularity quickly spread around the world. There are a growing number of cat cafes in the United States, but none in Summerville—until now. That’s where we come in!
We are excited to bring the magic of a cat cafe to Summerville, SC, with your help! Summerville is growing so fast and we think it’s time we have our very own cat cafe!
Our main goal is to help more cats find their furr-ever families. We will be fostering cats available for adoption, and providing space for them to socialize with our guests in a cozy, laid-back environment. We also plan to host events in the cafe like cats & crafts night, cat yoga, drag bingo, pop-up tarot readings, wine tastings, and more!
A portion of our proceeds will go to our partner shelter, Dorchester Paws.
Click Here to support the Kickstarter for Mews and Brews Cat Cafe
Follow Mews + Brews Cat Cafe on Instagram
Charleston, SC’s The Cassina Group Ranked in the Top 1000 Brokerages in the Nation
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Real estate company The Cassina Group has been ranked in the top 1000 brokerages in the United States. The company received the honor from T3 Sixty as part of its annual Mega 1000 list, which analyzes and ranks the residential real estate industry’s largest brokerages. This is the second year The Cassina Group has been named to the list.
“We are so honored to have been named to the Mega 1000 list again this year,” said Owen Tyler, partner and managing broker of The Cassina Group. “Our team of Realtors and staff work tirelessly day in and day out to deliver the best possible experience for our clients, and we are so elated to be recognized for our efforts and successes.”
The award was announced by T3 Sixty, the largest management consultancy in the residential real estate brokerage industry. The report ranks the nation’s top 1,000 brokerages by annual sales volume, transaction sides and agent count.
“The companies that make the Mega 1000 are the best in the industry,” said T3 Sixty Founder and Executive Chairman Stefan Swanepoel. “They are the leaders. Congrats to them.”
The Mega 1000 recognizes The Cassina Group’s record-breaking year in 2021, in which the company had its best year since its 2006 inception with over $586 million in closed sales. The boutique firm has just over 40 Realtors and consistently ranks as the No. 1 boutique firm in Charleston. The company, known for its cutting-edge marketing techniques and high-touch service, works with buyer and seller clients throughout Charleston.
For more information on The Cassina Group, visit www.CassinaGroup.com.
About The Cassina Group
The Cassina Group is a boutique real estate brokerage with offices in Mount Pleasant, S.C., and Charleston, S.C. The firm is managed by Owen Tyler, partner and managing broker, and founding partners Jimmy Dye and Robertson Allen. Recent awards include top honors from Charleston Magazine, Inc. 5000, T3 Sixty and SC Biz News. For more information, visit www.CassinaGroup.com or call 843-628-0008.
Photo: The Cassina Group leadership team, from left, Robertson Allen, Jimmy Dye and Owen Tyler.
Five Fish Foundation partners with the Charleston RiverDogs for its Annual Fundraiser
- What: Annual Five Fish Foundation Fund Raiser supporting individuals and families with intellectual disabilities
- Where: Joe Riley Stadium – 360 Fishburne St, Charleston, SC 29403
- When: Friday, May 27, 2022 (Fireworks Night)
- Cost: $125+tax – Click for Tickets
About the Fund Raising Event
Join the Five Fish Foundation at the RiverDogs Friday Fireworks game on Friday, May 27 to help support the great work Five Fish does in the community for individuals and families with intellectual disabilities. Your ticket purchase goes directly to support Five Fish’s mission and programs! On this incredible night, you will join other Five Fish friends in the Segra Club at Riley Park, the RiverDogs’ indoor/outdoor hospitality space. Your ticket includes access to a full, high-end food spread, beer/wine/soft drinks, access to the climate-controlled Club, and a seat on the balcony.
Tickets are $125+tax, with all proceeds going to Five Fish Foundation
An amazing night for a beautiful cause
Two Charleston, SC area restaurants stand out in customer excellence and loyalty
By Mark A. Leon
The two restaurants we will be featuring today are not typically on any foodie blog, not found on billboards at the international airport, nor on many Instagram reels, but stand out for high quality and intimate customer service resulting in high loyalty retention.
These two restaurants are Maya del Sol Kitchen (1813 Suite B, Reynolds Ave, North Charleston, SC 29405) and The Lowdown Oven and Bar (967 Folly Rd, Charleston, SC 29412). If you have not yet experienced either, add them to your culinary adventure wish list.
Maya del Sol
Local Chef Raul Sanchez (recently featured during opening night at the Charleston Wine & Food Festival), along with his colleague Tim brings an intimate global dining experience to their guests in a small family atmosphere that keeps you coming back week after week. The exceptional menu, which changes weekly, is small giving Raul an opportunity to put love into each and every dish that is prepared. Don’t worry, Raul and the team listen and respect the wishes of his guests, so if you have a favorite, they will find a way to ensure it remains.
This is where things get really special. Maya del Sol Kitchen offers a themed communal multi-course dining experience created by Chef Raul Sanchez and guest chefs, highlighting a different nationality from Puerto Rican to Italian typically twice a month. These special reservation-only events pair exceptionally fresh food from traditional and unique recipes with drink pairings that make for a special night. Not only will you enjoy this one-of-a-kind dining experience, but may walk away with new friendships.
Click Here to Sign Up for Updates on the special International Nights
Once you start coming back, you will see familiar faces and smiles and truly start to understand the importance of customer loyalty built around high-quality food and caring relationships.
The Lowdown Oven and Bar
I have been going to The Lowdown on and off for 7+ years and one thing remains, high-quality customer service, consistency, and quality. In fact, I left the area for almost 14 months to travel overseas and hike and when I returned, they asked where I had been for the last year. That is customer loyalty.
I want to talk a little about consistency and dedication to the customer. As prices began to rise in the Charleston community and sales dipped due to COVID, most restaurants had to raise their prices and/or drop their specials. Lowdown didn’t!
Since they opened you can still get the following:
- $1.75 Budweiser – All day every day
- Half-price cheesesteak sandwiches on Tuesday (Dine-in or Take-out) and $4.00 local drafts
- Half-price pizza and wine (glass or bottle) on Wednesday ((Dine-in or Take-out)
- Half-price burgers on Thursdays (Dine-in or Take-out)
- They are always dog-friendly
- Overall, prices have remained relatively unchanged with only a small increase to meet the rising cost of ingredients.
With outdoor seating, outdoor seating with an overhang, indoor booths and tables, a bar area, and community tables, Lowdown is a place where people come to meet, eat, drink, laugh, and spent time with community neighbors.
Over the years, we see groups of friends, clubs, dates, families, and neighbors fill the seats because they know they are welcome with open arms in a place where they know your name, the food is comforting, drinks are refreshing and the company is familiar and safe.
We are so thrilled to share these two restaurants that exemplify the Charleston way when it comes to Southern hospitality and customer care.
Learn More: The Nation’s First Saltwater Hydroponic Farm Is In Charleston, SC
About Heron Farms
Did you know that it’s possible to harvest crops using saltwater? Charleston is home to the first-ever indoor saltwater hydroponics farm that utilizes ocean water – aka the world’s most abundant resource – to grow food.
Heron Farms, located at 1783 Harmon St., was established by Sam Norton in 2018. Sam grew up on a barrier island off the coast of South Carolina where his family home flooded more frequently + severely every year due to the sea level rise. The same issue was seen during his trip to Bangladesh, where he witnessed saltwater intrusion into coastal rice paddies upending the lives of many farmers in Asia.
This led to the idea of treating sea level rise as a free resource that could be used for agriculture instead of just an environmental problem.
Sam’s concept took shape and won the ACRE Startup Competition from the SC Department of Agriculture+ the Charleston-based Harbor Accelerator Startup Competition. Following these achievements, Heron Farms was created and the idea became a reality in June 2018.
So, how does saltwater hydroponics work?
The first step in understanding the process is studying up on general hydroponic farming. Simply put, this method of indoor farming eliminates soil use by utilizing an alternative root anchor for plants + growing them directly in water (think: “hydro” = water). The inside setting eliminates the barriers of land use constraints + seasonality of crops. Plants receive controlled amounts of water, oxygen, nutrients + light that promotes the growth cycle. The difference with Heron Farms is that in all other cases, fresh water is used.
Why saltwater?
Along with the reasons mentioned above, the micronutrients of seawater that are transferred into the plants are a great source of minerals in our daily diets. Additionally, seawater irrigation allows the company to use less freshwater than any farm in the U.S.
What crops are grown?
Heron Farms sea beans | Photo provided by Heron Farms
Heron Farms’ first crop is sea beans – salicornia europaea– an edible plant that grows in the salt marsh. These types of saltwater-tolerant plants are known as halophytes, which have evolved to tolerate salt across its whole life cycle. Learn about cooking + eating sea beans here.
What makes this local company even cooler? For every pound of sea beans sold at Heron Farms, the company replants a sq. ft. of salt marsh along coastal South Carolina + Bangladesh using a custom seed-dropping drone. So far, 30,000 sq. ft. have been planted.
Heron Farms has been invited by Seawater Solutions to present at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, where the Charleston-based company will build a second saltwater hydroponics farm.
Photos provided by Heron Farms
Volunteer for Feed Charleston Veterans – Charleston, SC
Volunteer | Feed Charleston Veterans – Charleston, South Carolina
Soldiers’ Angels will provide #foodassistance to 200 at-risk and homeless #veterans and their families at this Veteran Mobile Food Distribution event. Volunteers will help pack bags of groceries and then load the groceries in the cars/carts of attending veterans.
This volunteer opportunity requires standing, lifting, and bending.
Please dress appropriately for the weather. This event is held outside, regardless of the weather. COVID-19 safety precautions are in place.
This event occurs monthly in Charleston at the Elks Lodge, 1113 Sam Rittenberg Blvd, Charleston, SC 29407.
For more information on the Charleston event or to register to volunteer, visit: https://soldiersangels.org/charleston/
For full details on the Soldiers’ Angels Veteran Mobile Food Distribution events, please visit: https://soldiersangels.org/MobileFoodDistributions.html
Berkeley County Library System is collaborating with hoopla digital offering 200+ titles
Berkeley County Library System is collaborating with hoopla digital, a service of Midwest Tape, to roll out the Bonus Borrows Collection library cardholders can access with their account. Bonus Borrows include more than 200 titles to borrow and download – without affecting monthly hoopla digital borrow limits.
The Bonus Borrows Collection is available now through May 31. The hoopla collection includes TV Shows, Music with full albums, eBooks, audiobooks, and Comics to enjoy on a computer, tablet, phone, or even TV!
With no waiting, titles can be streamed immediately or downloaded to phones or tablets for offline enjoyment later.
Tell Your Tales: James and Johns Islands History Collection Days
STONE MOUNTAIN — New South Associates, in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) and Charleston County, will be holding a three-day history collection event at James and Johns Islands on Thursday, May 19 through Saturday, May 21, 2022. New South historians will be on hand during the events to speak with current or former residents of James and Johns Islands and to gather information about these historic African American settlement communities. The purpose of the project is to provide SCDOT and Charleston County with a study focusing on the history of James and Johns Islands.
New South Associates, based in Stone Mountain, Georgia, is a nationally recognized cultural resource management firm with a permanent staff of over 100 professionals experienced in history and archaeology. New South historians from both Georgia and South Carolina offices will be working on the study, recording oral history interviews to learn about the historic communities and neighborhoods on the islands and their boundaries.
Attendees are invited to bring historic photos that can be scanned and digitized on site, with owner permission. All information regarding the history of these communities is welcome, including locations of gathering places, schools, important pharmacies, churches, and recreational places (such as baseball fields), either standing or long gone. Various maps will be available for attendees to view and mark with pertinent information.
There are time slots for oral history interviews during the May 19 through May 21 history collection days. Opportunities for interviews on future dates can also be arranged by contacting New South historian Renee’ Donnell. Each oral history interview should take about an hour. To secure your preferred time slot, please contact New South historian Renee’ Donnell at rdonnell@newsouthassoc.com, or (770) 498-4155, ext. 150. Time slots will be filled on a first come first serve basis. Refreshments will be served.
Event Dates:
Baxter Patrick James Island Library
1858 S Grimball Rd, Charleston, SC 29412
Thursday, May 19th
10:00 am-12:00 pm,
1:00-3:00 pm, and
5:00-7:00 pm
Johns Island Regional Library
3531 Maybank Hwy, Johns Island, SC 29455
Friday, May 20th
10:00 am- 12:00 pm, 1:30-4:30 pm
Saturday, May 21st
12:15-4:30 pm