Roofer in Daniel Island, SC

Here are the developments before the various City of Charleston boards and committees this week, as well as results, if any, from the prior week’s items specific to Daniel Island and the Cainhoy area. More detailed agendas and results can be found at charleston-sc.gov/agendacenter.

UPCOMING: TECHNICAL REVIEW COMMITTEE

Dec. 11: Thomas Island Subdivision – Proposed concept plan for 42-lot conservation development on 17.99 acres at 100 Sands Preserve Drive, Cainhoy. TMS: B2750000004. Owner: Clouter Creek Reserve LLC. Applicant: Seamon, Whiteside & Associates, Inc. Contact: Zak Wortman, [email protected]. Results: Revise and Return.

Dec. 11: River Landing at Seven Farms Drive Roundabout – Proposed conversions of existing intersection to a roundabout on 2.1 acres. Daniel Island. Owner: City of Charleston. Applicant: Berkeley County. Contacts: Reeves Connelly, [email protected] and James Wallace, [email protected].

RESULTS: DESIGN REVIEW BOARD

Dec. 1: 606 Brooking Square Lane, Cainhoy - Requesting preliminary approval for building #4 only. Other buildings to be submitted at a later time. TMS: 262-00-00-028. Owner: SLS Development, LLC Applicant: The Middleton Group/Karo Wheeler. Results: Preliminary approval, 5-0.

RESULTS: BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS - ZONING

Dec. 2: 714 Swan Dr., Cainhoy – Request variance from Sec. 54-824 to allow lot frontage for the subdivision of the property into two single-family residential lots to be less than required (63’ and 0’ proposed, 485’ required). TMS: 263-00-04-026. Owner: Kimbrell Family Trust. Applicant: Maurice Wilder. Results: Approval with conditions, 7-0.

RESULTS: TECHNICAL REVIEW COMMITTEE

Dec. 4: Atlantic - St. Thomas Site Plan – Proposed 71-unit multifamily townhome development on 7.28 acres at 2815 Clements Ferry Road, Cainhoy. TMS: B2710002169. Owner: MSP SRE LLC. Applicant: Sitecast, LLC. Contact: David Yowell, [email protected]. Results: Revise and Return.

CHARLESTON — After nearly a year of off-island grocery runs, Daniel Island residents are finally getting their only full-service grocery store back — now twice the size with a pharmacy and a covered patio seating area.

The grocery store opened Dec. 3 bright and early at 7 a.m. following a ribbon-cutting.

The new 50,472-square-foot supermarket at Daniel Island Town Center at 162 Seven Farms Drive has about 70 percent more shelf space than the 27,000-square-foot store it replaced.

The original supermarket opened in 2002.

In the new store, aisles are wider, departments are expanded and shelves are stocked to capacity.

“This is not just a rebuild, it's a complete transformation,” said Kim Reynolds, community relations manager for the Florida-based chain, during a preview on Dec. 2. “A heartfelt thank you to our customers and our community for your patience and understanding throughout this process.”

The construction lasted nearly a year, leaving island residents without a grocery store for most of 2025.

George Renton, president of the Daniel Island Exchange Club, said many residents have been shopping at the Publix at Point Hope Commons on Clements Ferry Road, about seven miles away. The island’s other retailers helped fill the grocery gap, though, such as meat and grab-and-go-provisions from the upstate-based NY Butcher Shoppe.

The original Publix closed last Christmas Eve and was demolished soon after, although replacement plans have been in the works since 2017. The store held to its anticipated fourth-quarter 2025 timeline for reopening.

Customers will recognize many familiar faces at the new store, as the grocery store chain has brought back nearly half of its previous staff which were dispersed throughout other Lowcountry stores during the rebuild.

The Daniel Island Publix has 140 employees and held several job fairs before re-opening.

Opening day will be all hands on deck with support staff to help make shopping seamless.

“We have a lot of support team here for the opening, even people from North Carolina helping,” said store manager Christy Pfuntner.

More than two decades ago, Publix secured an exclusive agreement with the developer of Daniel Island, guaranteeing it would be the only supermarket within the master-planned community, which is now nearly built out.

The grocer purchased the 5-acre Daniel Island Town Center a decade ago for $13.8 million, according to public land records. It also owns an adjacent 1.2-acre parcel on Island Park Drive.

Charleston City Council member Mike Seekings, whose district includes Daniel Island, said the size and stature of the new Publix reflects the success of the community first annexed into the city in the early 1990s.

“I've been around long enough to remember when Daniel Island was just a sandbar and (buildings) were just coming out of the ground,” Seekings said. “To predict that you’d have a facility like this on Daniel Island 10 or 15 years ago, I never would have imagined that. This is a testament to how Daniel Island has succeeded.”

Publix’s roots trace back to 1930, when founder George W. Jenkins opened the first store in Winter Haven, Fla.

Since then, the chain has grown into one of the 10 largest-volume supermarket operators in the country — and the largest employee-owned company in the United States — with 1,423 store locations and more than 260,000 workers.