The Sound of the Future

 

A look at the Midtown projects that are making upper King Street the hottest place to be

 

BY RACHAEL BUCKINGHAM

 

Anyone living anywhere close to the intersection of Spring and King streets knows the frustration that comes at 8 every morning in the form of hammers banging and bulldozers beeping.

      For years the Midtown area was home to rundown storefronts and old buildings. It was a quiet part of town, where upscale shoppers rarely ventured. Then, in 2014, the Grand Midtown boutique apartments went up. The Grand was the first boutique apartment complex to come to Charleston, and was the start of a series of big developments in the Midtown area.

      Now construction is underway on the The Hyatt House/Hyatt Place complex, an $80 million dual-hotel development on upper King Street. The first part, The Hyatt House, opening this fall, will be a 10-story dual hotel and retail space. There will also be a 405-space parking deck.

      Construction is slated to start this spring on another boutique condominium and retail/office space on Columbus and Meeting Street. This development is set to open in 2017, according to Amanda Slade, assistant manager of Grand Midtown.           

      Reflecting back, Slade says that two years ago, when she started in a mobile office in the parking lot of the then–Piggly Wiggly, the area was desolate. Nothing new had been developed this far up King Street. But no longer. Sitting in the Grand Midtown offices, with the sound of jackhammers pounding, Slade says that the constant bustle of construction is the norm.

      The Midtown area will look  “completely different” two years from now, Slade says. The Hyatt will set the standard for the area, making it solidly upscale. Lower King Street will be the shopping area, and Midtown will be the place for high-end restaurants.

      The area still has a ways to go, and many local residents will suffer the never-ending construction outside their windows every morning. But it will be worth the noise to see another part of downtown Charleston come to life again.