Johns Island hotel and West Ashley senior residential community considered by city officials

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Two major developments on Johns Island and West Ashley came before the City of Charleston’s Planning Commission on Wednesday.

The Planning Commission approved a Planned Unit Development rezone request and a concept plan for a project called Jubilee.  

“The developer in this case envisions a really interesting mix of things that would include a more traditional hotel-type building plus some cottages that would also be available for accommodations. And commercial things – restaurants, a coffee shop, and that kind of thing,” said Tim Keane, the Planning, Engineering, and Permitting Section Chief for the City of Charleston.

Plans posted on the agenda included 65 residential units in the form of cottages and 75 hotel units.

“One of the reasons we’re recommending this is we think it’s a nice addition to Johns Island because right now, there are no accommodations uses on Johns Island. So, anyone that lives on Johns Island, if you have family in town, they have to stay somewhere else if they need accommodations,” Keane explained.

News 2 spoke with several residents at a neighboring apartment complex who said off-camera they didn’t know about the project. Thirty-one public comments submitted to the city told a another story. Most expressed opposition to the project, pointing to traffic as a main concern.

We took those concerns to city officials.

“The thing about this is, we believe strongly that this is the best outcome that you could seek for development on this property for Johns Island when it comes to traffic because it’s not just another set of apartments or townhouses where everybody has the same commute pattern every morning and every night,” Keane said in part. “…it’s actually the perfect use in that it’s commercial but it’s off-peak time kind of traffic. You know, people that are in accommodations, they’re on a different schedule.”

 The Planning Commission also approved a request to amend a Planned Unit Development in West Ashley that was established back in 2014, called Harmony. The landowner, Harmony West Ashley LLC, came back with a modified concept after the city decided to purchase most of the 160-acre property for public use and green space. A senior, active adult residential community is proposed for the remainder of the land.

“There are some real positive attributes to that because it doesn’t involve a lot of impact upon the schools. Creates less traffic. And for anybody familiar with West Ashley and for the Roper St. Francis campus, it puts the active adult community really close to all those worldclass medical services that they would need,” said attorney, Ellis Lesemann, who represents Harmony West Ashley LLC.

News 2 reached out to Synchronicity, LLC, the developer of Jubilee, however they did not want to comment.