Latest news with #Charleston-based
Business Journals
23-07-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Why one NC construction company president is moving from single-family to the BTR space
After 25-plus years in residential construction and development—primarily focused on production homebuilding in NC—I'm excited to announce my move into the multifamily and build-to-rent (BTR) space with Charleston-based real estate development firm Center Park Group. This shift is more than just a professional pivot; it's a response to the changing dynamics of housing in the Southeast and an opportunity to help deliver a product that meets the needs of today's renters. A builder's journey: From single-family to strategy Over the past two-and-a-half decades, I've worn a lot of hats—general contractor, investor, land developer and business owner. Working with Herring Homes and various wealth management institutions, I've been fortunate to build hundreds of homes across Johnston County, Wake County and surrounding areas. That experience helped me learn not only how to build efficiently and profitably, but also how to truly read the market and quickly adapt to shifting conditions. I've always believed in building homes that reflect the way people actually live. But, in recent years, I started noticing something: Even with strong demand, many prospective buyers simply couldn't access traditional homeownership. Affordability, interest rates, lifestyle changes and demographic shifts all pointed toward a growing demand for quality rental housing—especially intentionally designed single-family rentals. That realization led me to explore where the industry is going next. Why build-to-rent—and why now BTR communities offer something unique: the privacy and space of a single-family home with the flexibility, amenities and maintenance-free living of a professionally managed rental property. It's an ideal solution for young families, empty nesters, remote workers and others who want more than an apartment, but aren't ready—or willing—to buy. From a development standpoint, BTR is smart business. The sector has attracted significant institutional and private capital thanks to its long-term stability, high occupancy rates and strong fundamentals. In fast-growing Sunbelt markets like the Carolinas, BTR is filling a critical housing gap and redefining what 'renting' looks like. This isn't just a passing trend. It's the next logical step in residential development—and the demand for this product is only accelerating. Why Center Park Group Center Park Group is building more than just units—it's building communities. What drew me to CPG was its integrated, highly disciplined approach to development. From site selection and entitlement to vertical construction and asset management, the company has created a platform that's nimble, scalable and deeply informed by experience. CPG is the premier residential general contractor in the Southeast, setting the standard for excellence and craftsmanship. Time, quality and cost savings are at the forefront of everything we do—but our true value lies in our team's ability to deliver an extensive array of plans, specifications and pricing options tailored to meet each client's unique needs. We understand our partners are targeting a preferred return, and our goal is to be their trusted local solution—delivering the most efficient, effective and cost-conscious approach to their BTR strategy. We're actively seeking key land opportunities that meet our 'buy box' criteria—generally, sites zoned (or able to be rezoned) for residential use with no rental restrictions positioned within a 45-minute drive of a city center, near strong elementary schools and with existing neighborhood infrastructure. Ideal sites support 50 to 300 units, with a 3-mile population of at least 30,000 and a median household income of $75,000 or more. Our target product includes single-family detached homes, townhomes or cottage-style units—no traditional apartments—with attached or detached garages, two-plus bedroom floor plans and varying levels of finish. Because we already operate throughout the Southeast—including Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, Atlanta and Tampa—we're able to move quickly through due diligence and entitlement. We can plug in proven plans from our portfolio, optimize for rental outcomes and provide accurate unit pricing or GMPs for partners early in the process. Looking ahead My focus now is on helping CPG grow its footprint in Wake County and surrounding areas, bringing purpose-built BTR communities to markets that need them most—communities where strong population growth, job creation and affordability challenges make the demand for smart housing solutions more urgent than ever. As it grows, this new move isn't about leaving the homebuilding world behind. It's about building smarter for the future—and helping more people find a place they're proud to call home. Center Park Group - Raleigh 555 Fayetteville St. Ste. #300 Raleigh, NC 27601 919-650-8224
Axios
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Popular Charleston listening bar expanding to Charlotte
Groovers Listening Bar, a Charleston-based music venue featuring DJs who spin vinyl records, is expanding to Charlotte. Why it matters: It's by the same owners as nightclub Trio and cocktail bar Blue Door in South End, Eric and Kate Gussin. They're teaming up with another South End bar owner, Orlando Botero, of Must Be Nice and Broken Promises. The vibe: Groovers will have a stage for live bands and a DJ booth. You'll hear a mix of 70s, 80s and 90s music intended to make you dance and sing along. Disco DJs will spin live vinyl and later in the night, the party will ramp up. Its menu will feature hot dogs by Lizzy's Glizzys, grilled cheese sandwiches, plus craft cocktails. "Every now and again, we get an itch to go out 'til one or 2am but don't necessarily want to be at Trio, even though I love Trio," co-owner Eric Gussin tells Axios. Between the lines: Trio is an EDM venue with state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems. By contrast, Blue Door is known for its molecular gastronomy, music is not the centerpiece, and the demographic skews a little older. Groovers "has the high-level hospitality and production of Blue Door, with the entertainment and fun dancing vibes of Trio," co-owner Kate Gussin tells Axios. The big picture: The Gussins are a key part of the transformation happening on South Mint Street, in an increasingly popular pocket of South End. Groovers (1510 S. Mint) will be next to Blue Door (1508 S. Mint) and across from Trio (1513 S. Mint). On the same street, you've got Gamecock sports bar The Horseshoe, sushi restaurant YUME, and soon, Tyber Creek pub's new location. Flashback: The name "Groovers" is a nod to the building's history on Charleston's Calhoun Street. While researching the property, Kate says she learned that in the mid-90s, it housed a bar called "Groovers" that "was really the first place in Charleston that people were starting to DJ." They loved the name and its history, so Groovers was reborn into what it is today. Zoom in: Every Thursday night at Groovers Charleston, they host a "flip through" party. Their DJ brings 800-1,000 records and people can flip through them, put one in the queue, and the DJ will mix and spin it live. The Gussins hope to bring the same kind of party to the Charlotte location if they can find the right DJ.
Eater
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
James Beard Award-Winning Southern Chef Sean Brock Is Opening a Restaurant in West Hollywood
One of South Carolina's most celebrated chefs will open his first Los Angeles restaurant in West Hollywood later this summer. Sean Brock, best known for his Southern restaurants in Charleston and Nashville, will introduce Darling, a new restaurant featuring seasonal ingredients prepared over a live-fire grill in the former Soulmate space on Robertson Boulevard. The Charleston-based chef will also introduce Bar Darling, an adjoining cocktail bar that will serve cocktails while vinyls play over a hi-fi sound system. As one of the South's most notable chefs, Brock is a high-profile figure dedicated to showcasing Southern Cuisine. He grew up in Virginia's Appalachian mountains before finishing culinary school and becoming executive chef at Charleston, South Carolina's Husk from 2010 until 2018; he then became a partner at McCrady's Restaurant. Brock won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Southeast in 2010, and became a New York Times bestseller with his first cookbook Heritage , which also garnered a James Beard Award. After opening (and stepping away from) multiple Husk locations throughout the South, Brock opened Atlanta's Minero in 2015, then debuted Joyland in 2020. Joyland was his first solo restaurant, followed by a stream of openings, including a duo of Nashville restaurants centered around Appalachian food. Brock joins a handful of recent non-California-based chefs bringing their experience to Los Angeles, including the Jamaican-born Adrian Forte for Lucia in Fairfax, and chef Eyal Shani's Miznon. Darling will open in July or August across the street from Lisa Vanderpump's Sur and the trendy spinoff from Vanderpump Rules reality TV stars' sandwich shop, Something About Her. Related How Sean Brock Reinvented Himself (and His Restaurants) Sign up for our newsletter.
Dominion Post
01-06-2025
- Business
- Dominion Post
Hope Gas Morgantown pipeline makes progress: A visit to construction sites
dbeard@ MORGANTOWN – Hope Gas is making steady progress on its Morgantown Connector Project – a new 30-mile pipeline from Wadestown to Morgantown – and took The Dominion Post on a visit to several sites along the route last week. A section of pipeline is buried and awaits reclamation. Brittany McDaniel, Hope's director of Engineering Project Management, and Colin Mitchell, project manager for contractor Apex Pipeline Services, led the tour. Jonell Carver, Hope's chief operating office, Chris Hendrick, Hope vice president for Reliability, and Jason Barnette, with Hope's land department, also joined. Nitro-based Apex is the contractor for the 10-mile 'spread' leading into Morgantown. Charleston-based Ace Pipeline won the contracts for the two other 10-mile spreads. Apex started cutting trees in January, McDaniel said, and expects to be nearly done with its work by the end of July into August – ahead of schedule. Ace is also ruining ahead of schedule. The line is planned to go into service Nov. 1, at the start of winter heating season when demand picks up. Additional restoration and cleanup will continue into 2026. Another view of the buried section. Hope is building the pipeline to meet increased demand for natural gas in the Morgantown area. A second line will also provide redundancy – should there ever be an issue with the existing line. But Hope also said during our Wednesday tour that one of its missions it to create West Virginia jobs. Mitchell said Apex is employing about 150 people for its spread, while Ace has about 300 on its two sections. McDaniel said each spread also requires 20-30 Hope inspectors and support staff. And that doesn't count service jobs – dump trucks and delivery trucks – and indirect jobs for hotels, restaurants and the various suppliers, Mitchell said. We visited three sites in various stages of development. At one, outside Westover, two big yellow shovels sat at the bottom of a hill. A line of 16-inch pipe ran down the cleared right of way. Metal support structures keep the pipe off the ground. A section of reclaimed hillside. At the next site, also outside Westover, the right of way runs up and down more hills and the pipe is buried. Mitchell said the line must have a minimum of 3 feet of coverage, but there's usually more. And the original ground goes back on top of that, so the line is generally about 6-7 feet below the surface. McDaniel noted that laying pipeline is different from running it along flatland. As West Virginia companies, both contractors have an advantage. 'They know how to handle this mountainous terrain.' The third site, out Fairmont Road and up Little Indian Creek Road near the Arkwright Mine, is already reclaimed. Grass is growing on the right of way running down the hill. They work with landowners, McDaniel said, to meet their needs and demand for specific types of grass, fencing, property line posts and so on. And while the original design ran as straight as possible, she said, they've adjusted the course for the realities on the ground – including the residents along the way. The second site was moved several hundred yards to avoid a new subdivision under construction. McDaniel estimated that the project right of way involved about 243 landowners. We've reported several times that Hope filed 31 condemnation suits – seeking eminent domain – in Monongalia County Circuit Court, and spoken with landowners unhappy with Hope's negotiations for compensation. A look at court records on Thursday showed 23 cases open and eight settled and closed. We asked McDaniel about those holdouts. 'We're working on that,' she said. Some are in the process of resolution and will be settled while some will be resolved by the court. Along with compensation for loss of land use, some landowners raised pipeline safety concerns to The Dominion Post. We also asked McDaniel about that. She said, 'As far as I'm concerned, pipelines are the safest form of [gas] transportation that there is.' She has lines across her land, she said, and described some of the safety measures they employ, including X-raying all the pipe welds and testing the lines to 1.5 times their operating pressure.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hope Gas Morgantown pipeline makes progress: A visit to construction sites
Jun. 1—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — Hope Gas is making steady progress on its Morgantown Connector Project — a new 30-mile pipeline from Wadestown to Morgantown — and took The Dominion Post on a visit to several sites along the route last week. Brittany McDaniel, Hope's director of Engineering Project Management, and Colin Mitchell, project manager for contractor Apex Pipeline Services, led the tour. Jonell Carver, Hope's chief operating office, Chris Hendrick, Hope vice president for Reliability, and Jason Barnette, with Hope's land department, also joined. Nitro-based Apex is the contractor for the 10-mile "spread " leading into Morgantown. Charleston-based Ace Pipeline won the contracts for the two other 10-mile spreads. Apex started cutting trees in January, McDaniel said, and expects to be nearly done with its work by the end of July into August — ahead of schedule. Ace is also ruining ahead of schedule. The line is planned to go into service Nov. 1, at the start of winter heating season when demand picks up. Additional restoration and cleanup will continue into 2026. Hope is building the pipeline to meet increased demand for natural gas in the Morgantown area. A second line will also provide redundancy — should there ever be an issue with the existing line. But Hope also said during our Wednesday tour that one of its missions it to create West Virginia jobs. Mitchell said Apex is employing about 150 people for its spread, while Ace has about 300 on its two sections. McDaniel said each spread also requires 20-30 Hope inspectors and support staff. And that doesn't count service jobs — dump trucks and delivery trucks — and indirect jobs for hotels, restaurants and the various suppliers, Mitchell said. We visited three sites in various stages of development. At one, outside Westover, two big yellow shovels sat at the bottom of a hill. A line of 16-inch pipe ran down the cleared right of way. Metal support structures keep the pipe off the ground. At the next site, also outside Westover, the right of way runs up and down more hills and the pipe is buried. Mitchell said the line must have a minimum of 3 feet of coverage, but there's usually more. And the original ground goes back on top of that, so the line is generally about 6-7 feet below the surface. McDaniel noted that laying pipeline is different from running it along flatland. As West Virginia companies, both contractors have an advantage. "They know how to handle this mountainous terrain." The third site, out Fairmont Road and up Little Indian Creek Road near the Arkwright Mine, is already reclaimed. Grass is growing on the right of way running down the hill. They work with landowners, McDaniel said, to meet their needs and demand for specific types of grass, fencing, property line posts and so on. And while the original design ran as straight as possible, she said, they've adjusted the course for the realities on the ground — including the residents along the way. The second site was moved several hundred yards to avoid a new subdivision under construction. McDaniel estimated that the project right of way involved about 243 landowners. We've reported several times that Hope filed 31 condemnation suits — seeking eminent domain — in Monongalia County Circuit Court, and spoken with landowners unhappy with Hope's negotiations for compensation. A look at court records on Thursday showed 23 cases open and eight settled and closed. We asked McDaniel about those holdouts. "We're working on that, " she said. Some are in the process of resolution and will be settled while some will be resolved by the court. Along with compensation for loss of land use, some landowners raised pipeline safety concerns to The Dominion Post. We also asked McDaniel about that. She said, "As far as I'm concerned, pipelines are the safest form of [gas ] transportation that there is." She has lines across her land, she said, and described some of the safety measures they employ, including X-raying all the pipe welds and testing the lines to 1.5 times their operating pressure.
