Clemson University’s December 2017 graduates from the Master of Real Estate Development program completed their final Practicum projects in November of 2017, presenting to a professional jury that consisted of Julie Franklin, Justin Hirsch, David Rosenberg, and Craig Stipes. Since 2004, these capstone projects have been sponsored by the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) Foundation®, through the SIOR Carolinas Chapter, which awards an annual scholarship to the winning team.
In years past, students used the practicum to prepare a detailed feasibility analysis and development proposal for real sites across the Southeast region. This was the first year where teams submitted packages on mix-used development sites in a case study format. Teams were able to select their own projects for the case study and were required to highlight site, market, and financial analyses in their reporting. Each team incorporated information about the developer’s goal, while highlighting the history, challenges, and benefits that these developments have stimulated. This year’s competition also marked the first year there was a three way tie. Below are the following teams that were awarded a scholarship by the professional jurors:
Drayton Mill – Hemadi Hamam, Kurt Wallenborn, and Daniel Wright
Midtown – Brunson Miller, Andrew Simmons, and Wes Whitlock
Pacific Box and Crate – Andrew Cohen, Stuart Hall, and Craig Gearhart
Drayton Mill: Drayton Mills is a historic textile mill, located in Spartanburg, SC, that has been transformed into a thriving mixed-use development with 289 luxury apartment units and 70,000 square feet of office and retail. The once prosperous textile mill closed in 1994 and was slated for demolition. TMS Development could not tolerate destroying this piece of history and decided to purchase and redevelop the property. Working with the community TMS has successfully recreated the mill village, which is the largest historic rehabilitation in the state of South Carolina to date. Most local residents had forgotten that mill village once existed here, so repositioning the site was a challenge. Through a tremendous collaboration between the Developer and local officials, the mill quickly became an attraction to the area.
Midtown: Midtown is an urban infill mixed-use development project located in the renowned historic district of downtown Charleston, South Carolina, with frontage on King, Spring, and Meeting Street. Overcoming a fourteen-year development process, the project represents what can be achieved in real estate development through perseverance, creative thinking, public-private partnership, and resilience. CC&T Real Estate Services assembled the property, which consisted of five parcels owned by 70 individual property owners. The phased project, completed in 2015, brought a Class A apartment complex, a dual flag hotel, a parking garage, and several retail and office spaces to the historic peninsula.
Pacific Box & Crate: With a company mission to breathe new life into neighborhoods, the Raven Cliff Company purchased a ten acre site on Charleston’s upper peninsula – an area more commonly known as “the neck.” Completed in 2017, the developers delivered a unique office and commercial space in a mixed-use campus setting, consisting of two, 20,000 SF buildings, which are now fully occupied with tech companies, a brewery, and restaurant incubator. The development has launched a spike in land prices in the surrounding area and has caused more businesses to tap into land north of the sacred peninsula.
