Cigar Factory Work Halted?

Cigar Factory too Ambitious a project?

The post and courier today ran a short and somewaht uninformative blurb on their website stating that the Cigar Factory had been taken over by bank regulators in May from the developer and halted construction on Nov. 25, 2009.

I for one was very pleased with the progress that the developer was making - construction work had seemed to be continuous and great progress had been made. With the halt of construction I fear that this once fabulous site will turn into a hideous eyesore on one of the main gateways to Historic Charleston.

The Cigar Factory started life in 1882 as a Cotton mill - between 1912 and 1973 the Cigar factory operated - churning out cigars with over 1000 employees in its heyday!

In 1981 this location was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The simpson Group of Atlanta purchase the Cigar Factory in 2007 to renovate into condo/mixed used commercial. The overall plan was to create a live /play/shop environment minutes from all area amenities.

Lets hope that the Developer can pull this back together despite the banks regulators halting construction - Charleston does not need such a large abandoned project - perhaps the question arises is why was a construction bond not placed on this developement - and if one was will we see at least exterior construction completion.

Trackbacks (0)

Comments (0)