Plumbers in Summerville, SC

Construction has begun on Marlowe Summerville, a 278-unit rental complex on a 27.9-acre site in Summerville.

It is the first foray into South Carolina for The Resmark Companies, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment management company, which is partnering with Greystar Real Estate Partners, a Charleston-headquartered investment and development company with offices across the country and on four continents.

Marlowe is a Greystar brand marketed as “suburban luxury living.” The Summerville project on N. Main Street and College Park Road is the first Marlowe brand in the state, according to a news release.

“We are excited to make our first investment in the Charleston MSA with Greystar, a long-term and trusted partner,” Ziv Cohen, chief investment officer of Resmark, said in the news release. “Having worked together for a decade, we recognize that Greystar brings rigorous attention to design, quality and detail that results in great consumer response and community acceptance.”

Pre-leasing at Marlowe Summerville is expected to begin next fall, according to Stephen O’Neil, senior vice president for investments at Resmark. The community will offer amenities including a clubhouse equipped with a fitness center and co-working spaces, resort-style pool, grilling stations, pickleball courts, dog park and outdoor dog wash, as well as a grand central amenity lawn with shuffleboard, cornhole and a community garden.

O’Neil said in the release that Resmark was drawn to the site because of “Summerville’s location as a top-tier suburban market near Charleston, its attractive demographics, access to commuting routes and rapidly expanding employer base are all factors that underscore a strong outlook for multifamily development.”

The company also pointed to the site’s proximity to Camp Hall 10 miles away, a 7,000-acre commerce park that has attracted nearly $5 billion in investment and projected to create as many as 1,500 jobs for workers who will need a place to live, the release said.

Related article: Work begins on newest Camp Hall industrial building in Ridgeville

“Summerville is a highly desirable submarket twenty miles northwest of downtown Charleston that is attracting young professionals and families drawn to its quality of life and historic charm,” Ben Liebetrau, managing director of development for Greystar Development and Construction Services. “As we are headquartered in Charleston, we are extremely pleased to bring Greystar’s Marlowe brand to our backyard.”

Of the 278 rental homes, 263 will be constructed in 10 separate three-story walk-up garden-style buildings. Fifteen two-story townhomes, each with a fenced yard and attached garage, will be located in two separate buildings. Ranging in size from 560 square feet to 2,114 square feet, the project unit mix will include 16 studios, 127 one-bedrooms, 118 two-bedrooms and 17 three-bedrooms, the release stated. Each unit will offer features such as granite countertops, wood-like luxury vinyl flooring and stainless-steel appliances.

Resmark is a real estate investment manager that provides capital to homebuilders, land developers and multifamily developers across the country.

SUMMERVILLE — With Ricky Waring retiring, the mayoral seat in this growing community 20 miles north of Charleston is up for grabs.

The candidates: Dickie Miler, a Summerville native and real estate broker; Russ Touchberry, another Summerville native and current town councilman; and Vickie Fagan, who relocated from Staten Island more than a decade ago.

The Post and Courier spoke with the mayoral candidates about some of the big issues and concerns residents have in Summerville.

Fate of the old hospital

Miler said the property at 500 N. Main St., which has become a hot-button issue over the past few months, should be preserved. He has been a vocal opponent of the redevelopment of the property but said if there is redevelopment it should be strategic, sensible and promote enough economic vitality to warrant any changes made.

Touchberry hopes to preserve the old hospital as well, acknowledging it’s an important property. He also said its redevelopment can benefit the town and if done right could be a model for how other properties can be remade.

“We’ve lost the look and feel of Summerville on that side of the railroad tracks all the way to I-26,” Touchberry said. “This is an opportunity for us to have this reinvestment and reestablish our brand, which is what made us so special to begin with.”

Fagan also wants the property to be preserved but believes it can be repurposed as is. With all the available parking, the space could be used for emergency personnel, she said.

Growth and development

Miler said he supports a strategic approach to Summerville’s growth and would want to annex all he could on the periphery to protect the town’s border from neighboring cities like North Charleston and Goose Creek, which are also growing quickly.

“If we annex things on the outside, then we can control how we develop on the inside,” Miler said. “When and if we have to move and grow, we do it the way we want to do it, bringing the developer we want to bring in, have the neighborhood designed the way we want it.”

Touchberry pointed out that Summerville’s municipal boundaries are irregular but could be fixed by aligning the town’s comprehensive plan with the plans of Berkeley and Dorchester counties, and making sure all zoning standards line up as well. He added that if the town doesn’t have a strategic annexation plan, Summerville could easily be encircled by other municipalities.

Fagan said she’d like to assemble a task force for growth management and include voices from elected officials, civic groups and businesses. She said she values input from everyone and paying attention to how growth is affecting people in different areas can help the town come up with a plan as a united front.

Traffic and transport

Miler said he would want to incorporate more public transportation and improve sidewalks and bike paths so people can get around without a car.

“Building more roads is not always the answer,” Miler said.

He added he would be willing to reduce the median for some roads and even remove parking spots — like the parallel parking spots on Main Street at Hutchinson Square — so traffic isn’t as backed up.

Touchberry has been advocating for infrastructure improvements, such as sidewalk repairs, but one of his biggest priorities is finding a way to connect the Berlin G. Myers Parkway to Interstate 26 without the need to use, or cross, Main Street. He said he’s working with the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, as well as Berkeley County and the town, to study that corridor and identify solutions.

Touchberry added that the town missed an opportunity in having the Lowcountry Rapid Transit stop in Summerville; the furthest it is planned to go for now is Ladson. He said he’s ready to fight to make sure the second phase is completed, so the workforce in Summerville can use it to get to Charleston and reduce commute time.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Newly obtained documents show dozens of complaints have been filed in recent years against a Summerville youth treatment facility, alleging there are bugs, abuse, dangerously low staffing levels, violent fights and blood and vomit smeared throughout the building.

Mary Wilcox’s grandson spent time in that facility, Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health, earlier this year.

“Terror” is how she describes her feelings about the residential facility, which is for children and teens ages 7-18 with emotional and behavioral issues.

Her 13-year-old grandson was admitted to the youth residential treatment facility earlier this year.

For weeks, he stayed locked behind the doors of the facility; for weeks he recounted the horror and violence to his grandmother; and for weeks, Wilcox said she fought to get him out.

“[He] was abused in ways that most parents would say would be the worst thing to happen to their child,” Wilcox says.

During phone calls with his grandmother and an in-person visit, he detailed vicious fights, sexual assaults and abuse.

“He was struggling to deal with what was going on, and he attempted to escape,” Wilcox said. “He was handled by a staff member who slammed his head into a chain link fence causing a gash, causing blood to drop down his face.”

Her grandson’s story is not the first troubling one that has been shared. Nearly 200 pages of documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request for complaints against the facility in the past few years detail allegations of what some say erupts in the hallways and common areas and what hides, tucked away in patients’ rooms.

The dozens of complaints filed describe alleged bug infestations, inadequate staffing, filthy conditions, overmedicating and a prison-like environment.

One complaint says a staff member attacked a patient.

“On the video, it was observed that a staff member placing [redacted] into a choke hold and then it is observed on camera that same staff member punching [redacted] six times once [redacted] is taken down to the ground,” the complaint states.

Another states a patient was so heavily medicated they fainted. In a different complaint, an employee is accused of grabbing a patient by the shirt, pulling them down and kneeing them in the face.

“It does not surprise me at all,” Wilcox says. “My grandson communicated similar conditions to me. It is very alarming that this happened to my grandson; it’s alarming that children are in the facility still.”

One complaint alleges the facility frequently only has one nurse on duty with 60 patients and was so short-staffed they couldn’t provide proper treatment.

Another states there have been “numerous human rights violations” and claims patients are refused medical treatment and prescriptions.

“Supervisors explicitly tell staff to ‘treat them like prisoners because they are here for punishment’ rather than treating the patients with compassion as they go through treatment,” the complaint states.

Another complaint describes cockroaches and ants crawling around and blood and vomit smeared inside.

“[Palmetto Summerville] should be investigated,” Wilcox says. “They need to be checked out. They need to be monitored, and they need to be held accountable.”

The State Department of Health and Environmental Control is the agency responsible for investigating complaints against health facilities like Palmetto Summerville. It can also penalize them.

“When there is noncompliance with the licensing standards, the facility must submit an acceptable written plan of correction to DHEC that must be signed by the administrator and returned by the date specified on the report of inspection/investigation,” an email from DHEC states. “When DHEC determines that a facility is in violation of any statutory provision, rule, or regulation relating to the operation or maintenance of such facility, DHEC, upon proper notice to the licensee, may impose a monetary penalty, and deny, suspend, or revoke licenses.”

Last month, DHEC investigated two complaints against Palmetto Summerville, but no violations were cited, according to officials. In August, however, the facility was fined $19,000 for nine violations.

“DHEC executed a consent order with the facility in August after it was determined that it was appropriate to impose a civil monetary penalty for violations of Regulation 61-103,” the email from DHEC states.

Some of those violations, documents show, include failing to have a registered nurse immediately accessible by phone and available within 30 minutes, failing to notify DHEC of a serious accident or incident within 24 hours, failing to make sure residents were free from harm and failing to make sure medications were available for administration.

“[Patients] are further traumatized,” Wilcox says. “They are further placed into a downward spiral by being in these facilities.”

That downward spiral and that trauma, she says, prevent any effective treatment for the children who spend time at Palmetto Summerville and similar facilities.

Some studies show that could be right.

One study shows there’s not enough research to know if the interventions — therapy, activities and treatments — inside these facilities are effective or an effective use of money.

“We also don’t know a lot about what the, what treatments they’re actually getting because we don’t necessarily see the day-to-day life of these kids in these facilities,” Roderick Rose, an associate professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore and researcher in the study, says.

A common trend in the facilities: Medication. One study shows about 90 percent of stays at facilities analyzed included an antipsychotic medication, even though only 3 percent of patients were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder.

“You also see just a lot of medicating children,” Rose says.

For her grandson, Wilcox believes the best treatment has been being back home. He’s in school and playing basketball and is doing better. The trauma from the facility still lingers, however, and Wilcox says she prays other children can get the help they need outside of the gates of Palmetto Summerville.

“I am so very grateful that he is one child that escaped being in the situation he was in long,” she says. “Other children, as well, to be rescued, which is a most appropriate word. They need to be rescued from these facilities.”

Norman Bradley, the director of risk management and performance improvement for Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health released this statement:

Due to HIPAA patient privacy laws, we cannot offer comment on specific patients or their care.

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health takes all allegations of abuse seriously and completes full investigations as warranted. Any and all allegations required to be reported to the Department of Health and Environmental Control have been done, and necessary action plans have been implemented to address the issues raised. Recent site visits by DHEC have been positive and have resulted in no findings.

Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health is a residential treatment facility for girls and boys ages 7 to 18, in need of a highly structured, therapeutic environment. Our patient satisfaction scores reflect the care that is delivered by our compassionate and dedicated team.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Summerville Medical Center will celebrate the launch of its $66.8 million, 56-bed inpatient construction project on Nov. 9 with a ceremony to include signing a steal beam that will be incorporated into the building.

The project will increase licensed patient bed count by 40%.

The hospital, which has invested more than $200 million in the past decade to expand their facility, services and workforce, said in a news release the project will lead to 174 licensed beds. Construction is expected to be complete in 2025.

“This year we are proudly celebrating our 30th anniversary serving families in Summerville and the Tri-County area,” CEO Jeff Taylor said in a news release when the project was announced in April. “Summerville Medical Center is situated in one of the fastest growing areas in Charleston, and as we work to meet the health needs of our community, it is vital that we add capacity and clinical programs. We are committed to providing the highest quality and most comprehensive care in the heart of Dorchester County for all those who need us, for many years to come.”

Project details include 30 medical/surgical private beds in the existing third floor space, 14 intensive care unit beds on a new fourth floor, 12 progressive care unit beds on the new fourth floor and a new fifth-floor shell space for future expansion.

The project will add 64,000 square feet of new space, the release stated.

“In the past three years, the need for health care services has grown tremendously as our community has grown,” Maury Baker, chief operating officer at Summerville Medical Center, said in the release. “We are excited to offer our patients private, state-of-the art rooms to complement our exceptional medical staff and care team. The additional capacity will allow us to grow our existing programs and add new services.”

Summerville Medical Center is a 124-bed, acute-care hospital serving families in Dorchester and Berkeley counties and surrounding communities for 30 years. The hospital has a 24-hour emergency room, including a dedicated ER for children, and a range of surgical services and comprehensive medical services.

“This investment is a testament to the impact that every single member of our team has on our community,” Chief Nursing Officer Theresa Kloewer said in the release. “Each day they provide the highest level of care and compassion for every person who walks through our doors. I am proud of the care they have provided over the past 30 years and will continue to provide in the future.”

Summerville Medical Center is part of Charleston-based Trident Health.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Former President Donald Trump took the stage at a campaign event in Summerville Monday predicting a record-breaking win in the South Carolina Primary as he campaigned for a second term as commander-in-chief.

Trump is speaking Monday afternoon at Sportsman Boats in his first visit to South Carolina since the Silver Elephant Gala last month.

He told the crowd that his last two years in office were the best two years South Carolina boat builders and South Carolina businesses have ever had, saying that boat builders couldn’t make the boats fast enough.

“When I left the office business was roaring like a 400 horsepower Mercury outboard motor,” Trump said. “But then the economy slammed into a pile of rocks known as crooked Joe Biden.”

He promised to end Biden’s “war on American energy” and reclaim energy independence.

“In other words, we will drill, baby, drill,” he said.

Trump said he won South Carolina twice by record numbers and pledged to do it again.

“We did phenomenally here. We’ve always done well here and we’re going to do it at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” he said. “So we broke the record twice. We’re going to break it a third time. We’re going to break our own record.”

He said he intends to “take back our country and we’re going to make America great again.”

Before Trump’s speech, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told the crowd he went into the State House about a month after Trump went into the White House.

“And South Carolina has been booming ever since,” he said. “But then in January 2021, everything changed.”

McMaster said his administration has had to fight the Biden Administration “every day.” He cited the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for military personnel, and accused it of destroying the nation’s borders and the nation’s energy independence.

“From 2016 until now, [the Biden Administration] has been doing anything and everything they could, legal, illegal, ethical, unethical, unheard of, unprecedented, to do one thing: That includes two bogus impeachments and full-of-baloney indictments to do what? To stop one man, to stop our man from being president of the United States,” McMaster said.

Dorchester County deputies said earlier on Monday that Trump’s visit to Summerville would cause delays on Highway 78 from Summerville east of Berlin G. Myers Parkway to Jedburg Road at Mallard Road. Drivers in the area are asked to search for alternate routes if they don’t live or work along Highway 78 and are encouraged to use other entrances to neighborhoods in the area.

Traffic delays are expected to last through about 5 p.m. Monday but the delays could be extended.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.