"I have one of those jobs where you think about real estate every day," said Matt Sloan, president of the Daniel Island Company, to those gathered at last week’s meeting of the Daniel Island Business Association (DIBA). "It used to be fun. It’s been less fun over the last 18 months."

Despite the economic challenges presented by the real estate market, things are better on Daniel Island than in other parts of the country, where bankruptcies and foreclosures are wreaking havoc on some master planned communities. While conditions have certainly been less than optimal on the residential front on Daniel Island, the new year is bringing glimmers of hope. Several properties have recently been sold to Boeing executives relocating to the area, said Sloan, including the company’s plant manager, who recently bought a home in Daniel Island Park.

"The good news is as we start 2010, people are buying," Sloan reported, while addressing DIBA members at the Daniel Island Club. "…We’re actually pretty busy. There is traffic here and there are transactions happening…It’s very different from where we were a year ago. And to me, I think that signifies the end."

Pent up foreclosures (there are close to 70 on Daniel Island out of 3,000 housing units) are slowing down the process a bit, said Sloan, but all in all things are moving forward, particularly in the area of resales. New construction, however, is a different story.

"It’s tough out there," said Sloan. "There is no availability of credit."

Banks are hesitant to loan money, even to those builders whose credit is intact and to those who didn’t get caught holding inventory when the market corrected, Sloan added. The lack of a deep building pool, especially on the custom home side, has become a problem.

"That’s real difficult for us," he said. "…If we use Daniel Island Park for example, whenever we’ve launched a new area, we have a wave of builders come in with us and we get rooftops going to begin to make it feel like ‘a place,’…the basic element we sell here is streetscape and a sense of place and a sense of community. It is very, very hard to do that when all you have are just…lots and very little construction going on."

On the south end of the island, however, John Wieland Homes and David Weekly Homes continue to develop properties.

"Despite how bad things were, even when they were at their worst at the end of 2008-2009, we continued to be able to sell homes for John Wieland and David Weekly," said Sloan. "…We are grateful that they are here."

Sloan predicts the "story of 2010" on Daniel Island will be the commercial side of the market, a sector he fears has not yet hit bottom. At times criticized for high rents, Daniel Island it seems has joined a level playing field with other nearby business communities.

"The vacancy rate here is probably going to level off around 30 percent and that’s not healthy at all," Sloan added. "It’s the best time to be a tenant since we’ve been here. Trust me, I’m a landlord. If anyone is looking to lease space, there has never been a better time."

Sloan predicts many Daniel Island businesses will go through financial restructuring with their lenders this year and some may even end up with different ownership. The idea that landlords are not struggling during these tough economic times is simply not true, said Sloan.

"There are buildings that were built over the last couple of years when construction costs were incredibly high. And if anyone thinks the landlords are out making money and profiteering and just getting rich off the backs of tenants, it’s not the case right now."

The Daniel Island Company is positioned to weather the dips and turns of the market, said Sloan. Calling the company "alive, well, and functioning," he attributed that stability to good planning and smart financial decisions.

"We got a little freaky about the market back in 2005, when we had 800 people line up to buy condominiums at 254 Seven Farms Drive," said Sloan. "It was just a little crazy…We started to get nervous about it, so we ratcheted back early…We missed about 12 months of boom times as we were sitting on the sidelines, but because of that we were very well positioned as things began to turn in the other direction."

The company is still forging ahead with plans to construct a marina near the Sales Center along the Wando River, but ground-breaking will have to wait for market conditions to improve.

"We hold that permit," said Sloan. "And it’s an extremely valuable permit, an extremely hard thing to get…but we’re committed to making this happen. At Daniel Island we’re operating without debt right now. There’s not a giant interest-meeting clock ticking every month, so we can afford to be patient."

Just last week, the Daniel Island Company also renewed its agreement with a retail developer to bring a new mixed-use lifestyle shopping center to the Daniel Island downtown area. The project, which has been in the works for years, would feature a variety of popular shops and restaurants, including large anchor stores. Sloan is determined to see the complex become a reality.

"So far as this organization goes, if my company can make one thing happen that would fundamentally and forever change and benefit the business community on this island it would be to do that lifestyle center with national retailers with drawing power that would draw a significant number of people from off-island to the island."

Jimmy Bailey, vice president of community services for the Daniel Island Property Owners’ Association, also took a few moments to speak with DIBA members, offering the unique perspective of a former businessman on the island.

When Bailey first came to Daniel Island in 2000, he was branch manager at the island’s National Bank of South Carolina branch at the corner of River Landing Drive and Seven Farms Drive. The experience helped him understand the importance of going above and beyond to reach potential customers.

"You have to have resident support," said Bailey, who remembers looking out from his office to see vacant fields where the present-day Publix Shopping Center stands. "You have to push for it and it’s going to be critical. But you also have to ask for it…People expect to be asked, and they expect to have input."

Bailey encouraged business owners to utilize the many benefits of social media, to keep holiday lights that line the tops of buildings illuminated all year to draw attention from motorists on I-526, to open up views into stores and restaurants from both sides (street and parking lot), to add vitality by using sidewalks more for dining and other activities, and to support island events. He also suggested DIBA members create a new committee aimed at focusing on restaurant and retail needs.

"Retailers and restaurant owners have unique challenges," he said. "Walk-in traffic is just absolutely critical…and word of mouth can mean life or death."

Bailey also learned blaming others for failures or challenges will not lead to success.

"Pointing fingers was getting me nowhere," he said. "So I started thinking about what I was doing to earn the business here...I quickly realized that I had to work harder and smarter…It was doing a little bit of everything."

It is a philosophy that has not only worked well for Bailey, but for the Daniel Island Company as a whole. Their original plan was to have complete build-out on the island by 2015. Today, that projection has shifted to 2023.

"I was here when we broke ground, and when the first property owner moved in," added Sloan. "It’s been my life’s work. We’re going to get through this market cycle basically on plan…As long as it’s going to take, we’re going to continue."