DI News History - June 28, 2018
TEN YEARS AGO – Daniel Island
housing market
In the June 26, 2008 issue of The Daniel Island News, the centerspread featured an article on Daniel Island’s weathering of the economic downturn and its affect on the housing market. Local realtors and builders were optimistic the community would pull through. In fact, Ben Henrich admitted that people thought he was crazy. The founder and CEO of BH Carolina Development was constructing a $5.75 million speculative home overlooking the marsh in Daniel Island Park, and two more with even higher price tags in Kiawah and Palmetto Bluff. Given the sluggish real estate market at the time, some might have considered his ventures a bit risky. But where others saw gloom and doom, Henrich saw opportunity.
“I know that there are a lot of people hurting out there, and there are different segments of the real estate market that are very slow right now,” said Henrich, from the site of the spectacular 6,400-square-foot home he was then building at 61 Watroo Point on Daniel Island. “But the fact is that there is a generation of people that are retiring, thousands and thousands every day…So as bad as you may hear it is out there, there are still a lot of people with money out there who are looking to buy.”
Also in the news, Jimmy Bailey, vice president of community services for the Daniel Island Property Owners Association at the time, reconvened a group that he and former Representative Jim Merrill first organized in 2006 to gauge island resident support for the community to purchase the 1,300-acre State Ports Authority land on the southern tip of the island for development as a waterfront park, bird sanctuary and nature preserve.
In 2006, the SPA had solicited a request for qualified purchases of the tract but, despite receiving 18 applications, the SPA never released the names of those who had applied or moved forward with an effort to sell the land. Today most of the tract remains in their ownership for use as an active dredge site. Approximately 50 acres of the tract was transferred to the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation, Tourism to be developed into a passive recreational site in the future. Another parcel has been set aside for a saltwater mitigation bank.
FIVE YEARS AGO – DI
residents make time
for turtles!
A feature article in the June 27, 2013 issue of The Daniel Island News spotlighted two Daniel Island residents who served on the Island Turtle Team at the time.
Kelly Cobb and Kerrie Scott were part of a dedicated crew of about 100 volunteers who patrolled the beaches of Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island looking for evidence of Loggerhead turtles each and every day during turtle nesting season, which usually runs between mid-May through mid-August.
“One of the key things is to walk at the high tide line, because loggerheads come in at night to nest,” said Kerrie, who was tasked with patrolling a 1.5 mile stretch of the beach with Kelly one morning a week. “We’re looking for tracks from the high tide line to the dunes,” she said at the time.
Another hot topic in that issue was the question of whether the island was in need of a new pool. At the time, the only two pools available were Scott Park Pool and Pierce Park Pool. With residences popping up daily to accommodate new neighbors on Daniel Island’s south side, particularly in Smythe Park, the question was asked:
Does a population upswing point to an imminent need for a third south side Daniel Island pool? The answer at that time, according to Daniel Island Property Owners Association (POA) Vice President of Community Services Jane Baker, was “not quite.” However, since then, Edgefield Park’s Crow’s Nest and Pool facilities have been added to the south end of the island.