1 week Ago
Not much is etched in stone, but the new year brings a handful of near-certain story lines that will be worth watching in 2025. Among the highlights: Time is running short for a shipping-line consortium and the International Longshoremen's Association to hammer out a new labor deal. The union ended a three-day strike that shut down the Port of Charleston and others along the East and Gulf coasts after reaching a tentative deal with the U.
S. Maritime Alliance in October that gives about 45,000 workers a 62 percent pay hike over six years. But other issues, mostly related to the use of automation along the waterfront, remain unresolved.
Talks broke down in November. Harold Daggett, the union's president, said in a Facebook post last month that automation, "whether full or semi, replaces jobs and erodes the historic work functions that the ILA fought hard to protect." The ILA and the alliance are staring down a Jan.
15 deadline, when the work stoppage could resume. They're expected to return to the bargaining table Tuesday, according to reports last week. Boeing Co.
is ramping up to double production of the 787 Dreamliner in North Charleston as early as the end of this year. It's going to need more parking. The tarmac could get crowded this year at Boeing South Carolina.
The planemaker is aiming to double the monthly production rate of its North Charleston-built 787 to 10 of the fuel-efficient Dreamliners as early as the end of this year as global demand for long-haul air travel continues to climb. Company projections show carriers will need 8,065 new wide-body aircraft over the next 20 years. The local ramp-up will include a $1 billion capital investment at the North Charleston site anchored by a second 787 assembly plant.
Boeing also plans to add 500 jobs in some critical 787 areas, most likely in production, while also cutting about 300 other positions over the next few weeks. “Since the creation of Boeing South Carolina in 2009, we’ve marked many important milestones — including consolidating 787 Dreamliner production to South Carolina," Scott Stocker, the program's general manager said in a Dec. 12 statement.
"This decision reflects Boeing’s commitment to the workforce, the 787 program and the community." The Cooper hotel north of Waterfront Park is expected to open in the fall. Ben Navarro's Beemok Hospitality Collection will add to its luxury downtown holdings later this year when its newly built full-service hotel finally opens along Charleston Harbor.
The Cooper has been in the works since 2017, when L.A.-based Lowe bought the former State Ports Authority building next to Waterfront Park for $38 million.
Demolition and construction began in early 2020, with plans for a 2022 opening. But the project was set back by foundation issues that shut down work for months. Beemok acquired a majority stake in late 2021 and proceeded to make major changes designed to elevate the 209-room property to “five-star" status, adding to the delays.
Over the past year, the guest rooms went from being stripped down to the studs to nearly all of them ready for finishing touches and furnishings. The Cooper is now on the verge of announcing an executive chef and details about its multiple restaurant concepts. It's envisioned as a "younger, cooler sister" to The Charleston Place, which is Beemok's flagship property.
The new sibling is now aiming for an October check-in date rather than in the spring. The long-delayed mixed-use Magnolia redevelopment project is now Magnolia Landing. After two decades of fits and starts, the $2 billion Magnolia redevelopment on the upper peninsula is expected to break ground early this year.
And the nearly 200-acre project is coming into 2025 with an extended name — Magnolia Landing — based on its location along the Ashley River, said Clark Davis, CEO of Highland Resources, which stepped in as the developer around 2017. The Houston firm's long-term plan calls for up to 4,080 multifamily housing units, 1.2 million square feet of commercial space and 1,040 hotel rooms, with about 25 acres set aside for parks.
Decades ago, the tract near the King Street Extension and Milford Street housed businesses that left a toxic mix of contaminants in the soil. A North Carolina firm set out in 2002 to take on what was envisioned as the largest reuse of polluted land in South Carolina, but the effort collapsed into bankruptcy in 2016. Highland took over from there and has been working toward a groundbreaking ever since, except for a brief pandemic hiatus.
Startup carrier BermudAir will launch a once-weekly year-round nonstop flight between Charleston and Bermuda in April. Pink-sand beaches will be a hop, skip and a jump away this spring when a startup carrier connects the Lowcountry and Bermuda. The year-round Saturday-only service between Charleston International and the airport in the historic St.
George's takes off April 19 courtesy of BermudAir, which describes itself as the island's "boutique airline." The nonstop flight on 170-seat Embraer jets will take just over two hours. "Historically, people have looked at Bermuda as a summer destination and we want to change that," BermudAir CEO Adam D.
Scott said..
