Town of Summerville Planning Area - BCD Council of Governments

ecome magnets for shoppers from Berkeley and Dorchester counties, as well as counties to the west of themetro Charleston region along Interstates 26 and 95. This is also indicated in the Retail Market Study, whichfound that after Summerville residents, the next largest contingent of shoppers in Summerville (25% of allshoppers) come into the area from nearby communities such as Goose Creek and the area commonly knownas Ladson.As of mid‐2010, there was approximately 2.6 million square feet of retail space available in the Summervillearea, including the Summerville Planning Area, according to the Charleston Regional Development Alliance.Of this amount, approximately 247,683 square feet or 9.3 percent of the total retail space in theSummerville area was vacant, as shown in Table ED7. These areas are also indicated as Commercial Districtsor as Commercial Activity Centers in the Future Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan.Most of this space is comprised of what is defined by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) asneighborhood or community centers. Neighborhood centers are described as convenience‐orientedshopping centers, while community centers are those that specialize in the selling convenience items, yetalso providing a wider range of apparel and soft goods than neighborhood centers. In addition, there aretwo shopping centers in Summerville (North Main Center and Azalea Square) that can be defined by ICSC as“power centers.” According to the ICSC, power centers consist of “Category‐dominant anchors, includingdiscount department stores, off‐price stores, (and) wholesale clubs, with only a few small tenants”. A listingof existing large retail centers (greater than 30,000 square feet in size) is included as Table ED8, and thelocation of the centers is shown on Town of Summerville Large Retail Complexes – Map # 14.Table ED7: Retail Market Snapshot, Second Quarter 2010,Charleston MSAVacantUnder ConstructionBy Submarket Total Square Feet% VacantSquare FeetSquare FeetDowntown Charleston 473,652 27,791 5.90% ‐‐East Cooper 3,368,570 294,147 8.70% 60,500Goose Creek 931,333 49,320 5.30% ‐‐Moncks Corner 419,614 ‐‐ ‐‐ ‐‐North Charleston 5,790,650 752,292 13.00% 42,437Summerville 2,674,888 247,683 9.30% ‐‐West Ashley 4,447,920 341,085 7.70% ‐‐West Islands 1,293,796 205,226 15.90% ‐‐Total MSA 19,400,423 1,917,544 9.90% 102,937Source: Charleston Regional Development AllianceEconomic Development Element Page 12