Forecast: Retail, restaurant boom for Orangeburg

Bruner provided a quick overview of some of the projects going on in the county, though he said the projects need to remain confidential until finalized.

An example, he says is the land clearing on North Road near Walmart. The project, which is called Magnolia Village, could see site preparation for building to begin “any day.”

“We do have a letter of intent from a national franchise business,” Bruner said. “If we can get that one started, we will probably have about five or six others to follow.”

Bruner also said the former Ryan’s restaurant on North Road “has a major national retail franchise” that will be locating. The restaurant closed in March 2016.

“You will hear some really good and exciting announcements upcoming in the next several months,” he said.

In addition, he said there are “several deals in various stages of due diligence” on U.S. 601 north. Bruner said there could be four or five projects on that stretch of road that have a good possibility of closing and moving forward.

Bruner said the last 30 days’ calls about the newly expanded U.S. 301 and I-95 interchange have “tripled” from hotels and restaurants.

And closer to Orangeburg, he says 886 John C. Calhoun Drive will be getting A Town Wings in the former KFC restaurant in about a month or month-and-a-half. This comes on top of the new Dollar Tree and KFC already on U.S. 301.

He said another franchise restaurant may locate on John C. Calhoun as well.

“We are waiting on site approval right now,” Bruner said, noting an announcement may be coming in a month.

He also reminded those gathered of the new Cicis on Chestnut Street.

“There is a lot of other activity out there,” Bruner said. “I think you will see a difference in Orangeburg, especially in the next two or five years.”

“One of the things I hear and everybody hears is that there is nothing going on in Orangeburg,” Orangeburg County Community Planning Director Richard Hall said. “We see what is on the ground every day and we are on the ground behind the scenes working. We know what is going on.”

Hall said since the beginning of the year there have been 32 new single–family residences permitted  for a value of $4.6 million.

“This is an uptick in growth of what we have seen over the past few years,” he said. “We are finally getting the calls about developments, we are getting calls about unfinished subdivisions and people looking at buying lots and finishing it out. These are good things to see.”

Hall said more people are also building accessories onto their houses over $500,000 in projects since Jan. 1.

“To me this is an indicator of money,” he said. “We are seeing those types of projects picking up.”

Hall said commercial projects include an upgrade to Eutawville and Rowesville town halls.

He said a new medical office building is going up on Cook Road near the Regional Medical Center, the Town of Holly Hill is adding to its ballpark and a car wash is going up on St. Matthews Road in Orangeburg.

Hall also said the Love’s Truck stop by Interstate 26 on U.S. 301 is adding a tire shop addition for about $200,000.

He said a new sporting goods store is going up on Bamberg Highway at the S.C. Highway 4 fork.

He says there is a $1.2 million project that would add about 40 new parking spaces at the Orangeburg County Courthouse on Amelia Street. It will be complete in about four months.

In addition, Hall said there are new hotels going up by Interstate 26. He said a $5.5 million Tru Hotel by Hilton is locating on Citadel Road and a new $7 million Fairfield Inn and Suites is going up on Highway 6 in Santee.

Hall also pointed out the Lidl supermarket for $7 million is under construction on North Road.

City officials also updated attendees about the $17 million sports complex project. The public and private-funded complex will be built behind the upper Orangeburg Preparatory Schools campus. It  includes two clusters of nine baseball and softball fields, restrooms, concession stands, press boxes and meeting rooms.

It will have walking and biking trails, picnic tables, playground equipment, open green space, as well as about 600 parking spaces. Construction is expected to start on the project in September 2017 with the opening of the complex in September 2018.

The One Orangeburg grassroots team meets as part of the initiative, which has the goal of making the county a better place to live, work and play.

In addition to focusing on enhancing retail, housing and commercial development, the initiative is also focused on improving gateways into the county, improving marketing and branding efforts, and improving education.