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Daniel
Island experiences surge in home sales
BY
JIM PARKER
Of
The Post and Courier Staff
A
struggling economy and the war with Iraq didn't faze the residential business on
Daniel Island: Home sales more than tripled by dollar volume in the first
quarter from a year ago.
The
4,000-acre community's sizzling start to 2003 comes after sales jumped 60
percent last year to $100 million. The typically slow month of December proved
to be the best month in 2002, with $11.8 million in sales.
The home
surge continued into the new year as sales hit $50.7 million in January through
March, compared with $13.7 million in the same period a year earlier, according
to developer The Daniel Island Co.
Surrounded by rivers and Charleston Harbor, Daniel Island has more than 2,500
residents and 50 businesses. The Berkeley County community, which is within the
Charleston city limits, expects eventually to have 6,000 homes, town homes and
apartment units. The first home was built in 1996.
First
quarter figures included the lightning-quick sale of 49 home sites at the
Ralston Point neighborhood. The lots, in the Daniel Island Park country club
section, have views of the Wando River, creeks and marshes. With prices from
$100,000 to $700,000, the sites sold in a few days.
"In
addition to drawing new residents from as far away as California, a number of
owners have become so enthusiastic about living in Daniel Island they are
further investing in this community by buying additional properties," said Matt
Sloan, chief operating officer of The Daniel Island Co.
A number
of Ralston Point buyers already have submitted plans to the island's
architectural review board.
The home
sales surge is not the only bit of news on Daniel Island, host of the Family
Circle Tennis Cup last month. Berkeley County schools said the district plans to
build a $20 million elementary and middle school on Daniel Island by fall 2005.
The private Bishop England High School moved to Daniel Island in 1998.
The
planned community has expanded its commercial district as of late. It now
includes a supermarket, bank, gas station, medical center office buildings,
boutiques and restaurants. The island has parks and swimming pools and is home
to Blackbaud Stadium for soccer, a Tom Fazio-designed private golf club and a
second private course being designed by Rees Jones.
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