Planners reject appeal of upscale vacation club
BY KYLE STOCK
City planners shot down the appeal of a vacation club last week, stomping on the toehold that a surging-but-suspect sector of the hospitality industry had made on the peninsula. A vacation - or “destination” - club is a strange concept. Members typically pay a few hundred thousand dollars up front, an additional $15,000 to $40,000 in annual dues, plus nightly fees equivalent to rates at a swanky hotel. In exchange they get the right to stay 30 to 50 nights a year in one of a number of lavish properties nationwide.
The clubs have flourished on Kiawah Island but have not made inroads to Charleston until this year, when one of the industry’s major players, a Colorado-based club called Private Escapes LLC, set its sights on the peninsula. In July it snapped up 47 Smith St. for $2.5 million and started touting the historic home to members.
The city realized what was going on when I wrote about the acquisition in early September, and they quickly fired off a letter to the company saying that it was in violation of the municipal code.
An appeal from a local attorney hired by Private Escapes crumbled Tuesday night in front of city planners. He argued that the club was still a “residential” use and that the city’s interpretation of the regulations amounted to an “unconstitutional taking” of the property.
“Whatever you call it, I think it’s a transient use,” said Leonard Krawcheck, chairman of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Private Escapes CEO Richard Keith has declined to comment on the legal wrestling beyond an e-mail exchange in late October in which he wrote, “Suffice to say that we would not have bought and closed on a very expensive residence if we, and our advisors, were not certain our use was permitted.”
Keith also said that the property was “stunning” and a big hit with his membership. A chunk of those hefty membership fees will no doubt be flowing to Keith’s attorney in the months ahead.
Not so fast
At the same meeting, planners put a damper on a 180-room hotel proposed on Meeting Street just downtown from the Piggly Wiggly.
The land - where Burris Liquor sits - is zoned for an accommodation, but every hotel built in Charleston needs city approval on traffic and housing issues. Traffic turned out to be the sticking point on the Meeting Street proposal by Tara Hospitality Corp., a Charlotte-based developer that owns two Upstate hotels and is building a third in Savannah.
The Historic Charleston Foundation and the Historic Preservation Society of Charleston said Tara’s traffic study was “highly flawed” because it considered only the few surrounding blocks. Although they lauded the proposed hotel, planners were concerned that cars swarming the property would back up in neighborhoods east of Meeting. Developers are drawing up plans that would put hundreds of other rooms nearby, another point that was not lost on the board.
“If we’re not careful, we’re heading into a situation where we’re trying to put 10 pounds in a 5-pound bag,” said Commissioner Russell Rosen.
Tara is charged with taking another look at its traffic models and talking with leadership in nearby neighborhoods before it goes back to the city. Krawcheck, however, noted that its proposal should not be penalized because of other possible hotel applications in the area. He said the board should consider Tara’s pitch as “a first-come, first-served sort of thing.”
If Charleston were Vegas, I’d bet on the hotel getting a green light. House flippers are probably doing just that in those neighborhoods nearby; and those folks will be betting on more traffic.
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