Future of former Hughes Lumber site up for debate after fire

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The future of what will be built in place of the former Hughes Lumber site is still up for consideration.

The property went up in flames on Mary Street downtown last week and the investigation is still ongoing, according to Charleston Fire officials.

The former Hughes Lumber site was zoned to mixed used/workforce housing back in 2015. Robert Summerfield, the director of planning, preservation and sustainability for the city of Charleston, says this means it would provide flexibility for more urban design opportunities, such as an eight-story building that was approved to go here in 2018.

“Things like pandemics will be one of those things that will shift market considerations and either slow down or potentially stop one development,” Summerfield said.

Summerfield says it’s sad to lose this landmark.

“Unfortunately, it did happen in the core building versus some of the parts of the building that had been added to that core building over the years,” Summerfield said.

Charleston Fire Department says there is no timeline of when will get an answer of the cause of the fire. The city says they have been in contact with different parties related to this incident.

“Unfortunately, just bad things sometimes happen,” Summerfield said. “And so, I think that was just part of the building that I think was more easily accessible. So, you know, if, depending on what the nature of the fire was, it’s not unprecedented for, unfortunately, a historic building that has some open access to have a situation where there’s an unfortunate situation like this fire.”

Mike Bennett, owner of Bennett Hospitality, says he is thankful no one was hurt in the fire, but they believe they’ll still be able to save the building.

“We expect there to be redevelopment of the site,” Summerfield said. “When and which set of plans we would be looking at at that time is still yet to be determined.”

Bennett says the property could end up being a small hotel, apartments or retail, but there’s no set plan or timeline right now.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.