Johns Island retailing expands

The Johns Island Shopping Center at Maybank Highway and Main Road is expanding, with the new addition opening in March, the center's owner said Friday. Among the current tenants of the 58,000-square-foot center are a Piggly Wiggly supermarket, a Kerr Drug, a Family Dollar, a Curves gym, restaurants and a liquor store. The center has been there for more than a decade. The expansion will add another 12,000 square feet with room for about eight businesses, said owner Jody Tamsberg of Tamsberg Properties in Charleston. One tenant will be a Century 21 real estate office. Tamsberg declined to name other tenants until leases have been signed, but said they will be retail stores. The developer also may build another 10,000-square-foot building near the McDonald's restaurant on the site. He's in talks with a possible tenant for that addition. Tamsberg acquired the shopping center last March, with the intention of adding on. There's been a lot of business interest in the site, which sits at a heavily traveled intersection on Johns Island. "I think you'll see continued interest and growth in the area," Tamsberg said. That's the reason that Tim Rash, owner of Century 21 Properties Plus, decided to open a 5,000-square-foot office in the shopping center. It will be the company's fifth office in the Charleston area. "That whole (John's Island) area is growing so quickly," Rash said. "We wanted to be part of that growth." The area's population (including nearby Kiawah and Seabrook islands) jumped 18 percent during the 1990s. What's more, some 1 million visitors each year spend short-term stays at Kiawah and Seabrook. The shopping center is about 10 miles from Freshfields Village, a new, upscale retail and office center that's under construction at the entrance to Kiawah and Seabrook. The 175,000-square-foot complex is set to open in mid-February. It will be anchored by Newton Farms, a gourmet grocery store being built by Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co. Tamsberg said the merchants at Johns Island Shopping Center feel there's enough business for both retail centers.

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