Reverie on the Ashley in the News

"River Views-Condos on Ashley to feature natural vistas"
By Nadine Parks
The Post and Courier

Reverie on the Ashley LLC is banking on the natural environment along the Ashley River in North Charleston to be a major selling point for a luxury, marshfront condominium community off Leeds Avenue.  Residents there will pay as much as $850,000 for a fourth-floor home overlooking the water.

The 88-home development is under construction and set to open by next summer. A fraction of the 32-acre site, which is on a natural peninsula along one of the widest stretches of the Ashley River, will be developed.
Twenty acres are protected tidal marsh, and the remaining 12 could have been developed with as many as 176 condominiums.  But the development company chose to build on 4 acres and cut the number of units in half.
What is left, said development company spokeswoman Ashley Bedford, is a spectacular view of classic Lowcountry scenery; grand life oak trees, wetlands, pluff mud, wading birds and Spanish moss swaying in the wind.
"The higher you get, obviously, the more (the view) clears out.  You look across 600 feet of marshland and then a half-mile of river,” Bedford said. “It’s a very beautiful stretch of the Ashley River."

During construction, indigenous trees and vegetation will remain untouched to the greatest extent possible, Bedford said.

Although developers likely will make less money by building fewer condominiums, the company hopes to lead the way in this forward-thinking trend, said Ben Gramling III, one of the lead developers in the Reverie on the Ashley partnership.

"It was a conscious and deliberate effort to built a private community in a way that is comfortable and natural in the amazing place it occupies on the Ashley River," Gramling said. 

"By protecting this land and its ecosystem, we are preserving the environment heritage of this place for generations to come.  That preservation is good for the environment and good for sales, because the surroundings become a unique selling point, setting Reverie apart."

Reverie on the Ashley also has involved itself in other preservation activities in North Charleston.
Last week, the company dedicated the largest live oak tree on the property to Charleston Habitat for Humanity.  After officially measuring the circumference of the tree’s trunk at 150 inches, it made a $10,000 contribution to the organization.

The money will help pay for land for construction next year of about 15 affordable homes for low-income families in North Charleston.  The company also plans to plant a young live oak tree in the yard of each of the homes.

"Anyone who works in housing in this community is very aware of trying to maintain the physical environment that we’re used to here, live oaks and waterfronts and stuff like that," said Habitat for Humanity Director Jeremy Browning.  "We love it when we get donations of landscaping. It let us finish the house in a really nice style and panache, instead of just an empty yard."

Reverie on the Ashley will have several amenities aimed at enhancing the environment and providing access for its residents. They include landscaping with plants that attract local wildlife, roof-top gardens and a 40-slip private dock with deep-water access on the river.

Wood ducks, red-winged blackbirds, osprey, kingfishers, herons, blue crabs, spottail bass, trout, turtles and terrapins are neighbors.

“This piece of property is a Jewel, an oasis in North Charleston,” Gramling said.