Around the Lowcountry

Local stories worth knowing.

Business spotlights, new openings, what is coming soon and guides to getting the most out of Greater Charleston.

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Around the LowcountryHusk Operator Takes Over the Ira Road Building That Frank and Jack's Never OpenedNeighborhood Dining Group, which runs Husk and Marbled & Fin, will manage a new restaurant at 1434 Ira Road in Mount Pleasant. The 4,600-square-foot building was developed for Frank & Jack's, which never opened. Blackbaud founder Tony Bakker's company bought it for $5 million, closing Sept. 8. Target opening is summer 2027 and the concept has not been disclosed.October 9, 2026 · 1 min read
Around the LowcountryCharleston's tourism plan rewrite: last public input session is ThursdayCharleston is updating its tourism management plan for the first time since 2015, the fourth revision since 1978, and the city's last open input session runs Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Charleston Civic Design Center. Residents who cannot attend can submit comments through an online survey until then. Director of Livability and Tourism Amy Southerland said the update is built around five pillars with data tracking as a priority, and gives more attention to West Ashley and Daniel Island.October 7, 2026 · 1 min readNew & NoteworthyMeta launches free AI assistant aimed at small businessesMeta announced Muse for Small Business on September 29, an AI agent owners can use to analyze sales, manage cash flow and inventory, draft communications and create marketing content. Axios reports it integrates with Shopify, Slack, Asana, Canva and other tools, is free for most uses, and has optional $20 and $100 monthly tiers as usage grows.October 1, 2026 · 1 min readAround the LowcountryPortable mortgage bill could unstick Charleston's housing marketA bill in Congress would let homeowners carry an existing conventional mortgage rate, term and balance to a new house if they close within 90 days of selling. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. introduced H.R. 10028 on August 3 and it is stalled in the House Financial Services Committee. Charleston listings have fallen from 2,612 homes in 2018 to 1,507 in August 2026.October 1, 2026 · 1 min readAround the Lowcountry495 King Street's rooftop gets a green lightCharleston's Board of Architectural Review voted unanimously on September 24 to approve a rebuilt rooftop at 495 King St., the longtime home of Stars Rooftop & Grill Room. New owner Andrew Baumgartner bought the 1948 building in March for $6.95 million, and architect Steve Ramos's plan adds a sloped standing-seam metal roof, a stage, restrooms and a new ground floor storefront.September 30, 2026 · 1 min readAround the LowcountryTwo North Charleston hotels change handsThe 93-room Staybridge Suites at 7329 Mazyck Dr. in North Charleston sold for $10 million to Mountain View Hotels LLC of Wytheville, Virginia, its first sale in more than 20 years. A North Charleston Hyatt Place also sold in August for $7.5 million as part of an $18 million three-hotel portfolio deal.September 30, 2026 · 1 min readAround the LowcountryMeta releases a free AI assistant aimed at small businessesOn September 29 Meta launched Muse for Small Business, an AI agent that connects to tools owners already use including QuickBooks, Shopify, Canva, Slack, Stripe and Meta's own Facebook and Instagram business tools. It can draft content, flag urgent email and analyze performance, and Meta says nothing publishes, sends or spends without the owner's approval.September 30, 2026 · 1 min readAround the LowcountryHuntington Bank opens first standalone Mount Pleasant branchHuntington Bank held a ribbon cutting on the morning of September 28 at 3149 N. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant, its first freestanding branch in the town. The branch has actually been serving customers since August 31. Trent Holland, regional president for the Carolinas, and Jennifer Schuchart, Charleston marketing president, attended.September 30, 2026 · 1 min readNew & NoteworthyNew Lowcountry Impact Fund puts $250,000 into the Harbor Entrepreneur CenterThe Lowcountry Impact Fund launched with an initial $250,000 investment in The Harbor Entrepreneur Center. The fund was created by co-founders Alex Opoulos and Pete Sniderman and is sponsored by Abundance Capital, a nonprofit donor advised fund sponsor. The money is structured as a repayable investment rather than a grant, so it returns to the fund and gets redeployed. The Harbor will use it to expand programming and affordable office space for the more than 130 companies it works with.September 29, 2026 · 1 min readAround the LowcountryHuntington Bank taking the old TGI Fridays space at Mount Pleasant Towne CentreHuntington Bank will open a full service branch at 1835 North Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant Towne Centre this fall, in the former TGI Fridays building. The branch includes a Wealth Hub for wealth management services. It will be Huntington's seventh full service branch in South Carolina and its fifth in the Lowcountry, following openings on King Street in 2025, Summerville in July 2026, North Mount Pleasant in August 2026 and West Ashley in September 2026.September 29, 2026 · 1 min readAround the LowcountryYou get four days to reject a stranger's edit to your Google Business ProfileGoogle updated its help documentation to spell out the window business owners have on user suggested edits. Once notified, an owner has four days to accept or reject the suggestion. If nobody responds in that window, Google may publish the edit automatically when other public information, such as the business website, supports it. Google may also apply some edits with no notification at all when they comply with its guidelines.September 28, 2026 · 1 min readAround the LowcountryCharleston Is the Number One New Construction Market in AmericaThe Charleston-North Charleston metro just took the top spot nationally, and for once the new houses are cheaper than the old ones.September 10, 2026 · 2 min read