A company formed by Stokes Automotive has purchased an undeveloped 8.17-acre property in West Ashley.
The property, which sold for $4 million according to Charleston County records, is at Savannah Highway and Bonanza Road, just past Ponderosa Drive.
The buyer is listed as 3rd Trust Real Estate Holdings, which listed its address listed as the Stokes Honda dealership on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston. The seller was M and M 1, which had taken ownership of the property held for decades by the Rhodes family.
The tract is off-the-beaten path from the main dealership cluster on Savannah Highway, about three miles away from Kia Country of Charleston at the tail end.
The property is near the recently built Hyundai and Genesis of Charleston dealerships at Ponderosa Drive and Marginal Road, next to Carpet Baggers flooring store.
The Post and Courier called numerous Stokes dealerships about the purchase, but no one was able to confirm what the plans are for the property.
Founded in 1960 in Beaufort, the family-owned Stokes Automotive operated dealerships throughout South Carolina and Georgia. Local retailers include Stokes Mazda, Stokes Honda North and Stokes Volkswagen in North Charleston.
Talk of the townhomes
Lennar has announced it’s building a new community that’s coming soon to Moncks Corner.
Cypress Preserve Townhomes will be developed at 101 Fairmount Pines Drive in the Cypress Preserve master-planned community off of Highway 52.
The Miami-based builder will offer two floorplans featuring 3 bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms and around 1,900 square feet. The starting price has not yet been made public.
Amenities include a swimming pool, playground and picnic area.
Cypress Preserve has three other collections actively for sale, all single-family options with prices ranging from $328,000 to $456,000.
In the Navy
A decorative flooring brand is joining the historic Navy Yard Charleston later this summer.
Hue & Dot by Mirth Studio, which currently operates on Johns Island, announced it will open its first showroom in a 1,400-square-foot space in Storehouse 8 within the Charleston Design District.
Mirth Studio was founded by decorative artist Sally Bennett in 2014. She previously spent her career designing murals, hand-painted-floors and faux-finishes for high-profile commercial spaces and nightclubs in New York City. Bennett followed with Hue & Dot as its couture counterpart.
“The Charleston Design District felt like the perfect home for our new showroom,” Bennett said in a statement. “The community here celebrates artistry and innovation in a way that aligns beautifully with our goals.”
The Charleston Design District, announced in 2025, is home to dozens of design businesses and artisan makers within Navy Yard Charleston that include The Urban Electric Co., Middleton Made Knives, Post Loyal Architecture, The Shade Store and more.
The district is a major component of the Navy Yard Charleston redevelopment. It’s led by Atlanta-based Jamestown alongside Charleston real estate developers Weaver Capital Partners and WECCO Development, of which Charleston Mayor William Cogswell serves as principal and his wife, Lucille Cogswell, is president.
Razing the roof
Demolition has begun on a former family-owned hardware store to make way for Hanahan’s first town center.
Part-time resident Chuck Woodward is leading the way on Blackwells Corner, a mixed-use real estate project that will blend a walkable mix of dining, retail, fitness studios, salons and office space across roughly 40,000 square feet.
The project is named after the Blackwells Hardware store that operated on the site for more than 75 years and closed in 2025.
Blackwells Corner will spread across six new buildings, with a seventh in the future, that will house retail space, restaurants, a gathering yard and small stage, a 2,000-square-foot covered patio for year-round dining and events, and a few residential units on the second floor of one building.
The first tenants of the future development were announced July 23 and include Untitled Pizza Co., a new mercato and wine bar from Cane Pazzo's Mark Bolchoz, Kudu Coffee & Wine and Pineapple House Boutique.
Groundbreaking is expected to begin in September.
Leasing opportunities are still available, including restaurant, retail and office space. The projected opening for Blackwells Corner is in the fall of 2027.