Commercial real estate brokers in Georgetown, SC

GEORGETOWN — An Australian firm plans to purchase Georgetown’s downtown steel mill, potentially preserving one of the coastal city’s longtime factories and dozens of jobs.

InfraBuild, which is run by the parent company of the mill’s current owner, announced May 29 that the company had closed on a $350 million loan to buy GFG Alliance’s American-based steel industry assets, which includes Liberty Steel USA’s plant. No date was released on when the sale could be completed.

James Sanderson, president of United Steelworkers Local 7898, said that after speaking with the potential new owners that the mill, a mainstay of Front and South Fraser streets for over half a century, is in Georgetown to stay.

“We’re just very excited about this transition,” Sanderson said.

InfraBuild did not respond to a request for comment May 31. GFG Alliance declined to comment.

Georgetown’s economy relied heavily on the lumber industry in the early 20th century before the arrival of International Paper’s plant in 1936. Georgetown Steel helped further diversify the community’s industrial base in the late 1960s, but the mill cycled through various owners and changes in the industry that reduced its workforce before it was purchased by Liberty Steel in 2017.

The plant that makes steel wire used in tires and bridge cables closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic but started operating again in January 2022 with about 65 workers, well below the hundreds of employees that made the plant one of the city’s largest employers.

The reopening, however, was challenged under a city ordinance that would rezone the plant site if operations ceased for a year. The mill is near Georgetown’s main business district and the 50-acre plant site is considered a prime spot for tourism development. But Liberty and its supporters defeated rezoning efforts.

The mill’s owner recently announced a workforce expansion of more than 50 percent.

Sanderson said he has met with InfraBuild in the past, but he had not spoken with the company’s interim CEO, Dak Patel, since the May 29 announcement. Sanderson said he’s confident company representatives will visit the city and mill soon.

“They will be looking at it and examining and looking at all the capital improvements that could be done at our facility here in Georgetown,” Sanderson said.

Patel said in a May 29 statement that the new financing will allow Infrabuild “to continue to grow our business and service a customer base which spans the infrastructure, commercial and residential construction, agriculture and mining markets.”

InfraBuild’s presence in the United States consists of a pair of recycling sites in LaPlace, La., and Tampa, Fla.

Other GFG-owned businesses that could be involved in the acquisition are manufacturer Keystone Consolidated Industries and Pennsylvania-based Johnstown Wire Technologies.

Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that the company buying the Georgetown steel mill is run by the parent company of the mill’s current owner.

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — Using the backdrop of a customer and worker appreciation day, Liberty Steel USA officials announced plans to expand operations at the Liberty Georgetown Steel Mill.

The announcements come roughly a year after the city leadership issued an order for the mill to close claiming executives let the mill remain shuttered for too long during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mill and city manager had worked out an agreement that the mill could remain in a shuttered, but maintenance-focused capacity until February 2022.

When that deadline was reached and mill workers returned as did production, the outgoing city zoning administrator declared that the mill violated a local ordinance and should lose its special zoning status grandfathering it into the area where the city has made an effort to reduce heavy industrial activity in favor of more tourist-focused business.

In the summer, the Georgetown Board of Zoning Appeals decided the mill was justified to remain open citing that agreement between executives and the city administrator.

Friday, the city's mayor among other public officials joined mill and union leadership.

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"We have a very good relationship with the executives of the steel mill at this point," said Mayor Carol Jayroe. "Currently Liberty Steel and the city are partnering to beautify the perimeter along South Fraser Street. We are looking forward to working with Liberty on this project."

Mill executives say the landscaping and the efforts to expand are part of a broader plan to show the mill is trying to be a good steward of the community given its roughly 50-year history being a symbol of Georgetown.

"We want our colleagues to have pride in the place they work when they come in," said Executive VP of US Operations Axel Ampolini. "We want this steel mill to be an asset to this community."

Ampolini says the business has slowed some given the economic headwinds consumers face with inflated prices on construction and automotive products. Those are the main industries for the mill's wire rod supply sources. He however says the mill is turning a profit even with its smaller output compared to larger operations like the Peoria, Illinois sister plant. Friday, he announced that they plan to increase production from 120,000 tons of wire rods to 300,000 tons.

"We're going to be expanding from one shift to two shifts so that we can work around the clock," Ampolini said. "We will reach triple digits with this expansion that we are announcing today we will be right around 100 folks."

It's welcomed news for union workers and union leaders who have told ABC 15 News that the contract between the united steelworkers and Liberty Steel calls for roughly 125 full-time workers at the Georgetown Mill by 2025. This expansion and the addition of downstream integration, meaning Liberty will buy its own product from the mill for separate operations, will bring the mill's labor force closer to that threshold.

"Up to 40 additional employees will be coming up here to our plant site and I think that's going to be a win-win situation for everybody involved," said Georgetown branch president James Sanderson with the United Steelworkers.

A spokesperson for Liberty Steel USA says the work to hire new plant workers and staff for the integration will begin in the coming months with a goal to have the expansion efforts complete by the end of the year.

"This is a great day in Georgetown," Sanderson said. "There's no doubt in my mind that I think everybody needs to come together, work together, and start looking out for the best interests of Georgetown and I do believe that we are on the right path now."

According to a report from the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, in the early morning of April 12, his car was involved in a high-speed chase.

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Family, friends and law enforcement officials continue their search for a missing Georgetown County man.

Daniel Altman was last seen on April 11.

According to a report from the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office, in the early morning of April 12, his car was involved in a high-speed chase.

After running the car’s plates to confirm the car was stolen, deputies attempted a traffic stop but the driver did not pull over, according to the report. A pursuit then took place, reaching speeds of 115 mph.

The report states the chase ended when the driver pulled into the backyard of a private residence.

The passenger of the car, Javon Chattine, fled from the car, running into the woods, according to the report. He was caught and placed under arrest.

The driver of the car, Serenity Jackson, did not flee and was transported to Georgetown County Detention Center and was charged with a DUI along with other charges.

Daniel was not in the car and is still missing, and deputies said they have not determined how the suspects in the chase got ahold of Daniel’s car.

Daniel’s sister, Caroline Altman, said right now the family is in fight-or-flight mode. She said their main focus is finding Daniel.

“We just want someone that knows something to say something,” Caroline said.

Caroline said Daniel is the type of person that would go out of his way to help anyone else. She said if you needed help with anything, you could call Daniel and he will be there.

“Daniel wouldn’t quit on me, and he wouldn’t quit on any of his friends, so we aren’t going to quit on him,” Caroline said.

Now, Daniel’s family and his friends want answers.

Caroline said finding out Daniel’s car was involved in a high-speed chase was very concerning for their family because they have no connection to the suspects in the case.

She said Daniel worked hard for that car- saving money from a young age.

“Daniel would not willingly give someone his car,” Caroline said.

Daniel works at Texas Roadhouse and would get off late at night. She said on the night of April 10, he said he was headed to Kingstree to meet a woman.

But she said she doesn’t know anyone in Kingstree, and that Daniel did not normally hang out there or have friends in that area.

“We know that Daniel wouldn’t run away. He has a house, a job, a car, a job. He wouldn’t just leave all these things behind and not say anything to us or his friends,” Caroline said.

She said she has no idea where her little brother is and would give anything to hear him call her ‘sissy’ again.

“It’s just heartbreaking to think that I may never hear him say that again,” Caroline said.

Anyone who knows anything is asked to call the Georgetown County Sheriff’s office at 843-546-5102.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

GEORGETOWN — A group of Georgetown property owners filed a lawsuit against the city on June 1 that accuses current and former officials of pursuing a gentrification campaign to force poor residents out of the West End neighborhood.

The lawsuit alleges city officials enacted “several overreaching ordinances” and made decisions based on “ordinances that do not exist or are enforced in an overreaching and offensive manner.”

The plaintiffs contend the city’s intent is to remake the demographics of the historically Black West End community.

“The City of Georgetown began a Gentrification of the West End of the City of Georgetown in the early 2000’s,” the lawsuit states. “As a result of that gentrification, many of the residents in the West End of the City were denied property rights, had their property destroyed and were subjected to deprivation of their constitutional rights under the Constitution of the United States and South Carolina.”

The city’s West End “used to be integrated,” the lawsuit states, adding that the city intends for “wealthier residents (to) take over and expel the poor people of color.”

The plaintiffs in the case are Tony Vanderhorst, Evelyn McCray and Willie Singleton. Each is described in court records as a Georgetown County resident who owns land within the city limits.

“The Plaintiff, Singleton specifically, has spoken out against the City for its violations of his rights and the rights of others in the City [as it] moves forward with retaliation for exercising his right to free speech,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. McCray and Mr. Vanderhorst have had their property rights interfered with by the City through its City Council and the Building Officials.”

The lawsuit names 15 defendants: the city of Georgetown, former Mayor Brendon Barber and incumbent Mayor Carol Jayroe, all six members of the Georgetown City Council, former Georgetown City Council members Tupelo Humes and Al Joseph, City Administrator Sandra Yúdice, interim City Director of Planning and Community Development Robert Cox, former City Zoning and Building Administrator Rick Martin and building official Ryan Call.

The lawsuit states that Vanderhorst, in attempting to relocate a mobile home from North Charleston to Winyah Street in Georgetown in 2022, was confronted by “issues created by the City in order to gentrify the West End and harm the owners of the property to eliminate their ability to use their property in violation of the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of South Carolina.”

The lawsuit alleges that Call required Vanderhorst to provide unnecessary information after issuing a stop work order that was “unwarranted.”

McCray alleged in the lawsuit that a requirement by Call that she obtain an engineer’s report for the floor of a kitchen trailer cost her “several thousand dollars” despite not being required by law.

″(T)he City’s intent is to eliminate all trailers on the West End in their gentrification scheme to improve the city and eliminate the poor community,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit further alleges that Cox has allowed Call to work as a building official without proper licensing and that Cox holds a conflict of interest by working as a city official and a “commercial consultant pulling building permits under his company.”

Singleton filed a complaint with the S.C. Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation in February that accused Cox of lending his license to Call, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit deems Call’s actions similar to those of Martin, who allegedly “interfered with the rights of the Plaintiffs” until he permanently surrendered his license to work as a building official in South Carolina in November 2022. Martin surrendered his license in lieu of a disciplinary hearing after a complaint of “professional misconduct” was made against him to the S.C. Building Codes Council.

Georgetown City Public Information Officer Cindy Thompson said the city had not been served as of the early afternoon of June 6 and therefore had not been able to review the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages in the lawsuit, as well as attorney fees and for the defendants to “cease and desist their harassment and deprivation of rights.”

GEORGETOWN, S.C. (WCBD) – Georgetown unveiled Thursday a permanent educational display that allows people to learn more about America’s founding documents.

A dedication ceremony was held at the Charters of Freedom site in Rainey Park. The display includes full-scale, permanent replicas of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

Vance Patterson and his wife started Foundation Forward, an organization that helps install these displays nationwide, after visiting the National Archives in Washington, D.C. back in 2011.

“That’s a display of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. In addition to that, we added the Civil Rights Amendment,” he said.

A canon was fired off in commemoration of each article of the Constitution.

The display in Georgetown is the 45^th Charters of Freedom documents, but this is the first with the Civil Rights Amendments on display.

“I’ve never been to Washington to actually see these documents, and to just see the Civil Rights amendment that was responsible for the rights that I have, and that we have as a people, it’s just very emotional for me,” said Harold Jean Brown-Williams, who was moved by the display.

Brown-Williams and her good friend Steve Williams really enjoyed seeing the display, and their rights written out.

“My right to vote. My right to be here in Joseph Rainey Park … and people don’t understand the importance of Joseph Rainey. My right to be among people who don’t look like me and I’m not in the background. I’m not in the house, I’m not upstairs in the attic, I’m not in the field.”

As a matter of fact, she’s not in the back, but she sat in the front row during the ceremony, and not by coincidence.

“I’m also the first Black to graduate from Winyah High School back in 1968. And for me sitting in the back was over when my parents made me go to Winyah in 1966. So, I’m always present. I’m always upfront. Because that’s what leaders do. We are upfront,” she said.

A list of everyone who was in attendance at Thursday’s dedication is being put into a time capsule that will be opened on September 17, 2087. That’s the 300th anniversary of the Constitution.