By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Two controversial construction projects in downtown Beaufort have been put on hold indefinitely by the developer 303 Associates.
According to Dick Stewart, chairman and founder of 303 Associates, construction on the 70-room hotel and parking garage that were intended to be built in the downtown area have been paused due to years of litigation.
“The lawsuits that were filed by Graham Trask and [Historic Beaufort Foundation] (HBF) have put a cloud over the permits related to these projects and made it impossible for us to finance them at the rates that we had committed,” said Stewart. “That exposed us to an increase in interest costs and a significant increase in construction costs.”
Stewart said that is why they have filed the lawsuits against Beaufort developer Graham Trask and his father George Trask.
The lawsuit filed in July 2023 is still in the discovery phase, but Stewart hopes to take it to trial sooner than later.
Stewart said that they have spent a large amount of money on development and infrastructure to perfect the permits, but now they are waiting on the financing to come “full circle” before moving forward.
“From the hotel’s standpoint, that’s easier than it is on the parking garage, so we hope that will happen in the foreseeable, not too far out future,” said Stewart.
With the parking structure, the prognosis is not as optimistic.
“If we build the hotel before the parking structure, we will be using that space for our existing business opportunities for the hotel,” Stewart said. “But then we are not going to shut the hotel down so we can come back in and build the parking garage because we would have to shut the hotel down for around 14 months.”
Because of this, Stewart said that it is unlikely in the current environment that the parking structure will be built in downtown Beaufort, but he still believes that the lack of parking in downtown Beaufort is a big issue that needs to be addressed.
“We don’t see the parking [structure] being built on our property and would like to ask folks where they would like the parking structure to be?” said Stewart.
The property where the four-story parking garage was permitted to be built – in the 900 block of Craven Street – is currently being used for downtown parking and Stewart says they plan to clean up the property slated for the almost 62,000-square-foot hotel will be used for parking as well until they are ready to build on it.
“I don’t know what is going to happen with downtown parking. We tried to help and engaged everybody in probably 20 meetings over 10 years or so, and we had forums downtown,” Stewart said. “Everybody came to the conclusion that this is the right thing until Graham [Trask] and Cynthia [Jenkins] decided they wanted to get involved and tried to stop it for their own agenda.”
Trask, using his business entities Mix Farms LLC and West Street Farms LLC, filed the first lawsuit against 303 Associates and the City of Beaufort in April 2021.
The suit alleged that the approval of the parking garage and hotel by the City of Beaufort was illegal and violated Beaufort Code.
He wanted to see the project be reviewed by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
In June 2023, Judge R. Scott Sprouse denied that request and then Trask appealed.
Trask filed a second suit, through his businesses, to appeal the approval of the project and this time the HBF was included in the appeal.
This second appeal was denied by Judge Bentley Price in the Court of Common Pleas on Jan. 6, 2023.
This ruling has been appealed as well.
When contacted about the decision to indefinitely pause construction on the two structures downtown, Trask said that because Stewart and 303 Associates have their permits to build, they have always been able to go forward but have now chosen not to due to “macro economic events.”
“Do I think that this is good for Beaufort? I do think it’s good for Beaufort,” Trask told The Island News. “I hope that should he ever decide to move forward that he will get his plans approved under the Beaufort code, because as of right now they are not.”
Trask said that if Stewart would just get his plans approved under Beaufort Code according to the law that he would be fine with them building.
“He clearly wants to blame me for him not moving forward, and so he is trying to present himself as a victim,” Trask said. “But my rationale in being forced to resort to the courts is to hold the city accountable and make them abide by their own laws.”
Historic Beaufort Foundation Executive Director Cynthia Jenkins said that she is not surprised in the decision to pause construction as construction costs are generally up.
Jenkins said that all of the involved parties have had litigation costs.
As for parking, Jenkins agrees with Trask that a parking structure in downtown is not the answer and instead has suggested shuttles from a more remote parking location as a suggestion.
“We don’t have as much of a parking problem as some say unless there is a festival or event,” Jenkins said.
Despite pumping the breaks on the hotel and parking structure, a 19-unit apartment complex is planned for the 200 block of Charles Street.
Correction: A previous version of the story misquoted Graham Trask. When contacted about the decision to indefinitely pause construction on the two structures downtown, Trask said that because Stewart and 303 Associates have their permits to build, they have always been able to go forward but have now chosen not to due to “macro economic events.”
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
