Mount Pleasant Magazine Sept/Oct 2016

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Ben GramlinG built his
reputation in the Lowcountry
on the residential side of the real
estate business, developing one
of the largest and fastest-growing
master-planned communities
in the state. In the past eight
years, however, Gramling Brothers Real Estate &
Development has moved boldly into commercial
development, especially in Mount Pleasant.
The company, originally based in the Upstate,
has purchased four tracts of land along Coleman
Boulevard. Construction on buildings that will
house restaurants and office space is well underway
on two of them.
A three-story building is scheduled to be
completed by the end of this year where Coleman
Boulevard and Lansing and Broadway streets
intersect. Further east, at the site of the former
Fonduely Yours restaurant, construction on a two-
story, 12,000-square-foot building is moving along
on schedule.
Gramling Brothers also owns the location of the
now-defunct Boulevard Diner and the properties
behind and beside it, as well as the Peach Orchard
Plaza, a shopping center bounded on the east by the
other end of Broadway, which forms a semi-circle
that touches Coleman in two places.
Gramling, a third-generation builder and developer,
is well aware of the controversy that surrounds Mount
Pleasant’s off-the-charts growth, and he said he intends to
remain above the fray. He’s not taking sides.
“Building is a very delicate process,” he commented.
“We want to maintain the character of the town. Our goal
is to do the right thing.”
Mikell Harper, vice president of business development
for Gramling Brothers, explained why the company
decided to play a key role in the development of Coleman
Boulevard.
“It’s the heart of the town,” Harper said. “When people
come to visit Mount Pleasant, they come to Shem Creek,
which is ground zero for it all. Businesses want to be there
and people want to live there.”
The building at Lansing, Broadway and Coleman, across
the street from Metto Coffee & Tea, will be the new home
of The Kickin’ Chicken restaurant and will serve as the
headquarters of Ameris Bank. Gramling said the third floor
of the 30,000-square-foot building has not yet been rented.
The developer also owns the land behind the building,
which will be 50 feet tall, five feet more than the current
In the past eight years, Ben Gramling has moved boldly into commercial
development, especially along Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant.
maximum at most places on Coleman. When Gramling
Brothers bought the property, the limit was 55 feet.
Despite the unexpected zoning change, Gramling
Brothers is satisfied that the property will turn out to be a
good investment. A traffic light already in place will provide
easy access for tenants and customers of the restaurant.
“It’s a good corner. When we bought it, there were plans
for landscaped medians in the center of the road, so there
was a premium on signalized intersections. We had a hunch
this would be a valuable property,” Harper said.
The Granary, a restaurant currently located in
the Belle Hall Shopping Center, will be moving to
the building that once was home to Fonduely Yours.
Gramling said Dunes Properties and Hibbits Insurance
also are renting space there.
Harper said there are no firm plans yet for the Boulevard
Diner property, which includes an office building and
Automotive Excellence, a business that has been in that
location since 2001. He pointed out that one of Gramling’s
partners, Roberts Perry Miller (RPM), The Kickin’
Chicken’s parent company, has moved into the office
building behind the former restaurant, and that the auto
Photo courtesy of Gramling Brothers Real Estate & Development.
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