$4.475 Million for a Condo That Doesn't Exist

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Somebody just agreed to pay $4.475 million for a Charleston condo that does not exist. No walls, no floor, no ground broken. They had not even seen it.

The address is 280 Meeting St., currently the home of Theatre 99 and, until last month, The Bicycle Shoppe. It is becoming five luxury condos and two townhomes.

The buyer is Jonathan Pannoni of New Vintage Capital, out of Delaware. He paid $6.7 million for the property on July 7, after it sat on the market close to a year.

Seven units, 2,439 to 3,963 square feet, priced from $3.1 million to $4.995 million. The one under contract is a third-floor two-bedroom with a den, listed at $4.475 million. That works out to $1,621 a square foot.

"We think there is a supply and demand imbalance in the market for luxury condos that offer a more robust amenity package while also offering a high level of privacy," Pannoni told the Post & Courier.

How this project survived

It almost did not. In summer 2025 the previous owner, W.E. Applegate III, asked the city for permission to demolish the main building. It was fully leased at the time. Tenants said they found out from the news.

The pushback worked. A year later, with Pannoni in the seat, the Board of Architectural Review signed off on redeveloping the site instead of flattening it. The main building stays and gets a third story on the front. Only the rear warehouse comes down.

Pannoni is direct about the difference.

"Any opportunity we get to work with instead of against a historic building, we take it," he said. "We saw another developer had tried to come in and demolish this building. That's not our model. So we were really excited when the city and community put the stop on it and gave us the opportunity to step in."

What goes in

The old Bicycle Shoppe storefront, the 1950s brick section, becomes a fitness center and sauna. The rear gets a communal courtyard with a fireplace and a pool, residents only. Every unit gets private outdoor space and two parking spots. Ceilings average eleven feet with oversized windows, a nod to the building's run as an automotive service station and then a Miserendino Motors showroom.

Construction starts this fall. Delivery is spring 2028.

Listing agents Butler Derrick and Barry Kalinsky of Carriage Properties say the first buyer had been tracking the project and came to them before anything hit the market. They are now releasing two more units, one townhouse and one condo, and holding the rest.

"It's a really wonderful walkable spot in a new residential area of historic Meeting Street," Derrick said.

Kalinsky called new construction in the historic district a premium right now. "We're maintaining the architectural integrity of the building," he said. "Locals will still be able to see what was The Bicycle Shoppe."

The part worth noting

The Bicycle Shoppe closed Aug. 16. Theatre 99's last performance at 280 Meeting is Sept. 12.

Thirty years of improv in that room, and then eleven-foot ceilings at $1,621 a foot. Both things are true. Charleston keeps making that trade, and this is what it looks like up close.

Pannoni has done this before downtown: 363-369 King St., 158 Church St. where Sushi Bar Charleston and Bellerose sit, and 32 Cumberland St., home to Serena & Lily.

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