The Dockside tower has been empty for a year and a half. Now it is for sale, and the people selling it are not being coy about what comes next.
JLL has the listing for the 3.31-acre Concord Street site, which includes the 18-story condominium tower and 21 townhomes. Lee Allen, a vice chairman at the firm, told the Post & Courier the consensus is "unanimous" that the tower and the two-story townhomes come down.
"We would anticipate that a purchaser would do the demolition themselves and work with the city on the future plans for the property," he said.
How it got here
On February 26, 2025, residents were given 48 hours to leave with whatever they could carry, following a city-ordered closure. An engineering analysis had found that the concrete slabs holding up the main tower could not carry the combined weight of the building, its furnishings and the people inside it.
Owners voted down a $150 million repair. The Dockside Association filed for bankruptcy in December to move a sale along faster, saying its "priority remains to secure the best possible outcome for all 100+ owners, many of whom are already facing significant financial hardship."
Other than squatters discovered in the building in July, it has sat empty since.
The number
Dockside's lawyers expect the property to fetch between $35 million and $50 million, according to a liquidation plan filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court on July 28. An auction is anticipated for the first quarter of 2027, with the sale finalized by midyear. Net proceeds go to the owners after closing.
There is also a $54 million fight running in federal court, where Dockside is suing three of its insurance carriers over claims the companies have disputed. The liquidation plan says the outcome and the "amount and timing of any recovery remain uncertain."
Why anyone wants it
Because there is almost nothing else like it. The site sits between the South Carolina Aquarium and the International African American Museum, with nearly 300 feet of Cooper River frontage and its own pier. Hunter Barron, a capital markets managing director at JLL, called the property "extremely rare" and among the "most compelling" redevelopment opportunities in Charleston.
It is zoned general business, sits within two Old City height districts, and carries established entitlements a buyer could build on. The listing goes further, saying Mayor William Cogswell's "commitment to evaluating reasonable adjustments with a future developer opens a clear pathway to denser redevelopment than current entitlements alone would permit."
Translated: more than what is on the books today.
What happens next
Allen expects first-round offers by late September, though no firm call for proposals has been established. Much of the sales process runs under bankruptcy court supervision. The commission to JLL and any outside brokers is capped at 2 percent of the purchase price.
A Florida investor who owns a unit in the building offered a $30 million "stalking horse" bid last September. That was the floor. Now the market gets to answer.
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