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The motion, which required a two-thirds vote of senators present, passed with a single vote to spare, 29-12.
It puts the bill -- which has divided local residents, public officials and special interest groups -- on "special order," meaning senators will consider it as soon as they finish debating a bill about unionization voting.
That could happen as soon as Tuesday, according to state Sen Tom Davis, R-Beaufort.
State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, a sponsor of the incentives bill, hailed Thursday's vote as providing "new life" to a measure that was otherwise "virtually dead" because of objections from Sens. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, and Davis
"We're one step closer to putting South Carolina back to work," Pinckney said.
Sembler officials say the incentives are critical to their plans to invest $400 million and create as many as 2,500 jobs while building a destination of more than 1.5 million square feet for national retailers and Italian and American designers.
Projects such as Sembler's Okatie Crossings would have to result in $200 million in investment and 1,250 jobs before they would be eligible for the incentives.
Company officials value the incentives at about $40 million. Others have estimated the breaks would be worth more than $130 million.
Competing developers are lobbying against the bill, arguing they built retail centers without public money and could lose tenants to Sembler.
Pinckney said he implored his colleagues before Thursday's vote to give the bill a hearing.
The retail incentives were once part of the same package of legislation that included incentives to lure a Boeing aircraft assembly plant to North Charleston, but Pinckney agreed to remove them so they wouldn't delay the break for the aerospace giant, he said.
He questioned why some lawmakers seem unwilling to support incentives for projects such as Sembler's, which he said would be a "perfect fit" in the surrounding community, when they have passed a host of incentives for other types of economic development.
Davis said Thursday he was disappointed his colleagues voted to elevate the bill above other matters on the Senate calendar, but he remains confident he can keep it from becoming law.
He said several colleagues told him they were voting to set the bill for special order as "a courtesy" to Pinckney.
"They did not indicate they would ultimately be in favor," Davis said.
Davis vowed to take as long as necessary to argue against the bill when it comes up for debate. He opposes it because he says it would shift jobs rather than generate new ones, is unfair to existing businesses, could further harm the environment of the already impaired Okatie River, might violate the state constitution and is not clear about the capital investments developers would have to make to earn the incentives.
"There's so much wrong with this bill it may take" several days to explain those objections to his colleagues, Davis said. "At the end of the day, I really don't think they're going to feel like they can vote for this bill."
If the bill passes the Senate, which would require a majority vote of senators present, it would probably pass the House, which already approved similar legislation that remains in a conference committee.
If the bill is vetoed by Gov. Mark Sanford, who staunchly opposes it, that could set up a showdown with lawmakers about whether to override.
It would take a two-thirds vote -- 31 senators if all are present and 83 House members if all are present -- to override.
