What’s going on with Port of Port Royal? Owners dispel rumors
The development group that owns the Port of Port Royal wants the public to know two things: The Port is not being sold. And the group, Grey Ghost Properties, is making progress in developing the long-vacant state terminal.
“There have been no changes,” said Grey Ghost’s Chris Butler. “So any friends, relatives, neighbors asking about it, it is still the same people.”
He stressed these points at Port Royal Town Council’s meeting Wednesday evening, where council announced it planned to rescind the letter it sent to Grey Ghost, accusing the group of breaching a $9 million agreement to redesign the port.
The October letter, signed by town manager Van Willis, said Grey Ghost had not made enough progress in redeveloping the port’s 51 acres of high ground and 266 acres of tidal marsh, specifically calling out the company’s failures to create open spaces and parks, develop seafood and fuel facilities and pay taxes on time.
To get that letter revoked, Grey Ghost must detail to the town how it plans to remedy the problems pointed out by the town in its initial letter.
At the meeting, Butler told council that improvements to a massive drystack building were ongoing, and plans to create a residential neighborhood on the north end of the property were moving forward.
Grey Ghost Properties bought the port from the state in 2017, after it had been sitting untouched on the market for over a decade. The development group promised that over five years, it would beautify the drystack building, add public park space and market individual property for sale to bring business to the area.
Town leaders felt they weren’t making enough progress.
Grey Ghost responded that it did not breach the agreement, that the timeline was fluid and that the COVID-19 pandemic had hurt progress. A few businesses have come in over the past three years, including the restaurant Fishcamp at 11th Street and a boat storage and sales facility owned by Butler.
The meeting Wednesday was only the second time since August that the town council has discussed its problems with Grey Ghost Properties publicly. For an hour before the meeting, the council met privately to discuss the port.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 4:15 AM.
