Choate Construction Company, Design-Build partner LS3P, along with South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA), held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday, September 25th at 8:00am to celebrate the construction of the 84,000-SF SCPA headquarters at the Wando Welch terminal grounds. Design and construction team members, Mt. Pleasant officials, and a few hundred of SCPA’s employees gathered to celebrate the exciting ritual of tossing the first heap of ceremonial dirt.

SCPA’s CEO Jim Newsome says, “SCPA is extremely excited to break ground on our new headquarters, which will merge employees from multiple office locations to a single, modern campus,” said Jim Newsome, SCPA president and CEO. “The building’s design fosters teamwork and a positive culture, and the location brings us closer to our operations, which makes good business sense. We have strong partners in Choate and LS3P and look forward to making the building our new home late next year. We are also thankful to Lowe Enterprises, whose purchase of our existing headquarters building made this important move possible for the Port.”

As SCPA continues to thrive as one of fastest growing ports in the country, Choate Construction and LS3P partner to construct a Design-Build state-of-the-art headquarters office for what SCPA CEO Jim Newsome describes as, “a building for the employees.” The headquarters more than doubles the SCPA’s previous office, relocating cross-harbor from downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant, adjacent to the Wando Welch Terminal.

The building’s orientation and design offer impressive views of the Port of Charleston, providing an up-close view of business. A dynamic jewel feature and hub of activity for the entire building, a striking glass atrium will welcome stakeholders and customers alike into the main entrance. A glass curtainwall will extend all four floors of the building, allowing for ample natural light, while a tectonic column will connect the atrium to the accent wall completing the entrance frame. Notably, and reflective of SCPA’s impact on ports near and far, a unique atrium terrazzo floor pattern will depict a geographical map of the Charleston peninsula and waterways in the main entrance lobby.

Choate Construction’s Vice President and Division Manager, Matt Brewer, said, “The South Carolina Ports Authority is widely acknowledged as a primary economic engine for our great state, and we are both grateful and excited to partner with them in developing a world-class headquarters facility that they will be proud to call home for many years to come.”

The SCPA Headquarters is set to complete late 2018.