248 King Street

288 King Street in Charleston, SC is a three-story commercial structure on the main commercial corridor in Charleston. The rehabilitation of the property represents an innovative rehabilitation solution to structural problems that many professionals in the city considered unsolvable. The building façade has been preserved and the building put back into service as a vibrant element of the Charleston Old and Historic District.

The building was constructed in 1838 by George Miller, a local merchant. The building is a typical nineteenth century three-story commercial structure with party walls on either side and a prominent façade and storefront facing the street. The building initially served as a dry goods store, drugstore, and a branch store for the Masonic Hall Bazaar.

By the 1970s the building was leased to a restaurant and the property remained a series of restaurants until 2016.

Unfortunately, the façade of the building became a structural hazard. The building had been seriously damaged in the Earthquake of 1886, and after almost 200 years the original earthquake repairs were compromised. By 2016 the entire front façade was separating from the rest of the structure and drifting into King Street. Building owner Bob Milani and his consultants called the City of Charleston and the premises were immediately vacated on account of life-safety concerns. Some structural experts thought the façade was beyond repair.

The first solution involved the addition of a concrete and I-beam structure to support the façade while the long-term stabilization work could be performed. After this emergency stabilization, major preservation and rehabilitation work began - historic fabric was painstakingly removed and protected while new structural elements were built within the existing building envelope to ensure the building’s structural security. This new endoskeleton involved enormous and exceptionally heavy beams that had to be inserted into the structure with the use of the largest crane available on the East Coast. The historic facade was then fastened to the new I-beam structure.

The most striking feature of the storefront is the meticulously repaired leaded-glass transom with replacement glass blocks to match where needed. The historic south entrance door was retained.

The extensive rehabilitation of 288 King demonstrates that with a committed owner, creative thinking, and a dedicated team, even some of the most serious preservation issues can be solved. The project help retain a valuable contributing building in the Charleston Old and Historic District allowing a unique historic property to provide retail and living space for decades to come.