Rooftop bar and and Italian bistro? Developer has big plan for Beaufort waterfront

A 2-and 3-story building that will house up to 2 restaurants and a rooftop bar will rise over the next year in downtown Beaufort, according a developer and property owner who says the new eateries will liven up the city’s restaurant scene.

The 18,000 square-foot building, which is planned by Graham Trask, will be constructed on a gravel parking lot at 101 Scott Street directly behind a historic building and the former Greens drug store on Bay Street that today houses Cook on Bay, YoYo’s Frozen Yogurt and The Rustic Pup Biscuits and Boutique.

The former drug store building and its businesses, which will continue to operate, fronts Bay Street. Trask’s new building will face Waterfront Park and the Beaufort River.

A restaurant will occupy the first floor, and offices are planned on the second floor, Trask said. A rooftop bar, and possibly a second restaurant, will be on the third.

Trask has not finalized agreements with specific tenants at this point. But an “Italian bistro” is one possibility, he says. A restaurant similar to Slightly North of the Broad in Charleston, an eclectic Lowcountry bistro with a focus on fresh, local ingredients, would also be a nice fit, he says.

Those types of restaurants, Trask adds, will be welcomed in a city where the dining options have been “relatively stagnant” in recent years.

Ideally, Trask says, he would like to find somebody locally to take on the restaurant opportunity but he’s also had discussions with additional groups south of the Broad River and in Charleston.

It will be the first new building of this scale to be constructed in Beaufort’s downtown hub in around 15 years, Trask says. He also believes the rooftop bar will be a first for the city’s downtown.

If all goes as planned, Trask says, the new building will be constructed and occupied within a year.

With its old buildings, variety of shops and restaurants and palmetto trees that line the sidewalks, Bay Street oozes history and Southern charm. It’s rare when a new building comes along.

During a meeting of the Beaufort Historic District Review Board in May, concerns were raised about the building’s size, materials used, removal of parking spaces, and the design as it relates to current buildings in the city’s historic district. At that meeting, conceptual approval was granted. Final approval of the project came July 10.

Lise Sundrla of the Historic Beaufort Foundation, a not-for-profit preservation group, said she approved of the building’s design because of its connection to the city’s historic waterfront. The site, she noted, is probably the last piece of non-public property large enough to be developed behind Bay Street.

Many battles have been waged in the past over the height of developments within the city’s Historic District, said Mike Sutton, the chairman of the review board.

Trask’s building, he added, will be the tallest on Bay Street. “You’re not fooling the citizens of Beaufort,” said Sutton, referring to its size. Still, Sutton added, it is a “beautiful looking building.” He hopes it will be constructed, he added.

Part of the new building will be two-stories, while the middle area will be three.

City planners recommended approval, saying the building’s design relates to the market or wharf style of buildings along the waterfront prior to the construction of Waterfront Park. The impact of the height of the building will be minimized, they said, because the highest part will be in the middle of the property.

The building is significant for its size, Trask said, but also demonstrates that major projects proposed in the Historic District can receive swift approval if they come with attractive designs that are sympathetic to the city’s history and are developed with input.

One small building located on the property where Trask plans to build, the current home of YoYo’s Ice Cream, will be demolished.