Windsor Aughtry Company and the Indigo Road Hospitality Group of Charleston are proposing a new use for the space near West Broad Street and Main Street now home to Ice on Main.
The proposal, discussed in a city council work session, would end an agreement with the city over the space used for Ice on Main, while bringing two restaurants from the Indigo Road Hospitality Group, O-Ku (sushi) and Indaco (wood-fired pizza and Italian), to the space occupied by Rick Erwin’s Nantucket Seafood. With the outdoor space, they plan to use one-third for an outdoor venue with dining, a bar, outdoor seating and a fireplace.
For the remaining two-thirds of the space, Windsor Aughtry said in a memo they’re thinking about bocce ball or pickle ball courts but are open to suggestions. The property would also be available for passive use, according to Paul C. Aughtry III, president and CEO of Windsor Aughtry.
Aughtry said he had always envisioned the lot as an active area. Moreover, he discussed a 20-year agreement the city had with the developer. The agreement was for 15 days a year for city use, which the city uses significantly less than this with the exception of Ice on Main.
Aughtry said the city uses the property for about 100 days per year for Ice on Main and a few days for Fall for Greenville, but he’s looking to cancel the agreement with the city. So far the city has used the outdoor space approximately 1,200 days since they set up the agreement in 2008 — far more than what the contract allowed over the 20-year span.
“We’ve made a fair contribution,” he said. “We’re not looking to take away anything.”
According to a statement from Windsor Aughtry: “As owners of the land, we have accommodated Ice on Main for 12 years with no obligation to do so, other than our interest in making our city better and the space more active. We again made the space available to Ice on Main this year when we did not wish to but only because the City did not have another location. Activation of the space is otherwise minimal, except when we let Artisphere use it years ago. This project will provide year-round dynamic activation and become the focal point and activity center of this key intersection that we all imagined.”
