November 5, 2024

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Iconic downtown Charleston hotel and restaurant changing hands after 27 years | Business

After 27 years of continuous local ownership, an iconic downtown hotel and its signature restaurant have been sold. 

The Planters Inn and its Peninsula Grill at Market and Meeting streets are now under the ownership of Northwood Investors, a privately held real estate investment and management firm. 

The deal was finalized Thursday. The sale price was not disclosed. 

Former investment banker and Charleston native Hank Holliday has owned the property for nearly three decades. He led its restoration, founded the Peninsula Grill and helped to transform the City Market area.

In recent years, Holliday has downsized.

In 2015, he sold the ground lease to the nearby DoubleTree Hotel, which in July was reopened after a full makeover as the boutique concept Emeline, to an Ohio real estate firm for an undisclosed price. That deal included Hank’s Seafood restaurant on Hayne Street.



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Holliday said he held onto the Planters Inn and Peninsula Grill property for a longer time for a simple reason.

“I loved it the most,” he said. 

The longtime hotelier and restaurateur decided to sell because he felt it was “time to move on to the next phase” in his life, he said. 

He described serving Charlestonians at the Planters Inn as a “high honor.” 

“I am confident that in Northwood Hospitality, we have passed the baton to an extraordinary steward for the property who will be a strong asset to the City of Charleston,” Holliday said. 



Hank Holliday and Latrice Evans

Planters Inn owner Hank Holliday and Latrice Evans, a Peninsula Grill employee who has been with the property for as long as Holliday. Provided.  


Devoted fans of the Holy City institution can expect many things to remain the same, Holliday said. Staff members — some of whom have been with the property for all 27 years — are staying on, and the hotel and restaurant will keep its membership in Relais & Châteaux, an association of boutique hotels and high-end restaurants. Since its induction in 1999, the Planters Inn has been the group’s sole member in South Carolina. 

Northwood Hospitality, which will be taking over management of the hotel and restaurant, is an affiliate of Northwood Investors, which oversaw real estate assets totaling $8 billion as of late 2019, including Freshfields Village shopping center on Kiawah Island. Its other resort properties include the Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge in Charlotte. 



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“We look forward to maintaining the legacy that Mr. Holliday has created and that is very dear to Charlestonians,” Jana Koebrick of Northwood said in a statement. 

Inspired by efforts to rebuild and revitalize the Holy City after Hurricane Hugo, Holliday’s Meeting & Market Associates LLC purchased the historic structure out of bankruptcy in 1994 for about $3.7 million with ambitious plans to renovate it.

Once the property was refurbished, Holliday added more guestrooms, retail and meeting space, a courtyard and, in 1997, the Peninsula Grill. The restaurant has since developed a loyal following among locals and out-of-town diners. 



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Coconut cake served at Peninsula Grill. File/Staff


Its famous 12-layer coconut cake “took on a life of its own,” Holliday said, and has turned into a mail-order business. Cakes are now delivered nationwide for $130 each, and, with the holidays coming up, FedEx trucks will be hauling away the boxed desserts “every day between now and Dec. 23,” he said.

Holliday said he has been “lovingly restoring” the roughly 175-year-old inn structure for as long as he’s owned it. This year, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut it down temporarily, he decided to extend the closure and take some time to do work that would otherwise be almost impossible with paying guests around.



Planters Inn transformation

The Planters Inn on Market Street, shown before (top) and after (bottom) major renovations that owner Hank Holliday led after buying the property in 1994. Provided. 


Workers refurbished the heart pine floors, repainted detailing in the lobby, did duct work and took the kitchen apart for deep cleaning. 

When the inn reopened after its six-month closure, Holliday said, the hotel was sold out, and the restaurant was full, at its reduced capacity, for the first five nights without any advertising or advance notice. He said that supports his belief that the city will bounce back from the COVID-19 tourism slump faster than “practically any other in the country.” 

Holliday also said he’ll be taking many memories with him from the almost three decades he’s owned the hotel, from hosting celebrities like George Clooney and Martha Stewart to getting to know local regulars who frequent the restaurant.



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“The Peninsula Grill and the Planters Inn are closely tied to Charleston,” Holliday said. “It’s a property and a staff and a culture and a menu and a group of professionals that are about Charleston.”

The sale of the property doesn’t mean retirement for Holliday, he said. His firm still has some real estate holdings, and he’ll continue his work across the street for the City Market.

While Holliday has witnessed a transformation of the area since buying the Planters Inn, more changes are on the way. They include a major city drainage project, beautification efforts and high-end developments — including more hotels — looking to move in.

The future of the Market area is “exceedingly bright,” Holliday said. 

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