EYC Companies and 17 South Apartments in Charleston, South Carolina has won the national 2018 Best In Class award for Best Development from the insulated concrete form industry association. Here is an excerpt from an article featured in ICF Builder Magazine.
The 17 South project in Charleston, South Carolina, is a landmark for the ICF industry. Consisting of eight separate apartment buildings totally 249,000 sq. ft., it’s a fantastic example of great design and efficient construction techniques in a code-plus light commercial project.
EYC Companies, the developer, is well-known in the region as a cost-savvy, no-nonsense builder. They’re vertically integrated to better control quality and construction costs. Their wholly-owned subsidiary Front Street Construction Services served as general contractor on this project.
Front Street and EYC have been building in the Carolinas for nearly 20 years, but prior to 17 South had relatively little experience with ICF. Years earlier, company founder Ellis Coleman had learned of ICFs and after speaking with Paul Camozzi, Amvic’s director of commercial business development, he decided to use the technology to build an addition on his personal home. That project proved successful, so when 17 South was under development, he reached out to Camozzi again to investigate whether ICFs were feasible for a mid-rise multifamily development.
“We live right on the coast,” Coleman says, “We have hurricanes in this part of the world, so you have to design for 125 mile-per-hour winds. We also have a seismic component.” Instead of spending the extra $2,000 per unit to get wood-frame construction up to code minimum, ICF provides inherent strength. “The strength is there from the outset, and far exceeds anything possible with wood,” he says.
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