Defense Contractor Attorney Near Aiken, SC

Tennis players from around South Carolina took over Aiken County over the weekend for the USTA 18 and Over League State Championships.

Several venues around the county hosted the almost 900 players who came to town for the tournament, including the Odell Weeks Tennis Center and the Riverview Park tennis courts in North Augusta.

Despite a rainy forecast predicted coming into the weekend, it mostly went on without a hitch, Director of Team Play PJ Fulmer said.

“Looking at the forecast for the weekend, I was a little nervous about that,” she said. “But the weather worked out. We only had a few small delays, only one really late night, so it was fantastic. I mean, the crew at the parks and rec down here are top-notch. I mean, I'd put them up against anybody any day of the week as just the best.”

Fulmer has helped to organize the event for the last several years, keeping track of scores, courts and winners for each level.

Men’s and women’s teams competed between the more advanced 5.0 level to the 2.5 level teams from June 14 to championship matchups on June 15-16. Between the 900 participants, they were split between 83 teams from 12 different leagues.

Team match play consisted of singles and doubles matches to decide a winner, who then moved on to the next round of the bracket as the weekend progressed. The last two teams standing in each category are the champions and the finalists. Both the champion and finalist teams take home signs and commemorative towels.

Charleston area teams dominated the champions list with wins in the women’s 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 and the men’s 2.5 and 3.5. Columbia area teams took home wins in the 3.0 and 5.0 men’s and a champion in the 4.0 women’s bracket.

The women’s 3.0 team from Mount Pleasant pulled out a close win against the Fort Mill team to bring home the championship. Brittany Kalivas from the winning team said they always come into tournaments with a positive team mindset.

“It’s great,” she said. “Our team really pulls together. We approach every game one point at a time, and it's really knowing that we have a positive mindset when we step on that court matters. And that's why, that's what makes up a winning team.”

For her, what sets this tournament apart in Aiken is her ability to meet other people in a competitive but respectful atmosphere.

“My favorite thing is to come and meet other people,” Kalivas said. “And then the tennis community is so small, so whenever you meet somebody you carry this friendship along the way. Because you have this mutual respect for the sport of tennis. So it's nice. Every year you see the same faces and you meet new faces, and it's been a great experience for all of us.”

Tennis events like this one have become a staple in Aiken over the summer, and Fulmer said it’s because of how detail-oriented the staff at each facility is in offering players the best experience possible.

“I love Aiken,” she said. “I think it's pretty easy to get to from all areas, even your Rock Hill and Greenville, I believe it's still two hours-ish away. So you’re still a central location for everyone to get to. The facilities are amazing. I mean, you could compare Odell Weeks to any facility in the state, and I would, I mean, it's going to have rave reviews. Aiken does a fantastic job with the amenities that they offer for the players, and I mean, minus rain, I never hear any complaints in this area.”

Part of the crew who helps to make these events such a success in the area is Mark Calvert, the head tennis professional at Odell Weeks. He said he’s always hearing praise for how well each event is run around town.

For him, the biggest reason he does it is for the positive economic impact it has on Aiken with how many people it brings into town.

“Many people come up to me and compliment us on our maintenance crew,” he said. “Who, between every match we groom our clay courts and keep them really nice and fresh and well groomed for the matches, and all the players appreciate that because that's something that a lot of places don't do. So that's very much appreciated.”

AIKEN — Mirin Fusion Kitchen is coming to Aiken Towne Park on the Southside, but when will it make its debut?

Plans call for the restaurant to open in October, said Archie Ren, who will be its co-owner, in a recent telephone interview.

Mirin will be serving Asian fusion cuisine 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Ren is the founder of Mirin, which has locations in Augusta and Evans, Georgia, that he co-owns.

He said he operates his restaurants with family and friends.

Ren’s partner in the Aiken Towne Park location will be Derek Qiu.

Aiken’s Mirin will have décor that is different from the ones in Georgia and the food offered there won’t be exactly the same, according to Ren.

“We don’t just copy and paste menus,” he said.

Ren told the Aiken Standard that Augusta-based Southeastern Development Associates, which is spearheading the creation of Aiken Towne Park on the former site of the Aiken Mall, “invited” him to open a Mirin there.

In addition, Ren said he wanted to launch a Mirin in Aiken because he had received requests on social media and via email to do so.

Aiken Towne Park’s Mirin will be located in the 12,000-square-foot building that is being constructed near Belk.

Southside sale

The former site of a Checkers fast food restaurant on the Southside changed hands recently.

Jordan Scott Rosenthal and Julie D. Rosenthal purchased the property at 2223 Whiskey Road for $950,000, according to Aiken County Land records.

The buyers share a Manhattan Beach, California, mailing address.

WARP 2096 LLC was the seller.

The deal closed April 28.

The Aiken Standard reported late in 2024 that Coffee Talk 7 LLC wanted to build a 7 Brew drive-thru coffee stand on the land.

In 2022, the Aiken Standard reported that there were plans to build a Scooter’s Coffee drive-thru on the site, which is less than an acre in size.

Checkers closed for good in the summer 2019.

Cornerstone move

Cornerstone Wealth Management Group celebrated the opening of its new office in The Village at Woodside with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and an open house June 11.

The address is 150 Coach Light Way, Suite 100.

Cornerstone’s office previously was on the second floor of the Baldwin Building at 137 Old Market St.

Services offered at Cornerstone include financial planning and retirement planning, investment management, estate planning and tax services and strategic tax planning.

“Our new office in The Village at Woodside is more than a physical move; it’s a renewed promise to support our neighbors and help more families achieve their goals across generations,” said Partner Jeffrey Powell.

For more information, visit cwgadvisors.com, call 803-648-3003 or email info@cwgadvisors.com.

AIKEN — New businesses are on their way to Aiken Towne Park, located on the Southside where the former site of the Aiken Mall is being redeveloped.

The latest additions to be revealed are Mirin Fusion Kitchen and Sky Nails.

There already are Mirin Fusion Kitchen restaurants in Georgia in Augusta and Evans.

The Mirin Fusion Kitchen page on Facebook describes them as “fast casual Asian fusion” eateries.

Among the options on their menus are hibachi dishes, Japanese ramen, Korean barbecue tacos, raw ahi tuna nachos, shrimp dumplings, “stir-fried” noodles, beef gyoza, spring rolls, shrimp dumplings, fried rice and seaweed salad.

Boba and oolong teas also are available.

Mirin Fusion Kitchen’s food “is really good. My family eats it all the time. It’s a big hit with grownups and kids,” said Jason Long, a senior vice president with Augusta-based Southeastern Development Associates, which is spearheading the creation of Aiken Towne Park.

Aiken’s Mirin Fusion Kitchen will be in a 3,000-square-foot space in the new 12,000-square-foot building located near Belk.

The Aiken Standard tried to obtain additional information by telephone and email prior to the deadline for this article's publication, but failed to do so.

Sky Nails is “coming soon,” according to a banner hanging at its future location in a new 5,800-square-foot building that is close to Aiken Towne Park’s Whiskey Road entrance.

Services offered at Sky Nails will include manicures, pedicures and eyebrow waxing.

Sky Nails’ address is 4150 Julep Way S.W.

In the same area as the building that will be Sky Nails’ home are two others constructed during the Aiken Mall redevelopment process. Tropical Smoothie and Eyemart Express are in one of the structures and Chicken Salad Chick is in the other.

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Monday was the day Hotel Aiken embarked on a new fate.

The Aiken City Council decided to enter negotiations with the Oliver Group to revitalize and revive the dormant and decaying downtown hotel.

It was a 6-1 vote with only council member Gregory voting against it.

It’s a big change of fate for the hotel whose planned demolition was the centerpiece of the so-called Project Pascalis as recently as 2022. The hotel was to be torn down to make room for hotel and retail development that would have been styled to look historic but would have actually been new.

But after plowing right into the middle of controversy, it was Project Pascalis that faced demolition – sparking a legal challenge and drawing questions from preservationists.

From that failure emerged the resolve to preserve the hotel, but the city owned it at that point and needed a developer.

At Monday’s meeting, Craig Bradford and Ethan Orley spoke from the Oliver Group, which has a 15-year history of redeveloping hotels across the Southeast

The company has particular expertise in redeveloping historic properties, like the Hotel Clermont in Atlanta and the Oliver Hotel in Knoxville

Its focus is boutique independent hotels.

Once revitalized, leaders hope Hotel Aiken is a catalyst in the rest of downtown.

Linda Johnson, president of Aiken’s historic foundation, was relieved.

She is the one who put the hotel on the national historic register, and she’s been in the battle to save the hotel for three years.

She said she thinks the Oliver Group is a great pick.

“We are beyond excited,” she said. “Three years ago, we didn’t have good things going on in the city. We had a lot of historic buildings that were slated for demolition, and we got that turned around. The city did the right thing. They got a broker, they did a nationwide search and after going through a couple of rounds of interviews and proposals, we finally have a path forward.”

She said buildings like the old hotel deserve to be preserved, and now the city has a developer with a lot of experience in doing just that.

“I feel like they’ll understand what needs to be done,” she said. “They’ve done this so many different places. ... They understand that every town is unique and has its own character, and they want to tailor what they do with our buildings. To Aiken, that is so important. We want Aiken to stay Aiken.”

Now in the area of the hotel, “we had this whole half a block that was a bit derelict and there was no reason for people to stroll along that part of the block.”

Now she can envision people going to stores or restaurants further down the block coming up to enjoy the block once it’s revitalized.

She’s especially happy it’s going to remain a hotel, but she would have been happy with another use, as long as the building was preserved.

“It would have been fine for it to be apartments. It would have been OK for it to be offices,” she said. “It’s neat that it’s going to be a hotel because the Hotel Aiken has this 125-year history in Aiken, and now it’s going to be continuing it.”

Looking ahead, she said there are other buildings her group wants to honor, “so that this is a whole block of historic buildings that preserve its character.”

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - We are checking in on the construction of Aiken Towne Park.

We last updated you back in February about the work being done on the apartments and businesses coming to the area.

The developers said new businesses were expected to be open by the summer.

This is a look from Wednesday at the progress.

From a dead mall to a destination, this area of Aiken is growing roots again, and developers say the project is nearing its end.

Turning memory into momentum, Aiken Towne Park isn’t just a development, it’s a destination.

“When I first moved here, it was a very vibrant mall. But as the economy changed, the developers had to change, and I think some of their plans are rather innovative,” said Dick Dewar, lives in Aiken.

”You can walk out of your front door and go to a restaurant, walk out of your door and sit in the park and listen to live music, have shopping available with us from a department store or a boutique retail. There’s a walking trail around the perimeter of the property,” said Jason Long, Southeastern senior vice president.

The park is keeping up with Aiken’s growth.

”I’m of the opinion that we’ve grown too much. There’s no problem with growth being able to support the Aiken Town Park. I mean, that’s a given. But with the entertainment area, with the track and all of the restaurants, it will be very attractive to people,” said Dewar.

The goal is that life won’t just pass through - it’ll pause.

“Instead of just a traditional retail center where you may drive to the individual shop that you want to go, and get back in your car and leave, people want to stay, enjoy the park, listen to live music or just enjoy green space,” said Long.

The project is entering its final stretch.

“With the venue, the amphitheater is going in the middle of the park. We’re nearing completion, the structure is vertical, and what’s coming next will be primary landscaping and hardscape around it. So that will happen over the next month or two, and then we’ll be done with the park and the amphitheater and will be ready. So we’re very close to opening that apartment-wise. We will deliver the clubhouse with the pool and come and two buildings later this year, so we’ll be able to open up by the end of the year units for leasing,” said Long.

The new restaurants are getting to move in too.

”Behind the tropical smoothie, there is a restaurant, a chicken restaurant that’s going in there, and then the building that’s on the park, we have an Asian restaurant, which is here in Augusta. Just mirin and they are going to open,” said Long.

So where concrete once sat silent, life is ready to sing.

“One of the attractions to these apartments is you really don’t need a car, except maybe to go to church, because you’ll be able to do all of your shopping. You can walk to Publix, you can walk to all of these restaurants, you can get your eyes examined and so forth,” said Dewar.

Of course, the project is being done in phases.

Again, the first unit of apartments will be open later this year.

They say they hope to open the park and new businesses together, and within a couple of months.