Myrtle Beach Area Chamber President Brad Dean recently gave an interview on the Arab owned Al Jazeera (America) network about ongoing Chinese investments in the Myrtle Beach area market.
MyrtleBeachSC.com has run several reports about the City of Myrtle Beach/B &C/Chamber of Commerce Chinese Investment plan. We wrote just this week about how that plan has created blighted areas in the most prime locations of the city. We also reported about how the city construction director promised a crack down on some local merchants by city government in the downtown area.
As many of these merchants are Israeli Americans, the recent interview given by Brad Dean on Al Jazeera has raised suspicions within a limited group of small business owners on Ocean Boulevard.
“We have reached out to get Brad Dean to do a segment on our network for many years,” said David Hucks, a reporter for MyrtleBeachSC.com. “He has yet to make time for us and we are local.”
Most residents and ocean boulevard businesses owners are excited that attention is now being paid to the Ocean Boulevard downtown area. Concerns remain, however, as the plan, officially lead by David Sebock, of the Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Commission, is so secretive. Many of the local merchants we spoke with believe the “genuine plan” has been privately held for some time. Small business owners tell us the plan is being spearheaded by Burroughs and Chapin, with ties to Brittain Resort Hotels, funded by Chinese financing and executed by City Council and City Government.
As the Al Jazeera story confirms, the Chinese have invested over $100 million in Myrtle Beach golf courses. MyrtleBeachSC.com broke news just in the last few weeks of a $25 million oceanfront land investment these same Chinese investors made in the Dunes Club section of downtown Myrtle Beach. The video above also confirms, however, the difficulty and hurdles of getting Chinese tourists to ever visit the Myrtle Beach market.
With the Chamber President’s appearance on Al Jazeera, local merchants are now more concerned as to whether there is some Arab financial connections to these investments (above and beyond if they will ever see a Chinese tourist).