The general public will get an opportunity to listen to how lots of the 1,600 residential models deliberate for the Union Pier neighborhood redevelopment will probably be designated as reasonably priced housing at an April 20 discussion board.
Some officers, together with Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg, have been early critics of the proposals for the property, saying they do not go far sufficient towards addressing the town’s broader want for extra reasonably priced housing.
“My unvarnished, first-blush response — which I’ve shared with port officers — is that (the proposal) is simply too tall and too dense, with too many resort rooms, an excessive amount of block-sized growth and too little reasonably priced housing,” Tecklenburg wrote in a Feb. 11 commentary printed in The Put up and Courier.
The South Carolina Ports Authority plans to promote Union Pier, its 64-acre cruise ship hub on Charleston Harbor, by the top of the yr. In preparation for that sale, the port authority employed actual property growth workforce Lowe to attract up plans for the property. Earlier than the Charleston Planning Fee votes on approving the plan, they’re internet hosting a sequence of data classes that may give fee members and the general public the chance to overview completely different facets of the redevelopment.
As of now, the SPA has mentioned it should put aside a minimum of 50 residential models — about 3 p.c of the overall — for “workforce housing,” which is for households that make as much as 120 p.c of the realm’s median revenue.
In Charleston, that might be an annual revenue of $110,160 for a household of 4.
The authority mentioned it additionally will contribute a share of property sale proceeds to a belief fund to pay for extra reasonably priced housing on the Union Pier website or inside a 2-mile radius.
A current metropolis estimate discovered that Charleston might want to construct 16,000 models of reasonably priced housing by 2030 to satisfy demand. However officers are additionally attempting to steadiness competing wants at Union Pier. The quantity of tax income created by the property will rely upon how tall, how dense and the way worthwhile the location turns into. Each further sq. foot of park area and reasonably priced unit that the town advocates for lowers that revenue margin.
The authority estimates the price of the infrastructure initiatives on and across the website — equivalent to roads, flood safety, underground utilities and parks — will probably be about $275 million. It’ll ask that Union Pier be labeled as a particular tax district, permitting the town to borrow the cash and repay it from the taxes that will probably be generated because the property is redeveloped over 25 years. That will permit parks and different public enhancements to be constructed out early within the course of.
The primary two conferences hosted by the town’s planning fee coated the storm water administration plans for the location and the city design components, equivalent to density and constructing heights. The assembly April 20 will overview the reasonably priced housing plans for the redevelopment. It will likely be held at 3 p.m. within the Gaillard Heart Ballroom at 2 George St.
The assembly would be the final info session earlier than the planning fee takes a proper vote on the proposal at a separate assembly.
In a parallel course of, the finer factors of the proposal are being reviewed by the town’s Technical Evaluate Committee. As soon as the plan clears each the TRC and the planning fee, it should go earlier than the Metropolis Council for the ultimate approval.
Port officers have indicated they hope the vote will occur by early summer time, giving them the time to promote the property by the top of 2023.
Attain Emma Whalen at 843-708-5837. Comply with her on Twitter @_emma_whalen.
