Charleston, South Carolina — A long-debated hotel proposal in downtown Charleston is moving forward with significant design adjustments following years of negotiations with the city.
The developer of the hotel at 411 Meeting St. is no longer compelled to construct housing units on the property, a condition originally imposed by a municipal zoning committee in 2019.
The original approval called for the development of 100 dwelling units and 146 beds alongside the hotel. However, following years of debate and appeals, this provision has been lifted.
Winslow Hastie of the Historic Charleston Foundation raised concern about tourism’s impact on the peninsula.
“At the end of the day, we cannot have the tourism sort of overwhelm the peninsula,” Hastie pointed out.
Charleston City Councilmember Mike Seekings emphasized the importance of balanced growth.
“We need missing-middle housing,” he added. “We need cheap housing. “We need good commercial development.”
Bennett-Meeting Street said that new residential constructions on Upper King and Meeting Street rendered the housing condition superfluous.
Although the Board of Zoning Appeals first dismissed the request to amend the requirement, a new agreement allows the developer to construct the housing units at 82 Mary St. or divide them between that property and 411 Meeting St.
According to Explore Charleston, there were over 5,000 hotel rooms on the peninsula last year, and Hastie believes that figure could nearly quadruple if current recommendations are implemented.
“If all these hotels are built per their applications, we’ll have over 8,500 rooms on the peninsula,” Hastie told the crowd.
Attempts to contact Bennett for comment on the new housing proposals were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
