Charleston, South Carolina – City leaders in Charleston are proposing rezoning a land near the South Carolina Aquarium as part of a future affordable housing plan.
Several downtown locations are being considered for future housing, including a city-owned property at the eastern end of the South Carolina Aquarium parking deck.
The sites under consideration are part of an articulated plan to create 3,500 affordable housing units by 2032. The strategy is consistent with the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development’s 2025-2029 Consolidated strategy and Annual Action Plan for 2026.
A 2019 to 2023 American Community Survey in the plan’s housing needs assessment shows that roughly 22,000 households are financially constrained. The poll reveals that 14,600 renters and more than 8,000 homeowners spent more than 30% of their income on housing.
District Two City Councilman Kevin Shealy believes that creating housing opportunities is critical for the city’s key workers.
“We have firefighters, police officers, young teachers, essential business people, hospitality workers,” according to Shealy. “We need to ensure that they can afford to reside in Charleston and close to their workplace. It’s critical for our business and for how our city functions.”
Visitors to the aquarium and others walking nearby may see the area as a possible location for additional parking. A successful rezoning would be the first step towards adding apartments.
The City Planning Commission is proposing rezoning the property at Calhoun and Concord Streets from general commercial to mixed-use workforce housing.
According to City Planning Manager Christopher Morgan, the city has been coveting the land for around ten years. He believes the city’s new housing effort provides an opportunity to go forward with additional affordable housing alternatives in the area.
“That will allow for a mix of housing types and, or also commercial aspects,” Morgan elaborates. “It could be that there would be ground floor commercial uses and then ground floor residential uses.”
City officials believe prospective housing designs in the 2032 plan will ensure that dwellings maintain the city’s attractiveness. Draft pictures show plans for apartments like Charleston singles and cottages.
“We must safeguard the character of our city. “We have to protect that character,” Shealy argues. “These will be really nice residences. Some of them will be Charleston single homes divided into triplexes, but they will be gorgeous homes in which these people will live and conduct business.”
If commission leaders recommend approval, the rezoning will be brought before the City Council for a public hearing on November 18. If council leaders approve the amendment, it will be read a final time in December.
Morgan said design plans will be the next stage if all goes well.
