Charleston, South Carolina – The City of Charleston is trying to expand its housing options for citizens as part of a larger plan. The city’s planning commission is now considering one new site.
24 Calhoun Street is a vacant site near to the South Carolina Aquarium that will soon be turned into mixed-income housing. It’s one of several current projects the city is working on to increase affordable and workforce housing in the neighborhood.
“I’ve told people that I believe it’s the number one economic, cultural, and social issue that we have,” Charleston Mayor William Cogswell stated.
The city hopes to create 3500 apartments on the peninsula, West Ashley, and Johns Island by 2032 through public-private partnerships. Cogswell stated that the development of this land contributes to the city’s efforts to improve the quality of life for its inhabitants.
“I think it just demonstrates that we are looking for any and all chances to make our residents’ lives more affordable, and this is property that the city has owned for a long time. We don’t have any real plans for it, and I believe that partnering with the private sector to construct workforce housing, affordable housing, or mixed-income housing makes a lot of sense,” said Cogswell.
Each location will offer both market rate and subsidized housing. However, it will not be obvious because the city intends to preserve Charleston’s uniqueness in all buildings.
“The more I’m out and about, one of the most common worries I hear is that they grew up here but can no longer afford to live here. So what we’re attempting to do is create additional chances with that,” Cogswell explained. “I’d like to clarify that this does not imply that all of this will be public housing. This will be mixed-income housing with several market-rate units. You wouldn’t know the difference between it and any other residential development.”
The mayor stated that he hopes to collaborate with the Charleston Housing Authority to assist the city achieve its 3500-unit objective and make Lowcountry living more affordable.
“We look forward to hearing from Mayor Cogswell at our board meeting on Monday.” While our engagement with the City of Charleston has not yet begun, we look forward to continuing the conversation about providing safe and affordable housing to Charleston citizens.”
The planning commission meeting lasted from 5 to 9 p.m.
